Fox earned an 8.7 fast-national Nielsen rating and 15.6 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Daytona 500, up 13% and 17%, respectively, from a 7.7 rating and 13.3 million viewers for last year’s race. The telecast peaked at a 10.9 rating from 5:00-5:30pm ET during the race’s green-white-checkered flag finish. Fox saw gains among all key male demos, as well as the best rating among teen males in six years. Dayton, Ohio, topped all markets with a 20.4 local rating while Greensboro finished second with a 20.1 rating (Fox). Ratings for the Daytona 500 "were up in nine of the nation's 10 largest markets." Among the top 10 markets, Chicago saw the largest increase from '10, up 61%, while L.A. was second, up 46% from last year (LATIMES.com, 2/21). YAHOO SPORTS' Jay Busbee wrote the ratings continue the "positive momentum of a remarkable weekend" for NASCAR (SPORTS.YAHOO.com, 2/21).
| DAYTONA 500 TV TREND OVER LAST 15 YEARS |
| YR | NET | RATING | VIEWERS (000) | WINNER |
| '11 | Fox | 8.7 | 15,600 | Trevor Bayne |
| '10 | Fox | 7.7 | 13,294 | Jamie McMurray |
| '09 | Fox | 9.2 | 15,958 | Matt Kenseth |
| '08 | Fox | 10.2 | 17,800 | Ryan Newman |
| '07 | Fox | 10.1 | 17,530 | Kevin Harvick |
| '06 | NBC | 11.3 | 19,355 | Jimmie Johnson |
| '05 | Fox | 10.9 | 18,685 | Jeff Gordon |
| '04 | NBC | 10.6 | 17,796 | Dale Earnhardt, Jr. |
| '03 | Fox | 9.8 | 16,835 | Michael Waltrip |
| '02 | NBC | 10.9 | 18,780 | Ward Burton |
| '01 | Fox | 10.0 | 17,081 | Michael Waltrip |
| '00 | CBS | 8.4 | 12,936 | Dale Jarrett |
| '99 | CBS | 9.6 | 14,518 | Jeff Gordon |
| '98 | CBS | 8.6 | 13,044 | Dale Earnhardt |
| '97 | CBS | 8.6 | 12,833 | Jeff Gordon |
