Run as scheduled for the first time in three years, NASCAR’s Firecracker 400 hit multi-year highs on NBC.
NASCAR Sprint Cup racing from Daytona earned a 3.4 final rating and 5.7 million viewers on NBC Saturday night, up 26% in ratings and 43% in viewership from last year’s race, which was run on a Sunday and delayed several hours due to rain (2.7, 4.0M). The 2014 race was postponed a full day from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, earning a 2.4 and 4.0 million on TNT.
Brad Keselowski‘s win, which peaked at a 3.9 and 6.5 million from 10:30-11 PM ET, ranks as the highest rated Firecracker 400 since 2013 (3.5) and the most-watched since 2012, when coverage aired on both TNT and TruTV (6.2M).
Of the 14 Sprint Cup races this season that can be compared to last year, it was the sixth to post an increase in ratings or viewership and the first to hit a multi-year high. Of the nine races on broadcast, it was just the second to post an increase in either measure.
Despite the improved numbers, Saturday’s race still ranked relatively low historically. Excluding postponed races, the 3.4 rating is tied as the third-lowest for the Firecracker 400 since at least 1997 — ahead of only last year and 2009 (3.1). Viewership was the fourth-lowest since at least 2001, ahead of last year (4.0M), 2009 (5.3M) and 2013 (5.695M to 5.662M). When the race previously aired on broadcast from 2001-06, it topped a 5.0 rating and 8.0 million viewers each year.
For posterity, Saturday’s race had a 3.3 rating in the metered markets — up 27% from last year’s 2.6.
(Sat. numbers from NBC Sports Group Press Box, Programming Insider; overnights from NBC via The Futon Critic)
