Daytona 500 viewership a huge win for NASCAR

NASCAR has TV ratings momentum going into the second race weekend of the season. 

The Daytona 500 on Feb. 15 averaged 7.489 million viewers on Fox and peaked at 9.154 million during the race's closing laps, per Fox Sports. Those numbers follow a NASCAR Truck Series race on Feb. 13 (1.387 million viewers on FS1) that was the series' most-watched race since 2016 and a Feb. 14 NASCAR O'Reilly Auto Parts Series race that drew in 1.812 million viewers on the CW. 

The 2026 Daytona 500 was the most-watched iteration of the race since 2023 (8.173 million viewers) and saw an 11 percent increase in viewership compared to the 6.761 million that watched a mostly delayed 2025 running. 

Daytona 500 viewership could be momentum boost for NASCAR

NASCAR will look to capitalize on its Daytona momentum with this weekend's races at EchoPark Speedway in Hampton, Ga. The 2025 EchoPark spring race drew 4.586 million viewers on Fox, and with a new championship format, more mainstream coverage due to Michael Jordan's involvement in the Daytona 500 and solid Daytona 500 viewership numbers, it's not out of the realm of possibility that NASCAR meets or exceeds five million viewers for Sunday's Autotrader 400 (3 p.m. ET, Fox). 

All in all, NASCAR has plenty of momentum behind it as it begins a new era and tries to cater to a wider audience of fans.