Sprint Unlimited places 3rd in Saturday’s TV Ratings

After plunging on Fox Sports 1 last year, overnight ratings rebounded for NASCAR's Sprint Unlimited on FOX. The NASCAR Sprint Unlimited earned a 3.2 overnight rating on FOX Saturday night, up 78% from last year on FS1 (1.8) but down a tick from 2013 (3.3). Despite the big increase, the 3.2 is the lowest ever for the Sprint Unlimited on the FOX broadcast network. Head-to-head, the Sprint Unlimited trailed coverage of NBA All-Star Saturday Night on TNT (4.4).

It is possible that NASCAR could come out ahead in the final tally; NASCAR typically sees an increase from the overnight to the final rating, while the NBA telecast dropped from a 4.4 to a 3.4. In other NASCAR action, Daytona 500 qualifying drew a 2.1 overnight on Sunday – up 24% from last year (1.7), up 11% from 2013 (1.9), and tied with 2009 as the highest for the event since 2008 (2.4).