Glendora, CA (June 13, 2017) – The post-NASCAR timeslot has been a boon for the NHRA.
Airing immediately after NASCAR Cup Series coverage, taped NHRA eliminations from New Jersey earned a 1.0 final rating and 1.6 million viewers on Fox Sports 1 Sunday, up 43% in ratings and 52% in viewership from last year (0.7, 1.1M) and the largest NHRA audience on record (dates back to 2002).
The previous high for the NHRA was 1.4 million for last year’s Atlanta race. In just its second season televising the NHRA, Fox Sports has generated the series’ five largest audiences, four of which took place immediately after NASCAR Cup Series action.
To put the numbers in perspective, Sunday’s telecast earned a larger audience than every IndyCar race — excluding the Indy 500 — since 2011.
On a weekend featuring all four major racing series, the NHRA trailed only NASCAR’s Cup Series and easily topped the Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix on NBC (0.8, 1.2M) and IndyCar from Texas on NBCSN (0.35, 561K).