“Embarrassing”; “NHRA has personality”: Fans erupt as NHRA surpasses NASCAR in most-viewed motorsports weekend chart

The NASCAR Cup Series’ playoff opener at Las Vegas introduced extra frustration than pleasure off the monitor. As numbers got here in, the head of inventory automotive racing finds itself behind the NHRA on the weekend’s motorsports viewership chart, regardless of the high-stakes Round of 8 race.

The newest scores deepened issues over NASCAR’s declining TV presence throughout what ought to be its most-watched stretch of the 12 months. According to figures shared by journalist Adam Stern, the NHRA’s broadcast on FOX averaged 1.872 million viewers, narrowly surpassing NASCAR’s 1.717 million on USA Network. Xfinity Series on The CW drew 745,000, whereas IMSA’s occasion on NBC rounded out the checklist with 440,000.

He posted the numbers on X:

“With an NFL lead-in of 7.2 million viewers, NHRA slightly topped NASCAR on the most-viewed motorsports chart this past weekend.”

For comparability, final 12 months’s Las Vegas playoff race attracted 2.3 million viewers on NBC’s important community – a 25% drop in only one season. The knowledge displays a broader sample that has haunted the 2025 postseason.

Across seven playoff races to this point, not one has crossed the two-million mark. The South Point 400 is now the most-watched playoff race, because the 2025 playoffs common the bottom postseason viewers since 2004.

Fans didn’t maintain again as soon as the Las Vegas figures went public. Many took to X to focus on what they imagine are deep-rooted issues with the game’s picture and accessibility. One fan wrote:

“NHRA has personality. NASCAR, as hard as they try to convince us otherwise, is too vanilla, too corporate. Kyle Busch was a great natural villain — that’s gone. Denny tries, but he turns people off. Then there’s the kit car, the charter BS…”

Another remark pointed to the fractured broadcasting schedule, which is doubtlessly a significant trigger behind the autumn in scores, in accordance with followers and insiders alike. They stated:

“That’s embarrassing. I hope NASCAR is happy they took the biggest possible payday to put their races on too many channels and locked them behind cable subscriptions.”

Xfinity’s regular efficiency on The CW, with just one main community, drew extra reward, with a number of followers noting that the collection constantly breaks 1,000,000 viewers. Others echoed the sentiment.

Between inconsistent scheduling, scattered TV protection, and restricted free-to-air visibility, followers say NASCAR’s media mannequin has created confusion and diluted loyalty. The deal, which runs by means of 2031, offers them stability, but additionally locks them right into a format followers more and more view as inaccessible.

Kenny Wallace weighs in as NASCAR’s playoff scores proceed to droop

The Las Vegas race was probably the most considered within the playoffs this 12 months, with each playoff spherical registering year-over-year declines. NFL continues to dominate the Sunday slots, drawing greater than 20 million viewers weekly, and Formula 1 steadily climbs, as Cup Series struggles to maintain even 1.7 million.

Amid the outcry, former driver and analyst Kenny Wallace shared his perspective on why the NHRA outperformed NASCAR that weekend. Speaking on Coffee with Kenny, Wallace stated:

“First of all, we got good views this week. It was 1.7 million people that watched NASCAR. So, the question is this, what the hell did the NHRA do to get so many views? That’s the question. Why was NHRA so popular this weekend? Well, first of all, it was one of the first times in ages they was on prime time… and there was a football game going on and the football game got over or it was leading into it… In other words, when the NHRA race was coming on, I think there was an NFL game getting ready to start and it got like friggin 7.9 million views.” (5:07 onwards)

Wallace’s level displays that sturdy lead-ins and broadcast publicity stay important, and the Cup Series’ shift towards cable and streaming has weakened its mainstream visibility. With solely 9 Cup races – 5 on FOX and 4 on NBC – airing on main networks this 12 months, the majority of the season is unfold throughout platforms like USA Network, Prime Video, FS1, and TNT, all with smaller attain.

Meanwhile, the Xfinity Series on The CW has quietly flourished, crossing 1,000,000 viewers in over half of its races this 12 months and seeing its greatest numbers since 2014. This is unquestionably all the way down to the truth that the CW is a broadcast community out there over-the-air to all houses. By distinction, the Cup Series’ reliance on cable channels, which require a paid subscription, has remoted a piece of its core viewers, significantly informal viewers.

In the aftermath of this droop, NASCAR executives are reportedly revisiting each the playoff construction and broadcast strategy forward of the 2026 season.