The Chicago Street race received its fair share of criticism heading into the weekend. Several people across the board had already deemed it to be an incorrect move by NASCAR to have a street race. However, after Sunday’s race at the inaugural round of the Grant Park 220, it seems that the race was a true success for NASCAR, at least as per the criteria Denny Hamlin stated before the race.
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Recently, the overall viewership numbers for the historic race were released. For NASCAR’s inaugural street race, the promising numbers indicate that the event can indeed be considered a success.
Significant achievement in ratings for NASCAR after Grant Park 220
Official numbers revealed that the race in Chicago for NASCAR attracted an average of 4.63 million viewers on NBC. This impressive viewership ranks it as the most viewed NASCAR race on the network in six years and second only to the Daytona 500 for the current year.
NASCAR’s first-ever street race in Chicago averaged 4.63 million viewers on NBC.
That makes it the network’s most-watched NASCAR race in six years and the 2nd most-watched NASCAR race this year behind the Daytona 500.
Huge numbers for NASCAR 📈 pic.twitter.com/7UYBFDwASD
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) July 3, 2023
A subsequent analysis from RACER revealed that NBC Sports’ coverage of the Chicago race garnered a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 4.795 million viewers, as per Nielsen’s data. This viewership spanned both NBC and its streaming service, Peacock.
Since the 2017 Indianapolis race (5.647 million viewers) the Chicago street race has been the highest-rated Cup Series event on the network. Additionally, since the Daytona 500 attracted 8.173 million viewers on FOX, the Chicago race has held the top spot for viewership among NASCAR Cup Series races on any network.
Denny Hamlin believed ratings to be the success denominator for Chicago
Before the race, Joe Gibbs Racing driver, Denny Hamlin, had remarked how the ratings would be the determining factor behind the overall success of the race. Hamlin had been quoted saying, “It’s (Chicago Street Race) success is going to be whether they (fans) show up for the race and whether they watch it on TV.”
He was not wrong. While the racing itself was interesting, the only way to see if there was genuine interest in the event was to look at the television ratings that followed. Turns out, the race was a resounding success.
