For the second straight race, NASCAR saw a slight increase in the overnights.
Sunday’s Food City 500 drew a 4.2 overnight rating on FOX, up 2% from a 4.1 last year, but down 16% from a 5.0 in 2008.
Compared to the Kobalt Tools 500 two weeks earlier, Sunday’s race was down 13% from a 4.8.
The 4.2 overnight is the second-lowest for the Food City 500 since the race moved to FOX in ’01. With the lone exception of 2007 (4.9), the race drew at least a 5.0 overnight each year from 2001 to 2008.
Despite the increase in overnight ratings, there is no guarantee that the final rating will also be up from last year.
For example, the aforementioned Kobalt Tools 500 drew a 4.8 overnight rating, up from a 4.7 the previous year. However, the final rating of 5.3 was lower than last year’s 5.5.
Entering Sunday, 36 of the last 46 NASCAR Sprint Cup telecasts had seen declines in final ratings.
