NASCAR is on a roll. It started with an exciting finish in the season-opening Daytona 500 and has continued five races into the 2024 Cup Series season, the latest being a wild event at Bristol that saw teams adapting throughout the day due to unexpected tire wear. Interestingly, all of that exciting action has been viewed by more fans than in 2023.
Could it be the Netflix “Full Speed” bump? Absolutely. What about Chase Elliott competing in these early races in 2024 versus last year when he didn’t because he was out due to an injury? For sure.
Regardless of why people are tuning in, the numbers are impressive.
NASCAR Has Seen Steady Viewership Increases All Year
Three weeks ago following the three-wide photo finish at Atlanta, Fox reported 4,546,000 viewers watched the race, a 33% increase over the 2023 Atlanta race and a 5% bump over the second race last year at Fontana. It was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
A week later at Las Vegas, the uptick in ratings continued with 4.36 million viewers, or an 8.5% increase over 2023. It was also the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
@FoxTV had 4.36 million viewers for the Sunday Cup Series race at Las Vegas, which was an 8.5% increase over 2023 and the 3.991 million viewers that tuned in for the spring race in Sin City. It was the most-watched sporting event of the weekend.
— Kyle Dalton (@kdsportswriter) March 5, 2024
And last week after the Cup race at Phoenix, Fox confirmed 4.028 million viewers tuned in, up 19% from the 3.389 million that tuned in 2023 and it was the most-watched sports event for a third consecutive weekend.
.@FoxTV got 4.028 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix, up 19% from 3.389 million last year and the most-watched sports event of the weekend.
🔲 Last year's race went up against the @MarchMadnessMBB selection show and @THEPLAYERS championship. pic.twitter.com/zGkNhzP9LI
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 12, 2024
Bristol Numbers Continue Trend
The 2024 spring Bristol race was a change from the past three years, which was held on dirt. And this year’s edition was not on Easter as it was in 2023. Despite those changes, the ratings are still impressive.
Fox reported 3.809 million viewers for the race on the half-mile track, a 10% bump from 2023. However, for the first time in four weeks, the Cup Series race wasn’t the most-watched sporting event of the weekend as it came in second behind the NCAA men’s selection show.
.@FoxTV got 3.809 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Cup @FoodCity 500 at Bristol, up 10% from last year's dirt race.
🔲 The race was the No. 2 sports-related program of the weekend in America after the @MarchMadnessMBB selection show, but the NASCAR race beat @THEPLAYERS. pic.twitter.com/PjthgJbXUb
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 19, 2024
It’ll be interesting to see what happens this weekend at Circuit of the Americas, the first road course race of 2024. Will fans who have started following the sport since the Netflix docuseries continue the same trend and watch at increased numbers over 2023? We’ll find out soon enough, but based on what’s happened early on in the 2024 campaign, there’s no reason to believe the increase in viewership numbers won’t continue.