Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series O’Reilly Auto Parts 500 at Texas Motor Speedway became the race with the lowest television rating of any spring/summer NASCAR Cup Series event in the tracks’s history, according to Sports Media Watch. But while it sounds bad, the race is actually the second-highest viewed NASCAR Cup Series Race on cable in 2020.
The race, which was aired on NBCSN, scored a 1.7 rating and averaged 2.73-million viewers. When compared to this exact race a year ago, it equates to a 23% drop in rating and 25% drop in viewership, but it’s not a true comparison.
Last year’s race was held in March — not July — and was broadcast on network television on FOX.
A more true comparison for this event, would be the New Hampshire race, which was run on the same weekend a season ago on cable. This weekend equated to only a two-percent drop in viewership from the New Hampshire last July (2.8-million viewers).
In addition, Sunday’s race also scored a higher rating than last year’s fall event at Texas Motor Speedway, which was a part of the Playoffs. Last year’s November Texas event, which was aired on NBCSN, scored a 1.4 rating and had 2.2-million viewers.
To view the ratings for past NASCAR Cup Series races, feel free to check out our Television ratings page, which features NASCAR Cup Series TV ratings from 2012 to present:
