The Izod Indycar Series is averaging 2.3 million viewers through five races across ABC and Versus, up 28% from 1.8 million viewers through the same point last year (six races). The series saw its signature Indianapolis 500 telecast average 6.5 million viewers this year, up 12% from last year's record-low 5.8 million viewers. Last Saturday's Firestone Twin 275s from Texas Motor Speedway averaged 525,000 viewers on Versus, making it the net's most-viewed IndyCar telecast since it began airing IndyCar races prior to the '09 season. During the '08 season, the last year that ESPN/ESPN2 aired IndyCar races, only one telecast finished with fewer than 525,000 viewers, an 11:00am ET replay of the Indy Japan 300 that had already aired live the night before.
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'11 IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
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DATE
|
RACE
|
NET
|
START (ET)
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
3/27
|
Honda GP of St. Petersburg
|
ABC
|
12:30pm
|
1,840
|
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4/10
|
Honda Indy GP of Alabama
|
Versus
|
3:36pm
|
304
|
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4/17
|
Toyota GP of Long Beach
|
Versus
|
4:13pm
|
323
|
|
5/2
|
Sao Paolo Indy 300*
|
Versus
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
5/29
|
Indianapolis 500
|
ABC
|
12:04pm
|
6,711
|
|
6/11
|
Firestone Twin 275s (Texas)
|
Versus
|
8:52pm
|
525
|
|
|
|
|
|
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NOTE: * = Race excluded from '11 figures after rain out on Sunday. Race was run on the following Monday on Versus.
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'10 IZOD INDYCAR SERIES
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|
DATE
|
RACE
|
NET
|
START (ET)
|
VIEWERS (000)
|
|
3/14
|
Sao Paulo Indy 300
|
Versus
|
11:54am
|
411
|
|
3/28
|
Honda GP of St. Petersburg^
|
ABC
|
n/a
|
n/a
|
|
4/11
|
Indy GP of Alabama
|
Versus
|
3:49pm
|
310
|
|
4/18
|
Toyota GP of Long Beach
|
Versus
|
4:21pm
|
490
|
|
5/1
|
Road Runner Turbo Indy 300 (Kansas)
|
ABC
|
1:30pm
|
969
|
|
5/30
|
Indianapolis 500
|
ABC
|
1:00pm
|
5,793
|
|
6/5
|
Firestone 550k (Texas)
|
Versus
|
8:04pm
|
518
|
|
|
|
|
|
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NOTE: ^ = Race excluded from '10 figures after rain out on schedule Sunday. Race aired the following Monday on ESPN2.
