NASCAR's TV viewership stagnant despite perceived momentum around sport

There was an apparent air of momentum around NASCAR going into the 2026 season — mainly stemming from the sport's decision to do away with its playoff format and revert back to the old-school "Chase" championship system. 

The change was favored by a large majority of fans and was the format used by NASCAR during the sport's peak in popularity in the mid-2000s, though the format itself was not the reason for NASCAR's boom. 

Still, a reversion to a seemingly more legitimate title format seemed to lift a weight off the shoulders of the NASCAR world going into 2026. There was finally positive momentum behind NASCAR again, especially after the antitrust trial against the sanctioning body by a pair of Cup Series teams was settled in December. 

However, NASCAR's television viewership has not reflected that perceived momentum or indicated the sport is gaining popularity. 

What 2026 NASCAR TV viewership looks like

Of course, it will take time for NASCAR to regain significant popularity, if it does at all. One format change will not magically bring back millions of fans that once packed grandstands and watched races on television. 

But it's somewhat surprising that ratings have largely been flat or even slightly down for most races in 2026. 

To NASCAR's credit, the season-opening Daytona 500 was a ratings success, drawing 7.489 million viewers, up by nearly 700,000 viewers from a delayed 2025 iteration. 

However, the next two races at Atlanta and Circuit of the Americas both had less viewership than they did in 2025 on Fox. Atlanta had 110,000 fewer viewers than it did a season ago, while COTA had 199,000 fewer fans tune in. 

The fourth race of the season at Phoenix on FS1 did see an increase of about 23,000 viewers from 2025 to 2026, as 2.841 million fans tuned in on March 8 opposed to 2.818 in 2025, but the desert duel was the only Cup Series race of the season to see an increase in viewership aside from Daytona. 

Las Vegas, Darlington and Martinsville all had fewer viewers, though not by much, than they did a season ago. 

There's no reason for NASCAR to panic in regard to those viewership numbers. Staying flat in regard to ratings for six of seven races and seeing a viewership increase for the biggest race of the season is not a bad thing. 

But it is surprising that NASCAR is yet to see a consistent string of small viewership increases for races at a time where it feels like the sport is slowly regaining some of the mojo it once had.