This past Saturday, the Quaker State 400 at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta marked NASCAR’s return to TNT for the first time since July 2014, drawing 1.608 million viewers. NASCAR driver Ryan Blaney addressed the comparison to Formula One, emphasizing NASCAR’s superiority in weekly viewership despite criticisms aimed at the sport’s ratings.
Blaney tweeted,
“We crush the parade every week.”
He further highlighted the difference in audience size, stating,
“So, we got 500k more folks tuned in, Why do people make it out to be a bad thing? We crush the parade every week, so why do we get down in the dumps by this? NASCAR is currently crushing it.”
Mixed Reactions to Viewership Statistics
While NASCAR saw a solid turnout of 1.6 million viewers for the Atlanta race, journalist Jeff Gluck expressed frustration over these figures for what he described as an exciting Saturday night event. He pointed out that the Formula One Austria race, premiering alongside the “F1” movie, attracted 1.1 million viewers—a record for that event but only up slightly from last year.
Despite these observations, Blaney’s comments underline NASCAR’s consistent lead over F1 in the United States, countering narratives of decline for stock car racing’s popularity.
NASCAR’s Strong Season Performance in U.S. Ratings
Looking at broader viewership trends, last September’s NASCAR playoff race in Atlanta matched 2.02 million viewers while competing directly with the NFL on a Sunday. Additionally, a Sunday night race held the previous year at Nashville Superspeedway attracted 3.24 million viewers on NBC, further illustrating NASCAR’s strong television presence.
In contrast, Formula One races this season, aired across ESPN, ESPN2, and ABC, have averaged around 1.3 million viewers. After 18 NASCAR events this year, the average audience stands at 2.88 million, demonstrating NASCAR’s clear dominance in American motorsport viewership.
Upcoming Broadcasts and Expectations
The NASCAR season’s next phase will bring four races on TNT, starting with Sunday’s Chicago Street Race, all scheduled for Sunday afternoons. Following these, the remaining 14 events will transition to NBC and USA Network coverage. Viewership patterns across these platforms will be closely watched to see if NASCAR continues its strong performance in television ratings compared to F1.
