Following Kyle Larson’s triumph. Nascar recorded the second-highest audience on

Nascar navigated the breaking news of US president Joe Biden’s decision to withdraw from reelection to post its second-highest viewership on NBC this season.

Confirmed:

• Kyle Larson’s win averaged 3.63 million viewers despite being shifted to USA Network for its final 30 minutes
• The race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) saw a 28 per cent increase in viewers and peaked at 4.5 million
• In Formula One, the Hungarian Grand Prix averaged 1.1 million viewers on ESPN, a three per cent increase on last year
• IndyCar is yet to publish audience information for last weekend’s race in Toronto or the week prior at Iowa Speedway
• Context:
• Nascar’s Brickyard 400 at IMS had its biggest viewership in four years, which is particularly amazing given the Biden news. In NBC’s coverage of the stock car racing series, only the Chicago Street Race has had a higher average viewership (3.87 million). Nascar is already averaging 3.15 million viewers for its 2024 season, down from 3.18 million at the same point last year.

  Formula One has already had six consecutive races with over one million spectators, demonstrating the momentum the championship is experiencing now that the struggle at the front is over. However, this year’s 1.1 million viewers are down from 1.23 million in 2022.

• While Nascar and Formula One have excellent ratings, IndyCar’s prospects are not looking so bright. The series has not replied to BlackBook Motorsport’s demands for viewership data for the Iowa Speedway doubleheader, while last weekend’s race in Toronto was a streaming-only event. For reference, this year’s Indianapolis 500 was the most-streamed IndyCar race of all time, yet only 286,000 people watched.