Daytona 500 draws highest ratings in 7 years
Yesterday I asked if Danica Patrick could help turn around NASCAR's struggling ratings with a strong performance from the pole in the Daytona 500. The question was met in the affirmative. The 2013 Daytona 500 won by Jimmie Johnson ahead of Dale Earnhardt Jr. was way up in the overnight ratings versus last year with the number moving Fox and NASCAR to do celebratory donuts in the parking lot...
The @nascaronfox #DAYTONA500 posts a 10.0/22 overnight rtg/share,+30 % over last year's 7.7/13 & best overnight rtg for the 500 since 06.
— Dan Bell (@danpbell) February 25, 2013
A 30% increase over last year is huge for the sport. As I wrote Sunday morning, the last 3 Daytona 500 had only averaged a 7.6 in ratings and yesterday's race drew a 10.0. Again, it's impossible to quantify just how much Patrick's 8th placed finish helped the ratings, but she was certainly in contention to the very end. You'd have to have your head buried pretty far into the sand to say she had no effect on the highest rated Daytona 500 since Johnson's previous victory in 2006.
The race was pretty much everything NASCAR and Fox could ask for - Patrick was right there at the end as the sport's most successful driver of this generation (Johnson) crossed the line first followed by its most popular driver (Earnhardt Jr.) of this generation.
The question for NASCAR now becomes whether or not they can hold on to some of that increased audience as the series moves away from Daytona.
“@awfulannouncing: The Daytona 500 saw its highest rating in 7 years. Can you say Mark Martin effect? http://t.co/YG2y5a6VCM” @FireIceSports
@awfulannouncing ok, read that line and nearly spit my coffee out....absolutely hilarious.
I don't know if we can give Danica all the credit here. A lot of the new viewership probably came from casual observers who wanted to see if a repeat of Kyle Larsen's Nationwide Series accident would occur. A lot of my non-NASCAR friends tuned in for that very reason.
“@awfulannouncing: New Post - Daytona 500 draws highest ratings in 7 years http://t.co/0q8IByvOX9” The Danica factor.
Are you sure it was people tuning in to see Danica or was it to possibly witness an entire car going into the grandstands in a crash?
I didn't even know Danica was racing. Fox didn't mention her name once during the entire telecast.
