NASCAR ratings hit a multi-year high for a second-straight week.
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Auto Club 400 averaged a 2.9 rating and 4.79 million viewers on FOX, marking the highest rated and most-watched edition of the race in three years (2017: 3.2, 5.19M).
Alex Bowman’s win increased 16% in ratings and 15% in viewership from last year, when the race took place on NCAA Tournament Selection Sunday (2.5, 4.18M), and 21% and 19% respectively from 2018, when it aired opposite the opening weekend of the tournament (2.4, 4.03M).
It was the earliest Auto Club 400 since 2010. Compared to the race on the same weekend last year — Las Vegas — ratings fell a tick and viewership 6% (from 5.12M).
Both Cup Series races since the Daytona 500 have hit three-year highs, though both also took place earlier than usual. The previous week’s Las Vegas race had its earliest date in its history. NASCAR ratings tend to be strongest in the immediate weeks after Daytona.
Still, the growth cannot be solely attributed to the schedule. Before an inopportune rain delay, the Daytona 500 was trending at a multi-year high as well.
As is usual this time of year, NASCAR was the highest rated and most-watched sporting event of the weekend, with Sunday’s race comfortably topping the second-place Lakers-Pelicans game on ESPN Sunday night (1.7, 2.69M). It ranked second in adults 18-49 behind Lakers-Pelicans (1.0 to 0.8).
[Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 3.3]
