For the first time in 2018, NASCAR got some good ratings news last weekend.
The NASCAR Cup Series playoffs at Charlotte earned a 1.95 rating and 3.218 million viewers on NBC, up 6% in ratings and 13% in viewership from last year (1.8, 2.86M) and just the fourth Cup Series race all season to post an increase, joining Michigan, Chicagoland and Watkins Glen.
Ryan Blaney‘s win at the so-called “Roval” — a road course configuration at the oval Charlotte Motor Speedway track — was the first of those four races to increase without aid of a scheduling change. Michigan and Watkins Glen moved up from cable last year to broadcast this year; Chicagoland moved from September (opposite the NFL) to July.
Excluding rainouts, Sunday’s race was the highest rated and most-watched at Charlotte since 2014 on ABC (3.1, 5.1M). It was the first race at Charlotte not to be affected by rain since 2014 (last year’s start was moved up an hour). In a rarity, the story is less positive when including rainouts. The 2016 race, which was postponed from Saturday night to Sunday afternoon, had a 2.1 and 3.221 million on both NBC and NBCSN.
The telecast, which peaked with 4.4 million viewers from 5:15-5:30 PM ET, had a combined TV and streaming audience of 3.24 million.
Sunday’s results are by far the best bit of ratings news NASCAR has had in a brutal season and a sign that on-track changes can in fact move the needle.
With that said, the numbers remain on the lower end of the historical spectrum. Excluding a 2015 rainout on NBCSN (1.6, 2.75M), the race topped only last year as the lowest rated at Charlotte since at least 1999 and the least-watched since at least 2001.
The race was the top non-football sporting event of the weekend, topping its Ryder Cup lead-in (1.6, 2.47M).
[Numbers from NBC Sports PR 10.2, Nielsen via ShowBuzz Daily 10.3]
