NASCAR Talladega TV Rating (Update)

Big crowd at Talladega Sunday, but the TV ratings are dropping like a lead sinker.

UPDATE The NASCAR Geico 500 Cup race from Talladega Sunday earned a 3.5 final rating, drawing in 5.9 million viewers. It was the seventh year in a row that the ratings for the Talladega race have been flat or declined. Overall, the race fell by 13 percent in ratings and 11 percent in viewership from last year. Worse than that, this was the least watched spring race at Talladega Superspeedway since 2001, and the lowest rated in nearly 20 years, when it previously aired on cable. Even a rainout in 2006 ranks higher than the 2017 race, pulling a 4.4 rating and 7.2 million viewers. With NASCAR's two biggest heroes retiring soon – Dale Jr. and Danica Patrick – we could see a further 50% decline in ratings.

05/08/17 Fox yesterday afternoon drew a 3.4 overnight rating for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race from Talladega, down from a 3.8 for the same race last year, which started an hour earlier. With the drop for Talladega, seven Cup races have now seen year-over-year declines. The race also drew a 3.8 in ’15.