TV Ratings: NASCAR's first-half numbers are in

First-half viewing numbers are in for the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, and they are being described as a "mixed bag."

SportsBusiness Journal reports that the Cup series to date is down 12 percent in viewership compared to the first half of 2016, down from an average of 5.6 million to 4.9 million viewers. The Daytona 500 was up five percent, but eight of 14 races studied declined by double-digits. Saturday night's Cup series race on NBCSN drew a 1.6 rating and averaged 2.7 million viewers, down from 2016's 1.9 rating and 3.2 million viewers.

"It's a bit of a mixed bag," Steve Phelps, NASCAR executive vice president and chief global sales and marketing officer, told SBJ. "There are certainly people who would say that, "Hey, NASCAR is down.' I would say that we're actually not down; we're down in a particular metric, but there are other metrics where we're up and up significantly."

Saturday's rain-delayed Xfinity Series race pulled in a 0.65 rating and 975,000 viewers on NBCSN.

Sunday afternoon's Verizon IndyCar Series race from Iowa drew a 0.37 rating and 534,000 viewers, with qualifying showing a 0.30/415,000 viewers, identical to the numbers the race drew in 2016.

Formula 1's Grand Prix of Austria managed a 0.23 rating and average of 330,000 watching on CNBC – less than 2016's race at Silverstone, which started five hours later and averaged 394,000 viewers/0.23.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix from Canadian Tire Motorsport Park scored 191,000 viewers, up 26 percent from 151,000 viewers in 2016.

Fox Sports says the NHRA is averaging 735,000 viewers so far this season, up slightly from last year's 733,000-viewer average. The Mello Yello Drag Racing series live eliminations from Chicago drew a 0.34 and averaged 534,000 viewers, up from last year's 0.33 and 500,000 viewers.