Hampered by a nearly two-hour rain delay, ESPN’s second NASCAR race of the season was down from last year.
Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Good Sam RV Insurance 500 from Pocono earned a 3.4 U.S. rating and 5.485 million viewers on ESPN, down 11% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (3.8, 6.202M), and down 11% in both measures compared to 2008 (3.8, 6.191M).
The 2009 race was postponed due to rain.
The race was delayed by one hour and 40 minutes due to rain (nascar.com, 8/8).
Excluding 2009, this marks the lowest rated and least-viewed edition of the race over the past decade (from 2001 to 2011).
Despite the lower numbers, the race finished as the week’s most-viewed sporting event on cable — even topping Sunday night’s Yankees/Red Sox game on ESPN, the most-viewed MLB telecast on the network in four years.
(This year’s numbers from ESPN)
