TV Ratings: IndyCar, NHRA trend up; NASCAR leads weekend

Sunday’s Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race from Pocono was the weekend’s most watched sporting event.

The Gander Outdoors 400 drew a 1.72 and averaged 2.75 million viewers on NBCSN, which was down from 2017, when the race drew a 2.17 and averaged 3.67 million viewers. Saturday’s Cup qualifying session drew a 0.39/615,000 on NBCSN, down from 0.47/735,000.

Saturday’s Xfinity Series race from Iowa scored a 0.51 and averaged 815,000 viewers on NBCSN, down from 2017, when an NBC slot earned it a 1.14 rating/1.67 million viewers.

The Camping World Truck Series race on Saturday afternoon earned a 0.30/438,000 viewers on FS1, a drop-off from last year which saw a 0.60/881,000 in the same time slot but on the FOX network.

The Verizon IndyCar Series Honda Indy 200 from Mid-Ohio, which aired on NBCSN following the Cup race, scored a 0.39 and averaged 644,000 viewers for the delayed airing, up from last year’s 0.39/576,000.

NBC Sports PR says the race is NBC Sports’ most-watched IndyCar race since Mid-Ohio in 2016 and fourth most-watched IndyCar race since 2009.

SportsBusiness Daily reports the CNBC live airing earned a .09 overnight and NBCSN got a 0.37 rating for the tape-delayed replay.

The Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix on ESPN2 earned a 0.30 rating/433,000 viewers, compared to the 0.35/508,000 it earned last year on NBCSN.

NHRA’s Mello Yello Drag Racing Series from Sonoma benefited from airing on FOX – Sunday afternoon’s action saw a 0.49 rating and averaged 750,000 viewers, compared to the 0.23/363,000 viewers it drew last year on FS1.