Sunday’s Toyota Owners 400 marked another drop in television viewership this season for NASCAR. According to Sports Media Watch, the race came in posting a 2.9 Nielsen rating, down 6% from last year’s 3.1 for the rain-delayed Richmond event a year ago. That race was run on Sunday as well following a rainout.
After that event, the racetrack petitioned and was granted a move back to a Sunday day race for its spring race. But the marketing ploy didn’t work; not only were many seats in the stands empty but the rating marked the lowest for the April Richmond race since its move to FOX in 2007.
That 2.9 number also came in as the second lowest rating in the history of NASCAR on FOX for non-rainout events. It’s slightly ahead of the rain-delayed Texas race from earlier this month that scored a 2.5 rating.
The race came in second in overall popularity for the weekend compared to other sporting events. NASCAR finished behind the Warriors vs. Rockets NBA playoff game that scored a 5.4 rating.