Daytona Nationwide TV rating

ESPN’s live telecast of the season-opening NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday, Feb. 23, continued the Nationwide Series’ trend of strong ratings and viewership on ESPN networks as it was the No. 1 sporting event of the weekend on cable television.

Coming off three consecutive good ratings years for the series on ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, the Daytona race earned a 2.5 household coverage rating (2.2 U.S. rating), averaging 3,360,122 viewers.

Last year’s race set a record as the most-viewed Nationwide Series race ever on cable with 4.4 million viewers (3.3 household coverage rating) and while the 2013 race did not match that, it was the third-highest viewership for the race since ESPN returned to live NASCAR telecasts in 2007.

The race earned high ratings in several markets traditionally associated with racing, with Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem, N.C., leading the way with an 8.0 rating. The Greenville/Spartanburg, S.C., market was second with a 6.4 rating, followed by Indianapolis at 6.3, Charlotte at 6.1 and Richmond, Va., at 5.1.