Fox' Daytona 500 Overnight Rating Up From Last Year, But Down From '15 Figure

Fox yesterday drew a 6.5 overnight rating for Kurt Busch's last-lap win at the Daytona 500, a figure that is mixed from recent years. This year's race, which saw the introduction of a new Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series competition format and had a later 3:00pm ET start, was up 7% from a 6.1 overnight for last year's 1:30pm start, when Denny Hamlin beat out Martin Truex Jr. in what was the closest Daytona 500 finish ever. However, the 6.5 overnight is down 11% from a 7.3 for Joey Logano's win in '15. Dale Earnhardt Jr. won the event in '14, but that race had six hours of weather delays and did not finish until close to 11:30pm (5.6 overnight). Jimmie Johnson's win in '13 drew a 10.0 overnight, but that race also featured a then-rookie Danica Patrick on the pole for the race. Earnhardt yesterday wrecked in lap 105 after leading eight laps, while Johnson and Patrick were taken out in wrecks in lap 128 (event has 200 laps). Meanwhile, Fox' pre-race coverage was up 16% from last year.