Fox averaged 6.32 million viewers for the return of live NASCAR Cup Series racing yesterday from Darlington Raceway, marking a 38% uptick over the last race from Phoenix prior to the shutdown (4.58 million on March 8). The audience from Darlington also was a three-year Cup Series high for races outside the Daytona 500, dating back to Atlanta in '17 (6.6 million viewers the week after Daytona). That Atlanta race from ’17 also was the last time any non-Daytona race topped 6 million viewers. The last time any Darlington race drew over 6 million was in ’14 (6.04 million in mid-April).
There was a 47% increase among males 18-34 as well (compared to last race before shutdown), which was the largest increase among any demo for Fox yesterday. Greensboro led all markets with a 9.5 local rating, followed by Charlotte (9.1) and Indianapolis (8.9). Some of the biggest markets in the country also saw large gains compared to the last race before the shutdown, with L.A. up 150%, S.F.-San Jose-Oakland up 130% and Chicago up 127%. The race was almost the same exact audience as “The Last Dance” episode 1 premiere (6.34 million across ESPN/ESPN2).
For a recent iRacing comparison, the best audience for NASCAR was 1.34 million viewers on Fox/FS1 on March 29 around a virtual Texas Motor Speedway.
