Dale Earnhardt Jr.‘s final race at Daytona did not move the needle for NBC.
NASCAR Cup Series racing from Daytona (Fla.) earned a 3.2 final rating and 5.4 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, down 6% in ratings and 5% in viewership from last year (3.4, 5.7M) but up 19% and 36% respectively from 2015, when the race took place on a Sunday night and was postponed until after 11 PM ET due to rain (2.7, 4.0M).
The 3.2 rating is the third-lowest for the race in at least 20 years, ahead of 2015 and 2009 (3.1). That excludes the 2014 race, which was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday morning and drew a 2.7 on TNT.
With or without the addition of streaming viewership, the race ranks as the third-least watched since 2000 — again topping 2015 and 2009 (5.3M).
Earnhardt Jr. won the pole but crashed out of the race with 54 laps to go. Viewership peaked afterward, hitting 6.5 million during the final laps from 11:15-11:30 PM ET.
For the weekend, Daytona was the top sporting event on a single network — topping the Jeff Horn–Manny Pacquiao boxing match on ESPN (2.8M). In adults 18-49, its 1.1 rating tied the boxing match.
[Wknd. numbers via ShowBuzz Daily 7.6, with additional info from NBC Sports]
