The Coke Zero Sugar 400 lived up to the hype. With the stakes being high in the final race of the regular season, the second Daytona race of the year saw multiple wrecks and 19 drivers taking the lead at the ‘World Center of Racing’. Ultimately, Team Penske’s Ryan Blaney secured his second triumph, winning the race by a margin of 0.031 seconds. But despite all the action, drama, and controversy, the TV figures didn’t paint a pretty picture when the checkered flag was waved.

According to Sports Business Journal’s Adam Stern, broadcaster NBC’s ratings and viewership numbers fell from last year, leaving fans puzzled at the potential reasons behind the dwindling figures. However, it’s not all doom and gloom for the Cup Series, as Jeff Gluck revealed a redeeming statistic for the final race of the regular season.

NASCAR’s viewership dilemma goes from bad to worse

The numbers simply don’t add up. Ryan Blaney delivered one of the best finishes on Saturday night’s Coke Zero Sugar 400, which was one of the best races at Daytona International Speedway in years. With two playoff spots up for grabs, the anticipation was high going into the race, and Harrison Burton’s shocking win last year raised the expectations even higher. The race also came just one week after Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond Raceway, which 83.1% fans thought was a good race.

But despite the hype, the TV figures painted a completely different picture. According to Adam Stern, the final race of the regular season generated a 1.76 rating and averaged 3.297 million viewers for NBC. That’s a significant dip from the 3.5 million viewers and 1.95 rating from the 2024 Coke Zero Sugar 400. However, while the viewership numbers fell, The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck revealed that the race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday was the most-watched NASCAR fixture since Talladega Superspeedway in April.

Sure, there are some explanations for the dip in numbers. Fans have been frustrated by the Next-Gen car’s performance on superspeedways, and Shane van Gisbergen’s dominance on road courses just a few weeks ago didn’t help. However, considering that the final few playoff spots were on the line, the fall in viewership and ratings is concerning for NBC, even though Saturday night’s race still had the second-highest ratings for all sporting events on broadcast television over the last week, finishing just behind the PGA Tour Championship.

But that doesn’t mean the NBC wasn’t hoping for better numbers. With the NFL schedule kicking off in September, the competition will only get tougher for NASCAR. Perhaps the time has come for the sanctioning body to get back to the drawing board and take a deep assessment of what’s not working. Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series continues to impress, getting 1.092 million despite the race at Daytona being held on Friday. That’s a 33% increase in comparison to last year. As for fans, they came up with their own theories about the mystery behind the numbers.

Fans weigh in on falling ratings and viewership figures

As expected, NASCAR fans were not going to be left too far behind when it comes to voicing their opinions. Considering how eventful the race was, one Reddit user couldn’t figure out why the race fared worse compared to 2024, and even went on to say, “That’s sad, this year was a much better race.” Echoing that sentiment, another fan shared his positive review for the race, saying, “That’s unfortunate to see a drop in the ratings. This year’s race was a lot of fun and had a great finish.”

For one fan, NBC Sports only had itself to blame for the falling numbers. Criticizing the network’s broadcast quality, the stock car racing enthusiast wrote, “It’s not helping that NBC had just mostly given up on Motorsports and is putting in minimal effort to.” Another social media user urged the sanctioning body to take prompt action to rectify the ongoing issues, going on to write, “Here’s hoping NASCAR sees a drop in ratings for one of their biggest races and actually acknowledges that some things need to improve.”

One fan couldn’t help but criticize the Next-Gen vehicle for NASCAR’s issues. Ever since the vehicle was introduced in 2022, fans have criticized its aero package and the race quality on superspeedways and short tracks. Pointing at the glaring issue and the sanctioning body’s lax approach to the situation, the Reddit user wrote, “Playoffs and a summer of an incredibly frustrating car probably had something to do with it. NASCAR is doing everything but working with their core fans.”