NASCAR Slowly Making Its Way Back to the Top After Toppling the NHL Playoff Season

Published 04/24/2024, 12:56 AM EDT

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

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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.

.@FoxTV got 4.307 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race @Talladega, down 5% from 4.554 million last year but still the second most-watched sport of the weekend after two @NBA playoff games. pic.twitter.com/Qvyic0S1VV
— Adam Stern (@A_S12) April 23, 2024

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.”

Xfinity Series was up 12% to 1.6M viewers and was watched more than every NHL playoff game. https://t.co/2CaqwYGNEu pic.twitter.com/HEXMb5C38G
— Bryan Mapes (@IAmMapes) April 23, 2024

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After looking at how NASCAR is slowly making its way back to the top of viewership ratings, it’s safe to say that all the action-packed races as of late have paid off. However, the Xfinity Series’ success over the premier race has left many fans questioning the state of the Cup Series.

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

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Throughout the past few seasons, the Xfinity Series has slowly been gaining an edge over its premier counterpart owing to the Next Gen car. For many, racing in the feeder series is just plainly more entertaining. And evidently, the demographic statistics reflect the same.

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.”

With the Xfinity Series’ CW deal fast-tracked, the NASCAR community was bubbling with excitement over the prospect of better streaming than even the Cup Series! Users had rather unfortunate predictions for the Cup Series: “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.

One fan shared their optimism; “Like the news about the @NASCAR_Xfinity Series” as another gave NASCAR some solutions – “Most entertaining racing series on television right now. Desperately need NASCAR to give the cup guys an 800 horse Xfinity car and run with it”

At the end of the day, was the Cup Series’ Achilles Heel also the Next Gen car? One user alluded to just that, “That’s because THAT car can be raced” as another continued to sing praises of the feeder series: “Best series and it’s not even close”

Now that the Xfinity Series is clearly gaining an edge over the Cup Series with respect to both fanfare and viewership ratings, do you think NASCAR and FS1 need to step things up quickly?

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Written by:

Kabir Bajaj Ahmed is an F1 & NASCAR Writer at EssentiallySports. Known for his storytelling and extensive research skills, he has covered multiple stories on Dale Earnhardt Jr and his legendary dad, allowing readers to relive the thunderous days of 'The Intimidator'. Being a racer himself, Kabir can resonate with the motorsport world better than most.

Edited by:

Shivali Nathta

NASCAR Slowly Making Its Way Back to the Top After Toppling the NHL Playoff Season

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

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

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