NASCAR ended the Fox portion of its schedule in rare positive territory.
Excluding rainouts, Fox Sports averaged 4.07 million viewers for its portion of the NASCAR Cup Series season, up 2% from last year (3.98M), but down 17% from 2017 (4.90M).
Seven races have increased over last season, half of the 14 that have been run as scheduled, and tied with 2013 as the most at this point of the season since 2011.
That includes Sunday’s race from Sonoma (Ca.), which earned a 1.5 rating and 2.48 million viewers on FS1 — up a tick in ratings and 6% in viewership from last year (1.4, 2.33M), but down 25% and 24% respectively from 2017 (2.0, 3.24M).
Martin Truex Jr.‘s win was the first Sonoma race to increase since 2016.
Keep in mind the race had a lead-in from the Women’s World Cup. The preceding England-Cameroon match had a 0.8 and 1.2 million. It also faced competition from the tournament, airing opposite France-Brazil on the FOX broadcast network (1.7, 2.84M).
The race also marked the final assignment in the broadcasting career of Darrell Waltrip, though it is unlikely that had a significant impact on the numbers. Announcers do not generally move the needle one way or the other.
Even with the increase, the numbers remained historically low. Outside of last year, the race earned its lowest rating since at least 1998 and its smallest audience since at least 2002. It had a 3.3 and 5.20 million as recently as 2012.
Charlotte and Richmond, Va., led all markets with a 4.8 rating. Greenville, N.C., ranked third at a 4.7.
[Numbers from Fox Sports, Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 6.25]
