With a rain-delay pushing the start past 10 PM ET, NASCAR Darlington ratings unsurprisingly hit a new low.
Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race from Darlington (S.C.) averaged a 1.1 rating and 1.86 million viewers on NBCSN, down 27% in ratings and 30% in viewership from last year (1.5, 2.66M) and down 39% and 40% respectively from 2017 (1.8, 3.10M).
The race, which was scheduled to begin at 6 PM ET, did not start until after 10 PM due to inclement weather.
Outside of races that were postponed to another day, Erik Jones’ win ranks as the lowest rated and least-watched race of the season. The previous lows were a 1.2 (two races) and 2.08 million (Kentucky).
It also ranks as the lowest rated Darlington race since at least 1999 and the least-watched since at least 2001, though the weather delay provides an obvious caveat.
Rain-delay coverage earlier in the night averaged 1.26 million. Notably, the half-hour of pre-race coverage before the green flag was higher than the race itself, averaging a 1.3 and 2.14 million.
Even with the lower numbers, NBCSN is averaging 2.50 million viewers for NASCAR coverage this season (including streaming) — up 5% from the network’s first eight races last year (2.38M). It was not immediately clear if last year’s average includes a Monday rainout at the Brickyard.
[Nielsen estimates via ShowBuzz Daily 9.4 a, b; NBC Sports PR 9.4]
