Team Penske dazzled in the NASCAR Cup Series playoff race in New Hampshire. Optimizing on Joey Logano’s tire test, the organization showed true teamwork as Ryan Blaney blazed to the victory, and Logano finished in 4th place. They toppled the stranglehold of Toyota, which swept all three races in the Round of 16. Yet how many people were actually interested in this storyline? Not a lot, according to the stats – and Dale Jr. is concerned.

It has been an eclectic Cup Series season for NASCAR in 2025. From welcoming several TV partners like Amazon Prime and TNT Sports to hosting an international points-paying race in Mexico City, the sport has done a lot. Yet all its efforts have shrunk in the face of the NFL’s monster dominance. And Dale Jr. is issuing a war call.

Dale Jr. believes there is a way 

USA Network covered the New Hampshire race, and flopped. It got a 0.70 rating and 1.29 million viewers, down from last year’s 1.0 rating and 1.88 million viewers – a 13% steep drop. This declining trend continued into Kansas, which saw a drop from 1.8 million viewers last season to 1.49 million. This is in wild contrast to the NFL’s dominance. Platforms like Disney, Fox Corp., and Amazon Prime have all witnessed jumps in viewership largely due to football. According to Nielsen, NFL TV/streaming viewership is at its highest since 2015, averaging 17.5 million viewers per game. This led Dale Jr. to believe that NASCAR is on the cusp of radical change. He asked, “Is it possible that the decline in ratings has been something that’s convinced NASCAR that maybe that Hail Mary is worth it?”

Indeed, the gigantic difference has induced panic among NASCAR experts. TNT reporter Danielle Trotta suggested ending the Cup Series season before 1st September to avoid clashing with the NFL. But Dale Jr. insists that it is not necessary. “Yes, football’s kicking a– right now. Great. I’m a massive fan of NFL…But I’m not running, I’m not leaving the room,” he said in a recent Dale Jr. Download episode. Dale Jr. suggested an aggressive strategy instead of chickening out in front of the NFL. “We aren’t doing great right now, but we don’t need to leave the room. We need to get our s— together, and we need to make our way back towards some respectable numbers.”

Dale Jr.‘s aggressive strategy involved holding a Cup event right alongside the NFL. He said, “If the Daytona 500 started at noon, that’s why I was on Sunday, and then the Super Bowl was at night, would you skip the 500, or would you not go, “Holy, what an awesome sports day this is. What a day this is. Holy, you might actually get more viewers for the 500 because the Super Bowl is that night.” 

One important note to make is that only the Cup Series is faltering. The Xfinity Series, in contrast, has flourished under The CW, even when it clashed with college football on Saturdays. The first 13 Xfinity races of the season drew over a million viewers for the first time since 2014. So Dale Jr. continued, “Xfinity numbers…are going pretty freaking amazing. When we lose a couple hundred thousand or, you know, on our on our viewership, our sponsors come calling. They want to dial it back because man, the viewership ain’t there, the numbers ain’t there, the engagement ain’t there. But it’s been awesome with CW this year, and the product’s on the track’s pretty good.” 

Evidently, Dale Jr. believes that there is a way, provided there is a will. There was a mash-up of options in 2025, something that may have caused this mess.

Lost in the shuffle of too many networks

At the end of 2023, NASCAR entered a $7 billion media rights deal. It partnered with Amazon Prime, Warner Bros, and TNT Sports in a lucrative opportunity. Even though it sounded like a snazzy deal, the results have been low. Even Amazon, after receiving immense praise for features like double-box commercials and post-race coverage, hit season-low stats in Michigan with 1.77 million viewers.

What is more, the Cup Series has had six different channels and/or streaming networks broadcasting its races. That’s as many networks as Cup races were on in 2000 before NASCAR started handling TV rights directly. On the other hand, the Xfinity Series only has The CW on its radar. According to Joe Gibbs Racing veteran Denny Hamlin, that is the reason for the falling viewership.

Hamlin said recently, “You’re asking so much of your fans to just keep chasing you around all these different networks…I’m very steadfast that there’s only so many sports eyeballs. People that love sports love sports. And sometimes, you’re just watching what’s on sports. When the NFL has taken such a lion’s share of those eyes right now, record-setting every single week, people just, that’s their priority.” He continued, “If football’s not on, I think you’ve got a legitimate shot of being the next in line. But going head-to-head, it’s just going to be a tough road.”

Well, Dale Jr. believes that the road can be easier with a bold approach. Let’s wait and see if NASCAR gets on a war footing to fix its numbers soon.