This year marks the second season of NASCAR’s groundbreaking 2025 media rights deal, and fans are curious to see just how year two will stack up with year one. This article will walk you through the 2026 season race by race, comparing viewership week by week to NASCAR’s 2025 season.
The goal of this article is to keep a tally of each race on the 2026 NASCAR Cup Series schedule. Our tracker will also compare head-to-head each week’s race (or closest comparable race) to its 2025 counterpart.
This tracker will mostly focus on how NASCAR fared week to week, regardless of schedule changes, such as Watkins Glen, which shifts from the fall in 2025 to 2026.
To understand how a race stacked up against itself from the prior season, turn to our race-by-race list to see the totals of compared weeks. Look below to the season as a whole section, which only counts races up to a specific week.
Throughout this tracker, alongside breakdowns by race type, broadcast availability, and Chase races, there will be notes about any potential delays or changes to the broadcast network or the race weekend.
For tracks like Chicagoland, which replaces the Chicago Street Circuit, their race will be compared head-to-head with last season’s most comparable race. In Chicagoland’s case, that would be the 2025 Chicago Street Race.
Race
2025 Viewership
2026 Viewership
Bowman Gray Clash
3.077 Million
2.349 Million
Daytona Duels
1.837 Million
1.835 Million
Daytona 500
6.761 Million
7.489 Million
Atlanta (Spring)
4.586 Million
4.487 Million
Circuit of the Americas
4.132 Million
3.933 Million
Phoenix (Spring)
2.820 Million
2.841 Million
Las Vegas (Spring)
2.771 Million
3.011 Million
Darlington (Spring)
2.517 Million
2.429 Million
Martinsville (Spring)
2.422 Million
2.394 Million
Bristol (Spring)
2.054 Million
1.945 Million
Kansas (Spring)
2.319 Million
2.926 Million
Talladega (Spring)
4.041 Million
3.967 Million
Texas
2.560 Million
2.286 Million
Watkins Glen
1.850 Million
1.928 Million
All-Star Race
1.965 Million
1.800 Million
Charlotte (Spring)
2.720 Million
2.649 Million
Nashville
2.010 Million
2.060 Million
Breaking Down and Analyzing the 2026 Season as a Whole
Through Week 17 (2025 Nashville and 2026 Nashville)
In this section, we will break down and dissect the 2026 season week by week and compare it to the 2025 season.
This breakdown will look at factors like broadcast locations, such as on network TV stations, like NBC or FOX, and cable networks like USA, FS1, and TNT, and compare this year’s viewership to the 2025 season’s viewership.
We will also break down the schedule by race types, with select looks at all 39 NASCAR Cup Series events, points-paying races, exhibition races, and chase races.
A breakdown of these select stats can help show trends surrounding the sport. For example, one storyline to follow from this section throughout 2026 is a comparison of NASCAR’s 2026 cable viewership with 2025’s cable viewership, as this is the second season of NASCAR’s expanded Cable race schedule.
Each subsection is based on the current race weekend to date, as opposed to a race, so in the event that a race has changed weekends, there is no worry, as this section compares this season’s viewership up to the same week from the 2025 season.
Not all data from 2025 is present in this section, as it will be added as the season progresses week to week.
All Races (17 Total in 2026):
This includes all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
2026 (17 Races to Date) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 49.684 Million/2.923 Million Per Race
2025 (17 Races to Date) Total Viewership to Date: 51.346 Million/3.020 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -1.662 Million (-3.237%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.098 Million (-3.237%)
Points Races (14 Total in 2026):
This only includes the 2025 and 2026 seasons’ 36 points-paying races week-to-week as they occur.
2026 Total/Average Viewership to Date: 43.700 Million/3.121 Million Per Race
2025 Total/Average Viewership to Date: 44.467 Million/3.176 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.767 Million (-1.725%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.055 Million (-1.725%)
Cable Races to Date (9 Total in 2025):
This only includes races on FS1, TNT, and USA, including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
2026 (11 Races) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 20.229 Million/2.248 Million Per Race
2025 (10 Races) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 23.969 Million/2.397 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -3.740 Million (-15.603%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.149 Million (-6.226%)
Network Races to Date (6 Total in 2026):
This only includes races on FOX and NBC, including all points races, exhibition races, and qualifying races as they occur.
