Since ‘Drive to Survive’ propelled Formula 1 to heights previously unachieved by any motorsport category, the pressure was on NASCAR officials to follow suit. That being said, America’s favorite motorsport category is in its resurgence era.

Numbers continue to soar higher as each weekend of action-packed oval racing unfolds, and this time around, even the feeder series is giving other major American sports a run for their money on television! After Talladega Superspeedway delivered action-packed Cup and Xfinity races, a few key TV ratings reveal an optimistic future for the sport’s viewership numbers.

Talladega gives the Xfinity Series a major boost, whilst the Cup Series leaves room for improvement

It’s no secret just how chaotic both Xfinity and Cup Series races were at Talladega Superspeedway. The GEICO 500 gave us an incredible victory for Denny Hamlin’s 23XI Racing with Tyler Reddick, despite his #11 JGR itself having a miserable outing. But what stole the show before the Cup Series race was rookie Jesse Love’s intense win in the AG-Pro 300 as he tussled with Riley Herbst in double overtime.

Naturally, the TV ratings for both series reflected similar stories. According to SBJ’s Adam Stern, FOX Sports 1 brought in 4.307 million viewers for the GEICO 500. Compared to 2023, this was a drop of 5% in viewership, and the rating fell as well, from 2.6 to 2.4 this year. That said, Talladega was still one of the top races of the season, with viewership numbers falling behind Daytona, Atlanta, and Vegas.

Though this may not have reflected a sudden improvement, the fact that the Cup Series race could maintain considerable viewership and fell only behind two NHL playoff games wasn’t a poor start. But where NASCAR’s steady progress back toward the viewership top lies is with the Xfinity Series.

Compared to last season, the Xfinity Race brought in a range of 0.9 to 1.6 million viewers on Saturday, a major increase of 12#. But that wasn’t the only impressive statistic. Xfinity Insider Bryan Mapes shared how the feeder series had put NHL playoff numbers to shame, “Xfinity Series was up 12% to 1.6M viewers and was watched more than every NHL playoff game.”

The NASCAR community sidelines Cup to hail the Xfinity Series as the ‘best series’

A well-informed fan on X shared, “What is potentially more impressive about the Xfinity ratings is the regular presence of little to no fall off in the younger 18-34 demo from the overall rating, which can’t be said for Cup where that fall off greatly stands out. I believe that was some of the reasoning for taking to the CW and its apparent younger demo.”

Dreaming of the day where Xfinity on the CW outscores Cup on FS.” But one thing was for sure: the Xfinity Series was surely giving the fans what they wanted. 

Series” as another gave NASCAR some solutions – “