There may well be a “Chase Elliott effect” in NASCAR as the sport delivered its second-straight increase in viewership since his return from injury.
Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Talladega averaged a 2.6 rating and 4.55 million viewers on FOX, flat in ratings and up 5% in viewership from last year (2.6, 4.34M). (Keep in mind last year’s audience was originally reported as 4.68 million, but NASCAR said Tuesday that the year-ago figure was later revised downward.)
Kyle Busch’s win, which peaked with 5.85 million viewers, was the second-straight NASCAR race to increase year-over-year after the first eight declined. The back-to-back increases coincide with the return of Chase Elliott from injury (though it should be noted that the first of those gains — at Martinsville last week — can be attributed to a shift from Saturday night a year ago to Sunday afternoon).
It also ranks as the most-watched NASCAR race of the season outside of the Daytona 500, a distinction usually held by the first post-Daytona race. This year’s Auto Club 500 averaged 4.32 million in that post-Daytona slot.
2023 NASCAR ratings, viewership, compared to last year
For the weekend, Talladega placed second among sporting events behind the competing Kings-Warriors NBA playoff game on ABC (7.52M). As usual, it ranked much further down in the young adult demographics, placing eighth in 18-49 behind Kings-Warriors and six additional NBA playoff games.
In viewership and the key adult demographics, NASCAR dominated the FOX Sunday night line-up of animated series — none of which averaged even one million viewers.
In other NASCAR action, Saturday’s Xfinity Series race at Talladega averaged a 0.8 and 1.31 million on FS1, down from last year’s race on FOX (1.3, 2.06M). The lead-in ARCA race drew a 0.34 and 522,000, down slightly year-over-year (0.35, 532K).
(Nielsen estimates from ShowBuzz Daily 4.25)
