NASCAR Tops Crowded Motorsports Television Landscape

NASCAR logoFrom NASCAR

NASCAR stood atop a crowded motorsports weekend with the Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY NASCAR Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway drawing 2.56 million viewers on FS1 – the highest viewership among all racing events, outperforming the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix (1.598 million viewers including pre-race coverage; 2.103 million viewers during race minutes on ABC) and IndyCar (914,000 viewers on FOX). The race topped all sporting events for the week across the FOX family of networks.

NASCAR’s strong weekend extended beyond the Cup Series, with Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series event on the CW attracting 1.002 million viewers and Friday’s NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race on FS1 pulling in 401,000 viewers. These results underscore NASCAR’s strength in delivering excitement and engaging fans across multiple racing platforms.

The Xfinity Series has topped one million viewers in each of its first 12 races this season – its longest streak to start the year since 2017 (13 consecutive races). The 12 Xfinity Series races have been the 12 most-watched telecasts on The CW this year.

In head-to-head comparisons with other major racing series, NASCAR continues to lead, reinforcing its growing relevance and unmatched ability to attract both new and long-time motorsports fans in America. With races across diverse track formats – from high-speed ovals to challenging road courses to historic short tracks – NASCAR consistently delivers uniquely compelling and highly competitive racing experiences for all types of motorsports enthusiasts and casual sports fans.

Through 12 races (including The Clash) on the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series calendar, viewership is up 13% on FOX and 16% on FS1 YoY.

Building on this momentum, NASCAR today announced an evolution of its Championship Weekend format, shifting to a rotating host-city model. Homestead-Miami Speedway will host the inaugural rotating Championship Weekend, crowning the 2026 NASCAR champion.

While the viewership numbers have been big, expect the margin of victory in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway (3 p.m. ET on FS1) to be microscopic – last year’s finish between Kyle Larson and Chris Buescher originally registered at .000 seconds prior to ultimately becoming the closest finish in NASCAR history at .001 seconds.