On April 11, officials announced that transition would occur almost five months earlier than the original plan because NBC Sports had agreed to exit early from the deal.

“As The CW prepares to be the new broadcast home of the NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2025, we want to thank our partners at the league and at NBC Sports for welcoming the network into the NASCAR broadcast family and for the early opportunity to showcase these thrilling final eight Xfinity Series races of the season,” said Dennis Miller, President of The CW Network. “We can’t wait to give racing fans an early preview of all the exciting action the NASCAR Xfinity Series has to offer on The CW and we look forward to establishing the network as a new destination for live motorsports.”

The stars of the #XfinitySeries are coming to @TheCW starting this fall!

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) April 11, 2024

The move by NBC to exit early left many fans wondering about the status of the broadcast team. Dale Earnhardt Jr. is already gone. Leigh Diffey will be replacing Rick Allen as the play-by-play announcer after the Olympics. Jeff Gluck of the Athletic reported that Allen, Steve Letarte and Jeff Burton will stay in place.

It’s a surprising move and one that makes you think there might still be more to come.

The post NASCAR Fans Get Good News on Xfinity Series Coverage in 2024 appeared first on Beating and Banging.

“I’m having fun,” Harvick admitted. “I’ve really enjoyed being in the booth and I never thought that we would have as much fun as we’re having, but we have fun and it’s fun to be able to watch it from a different angle.”

Kevin Harvick Addresses Fan Criticism of Fox’s NASCAR Coverage

While Harvick has been enjoying himself and is solid as a new addition at Fox, the network still has its issues and receives its share of complaints about the broadcast quality. The driver-turned-broadcaster responded to one specific complaint.

“My favorite thing that people don’t understand is they think we can cover every story,” he said. “It’s impossible to cover every story. I promise you. We cover what’s happening in the front a lot.

“I saw somebody mad at us on Twitter because we didn’t show whatever happened at the end (of Martinsville) with Justin Haley and Austin Cindric racing for 25th. And it’s like, ‘Well, we got a pretty prominent car leading the race, won the race, interviews, everything. It happens — bang, bang, bang. Wish we could show everything, but we can’t.”

Kevin Harvick Calls Out Conspiracy Theorists for ‘Dumbest’ Comment

Kevin Harvick, Clint Bowyer, and Mike Joy regularly sang the praises of Hendrick Motorsports during the April 7 race broadcast from Martinsville. That’s because the winningest organization in NASCAR was celebrating its 40th anniversary on the track where Geoff Bodine won for the first time. More than 1,500 employees attended. 

Unsurprisingly, the Hendrick cars were also running well in the race and eventually finished 1-2-3, with William Byron collecting his third win of the 2024 campaign while Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott finished second and third, respectively. It was the first time in the race’s storied history that one organization claimed all three spots on the podium.

All of it was just too much for some fans to believe and they expressed that disbelief on social media, suggesting the race was rigged or scripted. Harvick had something to say about it. 

“My favorite is, ‘Oh, we knew Hendrick was going to win from the beginning. They fixed the race,'” he said. “Oh my gosh. How in the world would you ever fix the race? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” 

Life in the broadcast booth might be a shift from life in the race car for Harvick, but he still hears the nonsense from the fans. In fact, it might be even louder. 

The post Kevin Harvick Addresses Fan Criticism of Fox & Takes Aim at Certain Fans appeared first on Beating and Banging.

The post NASCAR TV Ratings Continue to Impress appeared first on Beating and Banging.

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.

The post NASCAR Continues Hot Streak in Television Ratings appeared first on Beating and Banging.

While both more motorsports saw fan interest dramatically uptick following the release of each respective docuseries, there’s a single stat in NASCAR that offers a good indicator of why that interest won’t wane in the future like it has with F1. It’s a simple stat and it’s measured in seconds.

NASCAR Margin of Victory

NASCAR is known for close finishes, but the 2024 season has delivered time and time again and in dramatic fashion.

It started at the season-opening Daytona 500, which saw William Byron edge his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman by a razor-thin margin of .006. The following weekend, Atlanta said hold my beer as the 1.5-mile hybrid superspeedway produced one of the most thrilling finishes when Daniel Suarez ended an entertaining race with a three-wide photo finish, his car finishing .003 ahead of Ryan Blaney for the third-closest finish in the sport’s 76-year history. Kyle Busch finished .007 behind.

The following week at Las Vas provided another entertaining race where Kyle Larson pulled out to an advantage, but Tyler Reddick reeled him in at the end of each stage and the race, but still came up short, finishing .441 behind the 2021 Cup champion when the checkered flag waved.

In Week 4 at Phoenix, Christopher Bell was one of the front-running Toyotas and stunk up the show, winning by the largest margin of the year at 5.465 over second-place Chris Buescher.

And finally, in the most-recent race at Bristol, Denny Hamlin held off his Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. in a wild day affected by excessive tire wear and won by 1.083.

As the graphic indicates, when you combine all of those margins of victory together, it totals just shy of seven seconds at 6.998.

Now, when you compare that number of all five races combined with the first two F1 races of the season and it’s pretty eye-opening. Max Verstappen has won the first pair of races by 22 and 13 seconds, respectively, at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia.

In other words, there’s not even a comparison between the two motorsports when it comes to finishes and margins of victory. Another item of note — each NASCAR race has had a different winner.

So new fans might be tuning into NASCAR for the 2024 season because the Netflix docuseries got their attention like it did with F1 several years ago, but based on the overall racing product, it would make sense that these folks will stay interested in NASCAR simply because, like most sports, there’s uncertainty before each race about who is going to win, and as we’ve seen throughout the first five races, whoever it is, it’s going to be a finish so close we might not know who it is until we have a look at a stop-action photo.

The post This Single Stat Shows Why Fans Are Tuning in for NASCAR and Not F1 appeared first on Beating and Banging.

Based on the television ratings we’ve seen in the first four weeks of the season, all of these fans have enjoyed what they’ve seen and keep coming back for more.

According to Fox Sports PR’s X account, two weeks ago the network recorded 4,546,000 viewers for 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.

Last weekend at Las Vegas, revealed similar trends in the ratings. Sunday’s Cup race in Sin City saw 4.36 million viewers, an 8.5% increase over 2023 and the 3.991 million viewers that tuned in for the spring race in Sin City. Once again, it was 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 this week’s numbers are in, and it’s a familiar refrain. Fox had 4.028 million viewers for Sunday’s Cup race from Phoenix, up 19% from the 3.389 million that tuned in last year. And a trend is developing as 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

NASCAR’s Competition Losing Ground

While NASCAR is clearly riding a wave of momentum, its motorsports competition is trending in the opposite direction. Sunday’s IndyCar opener on NBC from St. Petersburg pulled in 975,000 viewers, down 18% from 1.189 million in 2023. F1 was no different. Airing on ESPN2 instead of ESPN, the Saturday race from Saudi Arabia recorded 920,000 viewers, down a whopping 40% from the 1.523 million viewers last year for the Sunday race.

.@ESPN-2 got 920,000 viewers for Saturday's @F1 race from Saudi Arabia, down 40% from 1.523 million viewers last year, though that event was on the main ESPN channel and held on a Sunday. pic.twitter.com/taJVx2trK4

— Adam Stern (@A_S12) March 12, 2024

Over the last several years, not long after the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” debuted, F1 saw a surge in popularity in the US. It still never came close to NASCAR’s numbers, but did show steady increases. Now, it appears that interest is waning — Max Verstappen’s weekend drubbings a main contributing factor.

But don’t discount the effect of NASCAR’s little partnership with Netflix. Social media reveals many who’ve become fans following the docuseries. And now they’ve watched four races, and not only not seen dominance by one driver, but they’ve watched four different drivers win, including one winning by .003 of a second. In other words, suspense-filled entertainment.

Netflix got this kickstarted, and NASCAR has taken the wheel. It’ll be interesting to see where it goes the rest of 2024.

The post NASCAR Riding Momentum Wave With Latest Ratings appeared first on Beating and Banging.

A hell of a start to the season and exactly what NASCAR officials wanted.

Interestingly, the television numbers for the Atlanta race were released and it shows there’s definitely momentum.

Sun’s out, ratings up! Sunday’s @NASCAR Cup Series race from @ATLMotorSpdwy scored 4,464,000 viewers on FOX, up +33% over last year’s race from Atlanta and +5% over the equivalent race at Fontana pic.twitter.com/rq2JhRGZKa

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) February 27, 2024

According to Fox Sports PR’s X account, the network recorded 4,546,000 viewers for 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 sports event of the weekend.

Xfinity and Truck Series Also See Viewership Increases

While the NASCAR Cup Series is the top dog and what was featured on Netflix, no one would be surprised to see the two lower-tiered Xfinity and Truck Series benefit from the new fan interest. The TV ratings seem to confirm that. The Truck-Xfinity doubleheader on FS1 saw trucks gaining 13% over last year’s Atlanta race at 914,000 viewers while the second-tier Xfinity Series experienced an impressive bump of 17%, with 1,190,000 viewers tuning in for the second Saturday race. It ranked eighth among all sports ratings for the day.

@NASCAR’s Saturday doubleheader scores ratings gains on FS1!

@NASCAR_Trucks race from ATL delivered 914,000 viewers, up +13% from last year’s race (807,000 on 3/18)

@NASCAR_XFINITY race scored 1,190,000 viewers, gaining +17% over last year (1,019,000 on 3/18) pic.twitter.com/p51Uwr0LSS

— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) February 27, 2024

This coming weekend in Las Vegas should provide an idea if there’s a genuine increased interest because it will be the first apples-to-apples comparison, with the Las Vegas races all falling on the same third weekend like they did in 2023.

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