- What percentage of fans liked the Daytona 500 NASCAR race this year?
- While some races saw a drop in viewership, fans liked what they saw.
- Talladega race was a disappointment for drivers, teams and fans.
Year two of NASCAR’s 2025 media-rights deal has become a measuring stick for fans and stakeholders, with numbers swinging from one week to the next like a car hanging loose off Turn 4.
But one question kept hanging in the air: do television ratings match what fans actually thought about the racing itself? That riddle recently found an answer through polls conducted by Jeff Gluck and the breakdown of those numbers by a NASCAR visual analyst.
After every race weekend, Gluck posts a poll on his X account and asks his 296.2K followers whether they thought the race was good. The responses have now been compiled into a chart that shows a clear picture of which races landed with fans and which ones left viewers cold, proving once again that ratings and race quality do not always ride shotgun together.
Know which one of the 11 points races so far was least liked by NASCAR fans.
At Bowman Gray Stadium, the Clash drew 3.077 million viewers last year compared to 2.349 million this season. Yet only 43 percent of fans responding to Gluck’s poll called it a good race. The numbers showed that people tuned in, but many left with a sour taste.
The Duel races at Daytona International Speedway held steady, moving from 1.837 million viewers last season to 1.835 million this year. Meanwhile, the Daytona 500 climbed from 6.761 million viewers to 7.489 million. According to Gluck’s poll, 73.9 percent of fans said they enjoyed the race. It seems the Great American Race still knows how to draw a crowd and keep people on the hook.
At Atlanta Motor Speedway, viewership dipped from 4.586 million to 4.487 million. Yet despite the decline, Atlanta emerged as the crown jewel in fan voting. A staggering 92.6 percent of respondents said it was a good race, making it the highest-rated event of the season (so far) according to viewers. The ratings needle moved down, but fans were singing from the rooftops once the checkered flag dropped.
The race at Circuit of the Americas saw viewership slide from 4.132 million to 3.933 million. Fan approval also took a hit, with only 62.8 percent of voters calling it a good race. Many viewers appeared frustrated by the toll the heat took on drivers, as conditions around the track became part of the storyline.
At Phoenix Raceway, the audience ticked up from 2.820 million viewers to 2.841 million. The race also found favor with fans, as 85.1 percent approved of the event where Ryan Blaney took the win despite pit-road issues while outlasting Christopher Bell, who led the most laps.
The race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway climbed from 2.771 million viewers to 3.011 million, but only 61.7 percent of fanatics gave it the thumbs up.
At Darlington Raceway, the numbers dropped from 2.517 million viewers to 2.429 million. Despite that, 77.2 percent of fans who watched the race enjoyed it, particularly after Tyler Reddick captured his fourth win of the season by leading 77 laps.
The race at Martinsville Speedway dipped slightly from 2.422 million viewers to 2.394 million. Fan response, however, hit the skids. Only 49.2 percent of voters said they liked the race, meaning more than half the audience walked away unimpressed.
At Bristol Motor Speedway, the race averaged 1.945 million viewers with a 1.09 rating. As noted by Braylon Breeze of RaceDay Report, it marked the first time a Fox Sports NASCAR race fell below the two-million mark without a rain delay. The rating itself climbed by three percent, yet total viewership fell by five percent compared to last year’s Food City 500 audience.
The network was left juggling numbers that pointed in opposite directions. Still, Gluck’s poll showed that 67 percent of fans enjoyed the Bristol race, where Kyle Larson led the most laps, and what appeared to be a showdown with Ryan Blaney turned into a breakthrough moment for Ty Gibbs, who grabbed his first NASCAR Cup Series win after leading 25 laps.
The next stop at Kansas Speedway pulled in 2.926 million viewers compared to 2.319 million last year, but only 50.8 percent of fans thought the race was worth the price of admission.
Then came Talladega Superspeedway. Despite NASCAR making tweaks to stage breaks in an effort to curb fuel-saving races, many fans still viewed the event as one of the weakest superspeedway races in recent memory. The race averaged 3.967 million viewers compared to 4.041 million last season, while 45.5 percent of poll respondents said they did not enjoy the race.
Last weekend’s event at Texas Motor Speedway drew 2.286 million viewers compared to 2.560 million last year. Yet despite the drop in audience, 72.2 percent of viewers who tuned in said they appreciated the race, where Chase Elliott picked up the win.
Next on the calendar is Watkins Glen International, where all eyes will fall on Shane van Gisbergen as he attempts to defend last year’s victory, when he crossed the line 11.116 seconds ahead of Christopher Bell. Watkins Glen now waits in the wings to see whether it can deliver both numbers and applause at the same time.
