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TV Ratings Announced For The 2025 Daytona 500

Originally posted on The Spun | By Hunter Hodies | Last updated Feb 19, 2025 7:12 PM ET

The 2025 NASCAR season got off to a roaring start on Sunday.

The Daytona 500 kicked off the new season and even though fans had to suffer through a long rain delay, they still watched until the end.

It ended up being a thrilling finish and William Byron won his second consecutive Daytona 500, becoming only the fifth driver to win two straight Daytona 500s.

The ratings came in on Wednesday morning and NASCAR has to feel pretty happy after seeing them. The race saw 6.761 million viewers on FOX, up 13% from last year's Daytona 500.

The race also peaked at 7.959 million viewers from 2:06-2:15 p.m. ET and it was the most-watched sporting event of last weekend.

Exciting #Daytona500 outlasts rain and competition for FOX Sports weekend sports viewership victory! pic.twitter.com/yCqpA2VWvq
— FOX Sports PR (@FOXSportsPR) February 19, 2025

NASCAR fans on social media are a bit mixed with these ratings.

"Really can’t thank you viewers enough for hanging with us. Just know it’s appreciated. Rain or shine or under the lights, it’s good to know you’re out there watching!" one tweet read.

"The Daytona 500 did indeed beat viewership for the NBA All-Star Game," another tweet read.

"Despite dealing with a lengthy rain delay in the beginning, the Daytona 500 delivers impressive ratings to kick off the season," another tweet read.

"That’s a terrible number, considering the viewership for the 500 peaked at over 19 million in 2006 and has declined ever since," another tweet read.

"Sunday evening is the most watched TV night of the week, so 6.7 million viewers on an OTA is really not very good at all. I know it's extremely important to some to believe NASCAR is on an upswing, but it really isn't," another fan tweeted.

"For a major rain delay, it’s good ratings, overall not great though. Fox dropped the ball on promotion for the Daytona 509 big time and the price to be paid was millions of viewers," another fan tweeted.

The NASCAR Cup Series will make its next stop in Atlanta for the Ambetter Health 400 on February 23. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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