Merger drives IRL ratings up

UPDATE In addition, indycar.com had more than 146,000 visits during the two-day race weekend, an increase of 74.2 percent over 2007. Use of the Timing & Scoring application increased 151.69 percent. For the year, traffic at indycar.com has increased 94.65 percent, with more than 3.38 million visits. It's safe to conclude these numbers too are driven almost entirely by Champ Car fans coming over to the IRL.

04/30/08 The good news for the Indy Racing League keeps rolling in. On the heels of a significant attendance increase at the April 27 race at Kansas Speedway over last year’s event, series officials are now reporting that television ratings also were sky high.

Much of the credit, IRL officials said, goes to the hype caused by Danica Patrick’s victory a week earlier in Japan.

Sunday’s IndyCar 300 at Kansas had a 0.74 household TV viewer rating, meaning about 740,000 households nationwide tuned into the race, which aired at 5 p.m. on ESPN2. That’s up 164 percent over last year’s race, which earned a 0.28 rating at almost the same time and date a year earlier, according to New York-based Nielsen Media Research.

Perhaps even more impressive, the rating climbed steadily as the race went on, starting at 0.60 and hitting 0.98 near the conclusion of the race won by Dan Wheldon. Patrick had car problems and didn’t figure into the late stages of the race. IBJ.com

[Editor's Note: However, while IRL officials are crediting Danica Patrick's win in Japan on the ratings boost, as much or more is probably tied to the fact that all the Champ Car fans are now tuning into the races whereas in previous years they would not. Rest assured that accounts for the increase more than Danica.]