There’s good and bad news for NASCAR and Fox Sports regarding Sunday’s Daytona 500 ratings.
According to Sports Media Watch, this year’s race averaged a 3.4 rating and 6.76 million viewers, which is up 13% from 2024. However, that was a low bar to clear, as rain pushed last year’s event to Monday, which is always a drag on ratings.
Yet Sunday’s race also faced its own challenges in the battle for viewership. Rain delays forced most of the race to be run in the window between roughly 6:15 p.m. and 9:45 p.m., pitting it directly against NBC’s Saturday Night Live 50th Anniversary Special and TNT’s NBA All-Star Game.
Sports Media Watch reports that the afternoon segment of the race, which began just after 2 p.m., drew 7.96 million viewers. It’s possible that those ratings were helped by President Donald Trump’s attendance at the speedway, which was prominently featured during NASCAR on Fox’s pre-race show.
President Donald Trump has a message for drivers ahead of the Daytona 500, as shown on the Fox broadcast. pic.twitter.com/tiTbmIjO2H
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 16, 2025
Despite the 13% increase in viewership over 2024, this year’s race posted the third-lowest ratings of any Daytona 500, topping only last year and the 2021 race, which finished after midnight because of a rain delay.
NASCAR’s TV ratings have been trending down for several years now, but it’s tough to conclude ratings for its marquee race, the Daytona 500, given the impact of rain in recent years. Sports Media Watch notes that the race has been run in its scheduled time slot only twice since 2019, in 2022 and 2023.