2026 (6 Races) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 25.151 Million/4.192 Million Per Race
2025 (5 Races) Total Viewership to Date: 22.597 Million/4.519 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): +2.554 Million (+11.302%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.328 Million (-7.248%)
Streaming Races to Date (2 Total in 2026):
This only includes races on Prime Video as they occur.
2026 (2 Races) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 4.304 Million/2.152 Million Per Race
2025 (2 Races) Total Viewership to Date: 4.780 Million/2.390 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.476 Million (-9.958%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.238 Million (-9.958%)
Exhibition/Qualifying Races (3 Total in 2026):
This is only applicable to the Clash, Daytona Duels, and the All-Star Race as they happen.
2026 (3 Races) Total/Average Viewership to Date: 5.984 Million/1.995 Million Per Race
2025 (3 Races) Total Viewership to Date: 6.879 Million/2.293 Million Per Race
Total Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.895 Million (-13.011%)
Average Viewership Difference (2026 vs 2025): -0.298 Million (-13.011%)
Comparing the 2025 and 2026 Season Race by Race
Nashville Superspeedway – Cracker Barrel 400 – Prime Video
2025 Viewership: 2.060 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 2.010 Million Viewers***
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.050 Million Viewers (-2.427%)**
**In 2026, the start of the race at Nashville was delayed due to the weather
***In 2026, Nashville had two different ratings using different methods. The 2.01 million viewers are via Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel system. Panel-only data, the one used by NASCAR, gave the race 1.655 million viewers.
Charlotte Motor Speedway – Coca-Cola 600 – Prime Video
2025 Viewership: 2.720 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 2.649 Million Viewers**
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.071 Million Viewers (-2.610%)
**In 2026, the Coca-Cola 600 had two different ratings using different methods. The 3.06 million viewers are via Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel system. Panel-only data, the one used by NASCAR, gave the race 2.649 million viewers.
Dover Motor Speedway – NASCAR All-Star Race – FS1
2025 Viewership: 1.965 Million Viewers**
2026 Viewership: 1.800 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.165 Million Viewers (-8.397%)
**In 2025, the NASCAR Cup Series All-Star Race was at North Wilkesboro Speedway.
Watkins Glen International – Go Bowling at The Glen – FS1
2025 Viewership: 1.850 Million Viewers**
2026 Viewership: 1.928 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.078 Million Viewers (-4.216%)
**In 2025, week 14 of the NASCAR Cup Series season was at Kansas Speedway and drew 2.319 million viewers. This number will be used in our breakdown above.
Texas Motor Speedway – Würth 400 presented by LIQUI MOLY – FS1
2025 Viewership: 2.560 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 2.286 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.274 Million Viewers (-10.703%)
Talladega Superspeedway (Spring) – Jack Link’s 500 – FOX
2025 Viewership: 4.041 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 3.967 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.074 Million Viewers (-1.831%)
Kansas Speedway (Spring) – AdventHealth 400 – FOX
2025 Viewership: 2.319 Million Viewers*
2026 Viewership: 2.926 Million Viewers**
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.607 Million Viewers (+26.175%)
*In 2025, the spring race at Kansas Speedway was week 14 and aired on the cable network FS1.
**In 2025, week 11 of the NASCAR Cup Series season was at Bristol Motor Speedway and drew 2.054 million viewers. This number will be used in our breakdown above.
Bristol Motor Speedway (Spring) – Food City 500 – FS1
2025 Viewership: 2.054 Million Viewers**
2026 Viewership: 1.945 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.109 Million Viewers (-5.307%)
**In 2025, week 10 of the NASCAR Cup Series season was at Darlington Raceway and drew 2.517 million viewers. This number will be used in our breakdown above.
Martinsville Speedway (Spring) – Cook Out 400 – FS1
2025 Viewership: 2.422 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 2.394 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.028 Million Viewers (-1.156%)
Darlington Raceway (Spring) – Goodyear 400 – FS1
2025 Viewership: 2.517 Million Viewers**
2026 Viewership: 2.429 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.088 Million Viewers (-3.496%)
**In 2025, week 8 of the NASCAR Cup Series season was at Homestead-Miami Speedway and drew 2.464 million viewers. This number will be used in our breakdown above.
Las Vegas Speedway (Spring) – Pennzoil 400 presented by Jiffy Lube – FS1
2025 Viewership: 2.771 Million Viewers
2026 Viewership: 3.011 Million Viewers
Viewership Comparison (2025 vs 2026): -0.240 Million Viewers (-7.971%)
