An average of more than 6.32 million viewers across the country watched NASCAR’s return to racing Sunday, a 38% increase over the audience for the last race before the season was suspended by the coronavirus pandemic.

Fox Sports, which televised The Real Heroes 400 from Darlington Raceway, said the viewership was the highest in more than three years for any NASCAR Cup Series race other than the Daytona 500.

Sunday’s race was NASCAR’s first since about 4.6 million viewers watched the FanShield 500 at Phoenix Raceway on March 8. By mid-March, all of the major U.S. sports leagues and events had shut down.

The race at Darlington, S.C., drew a 3.7 rating across the nation’s 56 metered markets Sunday, meaning 3.7% of homes tuned in on average. The rating was significantly higher in the Atlanta TV market: 5.3.

The markets with the five highest ratings for the race were Greensboro (9.5), Charlotte (9.1), Indianapolis (8.9), Nashville (6.7) and Jacksonville (6.4).

About the Author

Keep Reading

Georgia State fell to 1-9 on the season and remained winless in Sun Belt play after a 30-18 home loss to Marshall on Saturday. (Stan Awtrey/AJC)

Credit: AJC

Featured

WABE has cut staff and programming to accommodate the loss of $1.9 million in annual funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting, which Congress defunded this month. (Rodney Ho/AJC 2025)

Credit: Rodney Ho/AJC