On broadcast TV for the first time in nearly three months, NASCAR scored strong numbers over the weekend.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Irwin Tools Night Race from Bristol (TN) earned a 3.9 final rating and 6.3 million viewers on ABC Saturday night, up 5% in ratings and 7% in viewership from last year (3.7, 5.9M), and up 30% and 25%, respectively, from 2011 (3.0, 5.1M).
The race ranks as the highest rated and most-viewed NASCAR telecast on any network other than FOX since the 2011 Ford 400 (4.0, 6.8M).
In addition, the 3.9 rating is tied with 2005 and 2002 as the highest for the season’s second Bristol race since at least 1998.
The fifteen-year high marks an abrupt end to NASCAR’s recent slump. The previous two races — at Michigan August 18 and Watkins Glen August 11 — were the lowest rated since at least 1998 and 1999, respectively.
Going back further, the August 4 Pocono race was the second-lowest rated since at least 1998 and the July 28 race at the Brickyard was the second-lowest rated ever.
So far this season, each of the fourteen NASCAR Sprint Cup races on broadcast TV have earned at least 5.9 million viewers. By comparison, the ten races on cable have each drawn fewer than 5.5 million.
(Sat. numbers from ESPN)
