In NASCAR’s first race back after more than a two-month lay-off due to the coronavirus pandemic, Kevin Harvick took the checkered flag in front of an empty set of grandstands. However, NASCAR becoming one of the first professional sports back on live television produced really good television ratings.
Sunday’s The Real Heroes 400 at Darlington Raceway produced a 3.7 rating, with 6.323-million viewers.
This is up from Phoenix Raceway in March, the final race before the COVID-19 shutdown, which recorded a 2.7-rating with 4.6-million viewers.
Additionally, Sunday’s race was the most-watched non-Daytona 500 NASCAR event since Atlanta in 2017.
For comparison’s sake, last fall’s Southern 500 at Darlington — a crown jewel event at the same track — only recorded a 1.14-rating with 1.85-million viewers.
This is not a direct comparison, as the Southern 500 was contested on NBCSN (a cable network) as opposed to FOX, and the Southern 500 had a lot of sports competition including college football, MLB and NFL preseason.
