- NASCAR beat Formula 1 in the latest U.S. ratings battle with 1.6 million viewers
- Ryan Blaney dismissed the negativity, calling F1 “the parade” and backing NASCAR
- Despite winning, some still questioned NASCAR’s Saturday night strategy
The NASCAR Cup Series held the Quaker State 400 on a Saturday, opening the door for Formula 1 to have Sunday all to itself. That made things a bit more interesting when it came to the ratings.
Saturday’s broadcast marked the return of the Cup Series to TNT for the first time since July 2014. It turns out 1.6 million viewers tuned in for the race at EchoPark Speedway in Atlanta, where Chase Elliott edged out Brad Keselowski, Alex Bowman and the rest of the field for a dramatic last-lap win.
Lando Norris, meanwhile, added another strong result to his season with a victory for McLaren at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Even though Formula 1 continues to grow its American fanbase, NASCAR still came out on top in the U.S. television ratings. But instead of being celebrated, that win became another source of debate.
“Ugh, Saturday night NASCAR races just can’t seem to pull numbers. NASCAR says it got an average of 1.6 million viewers for the Atlanta race,” wrote The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck. “Also, if you were wondering about F1 viewership on the F1 movie’s premiere weekend, the Austria race got 1.1 million viewers (a record for that race, but only up two percent over last year).”
That comment caught the attention of Ryan Blaney, who pushed back at the idea that NASCAR’s performance was somehow lacking.
“So, we got 500k more folks tuned in,” Blaney replied. “Why do people make it out to be a bad thing? We crush the parade every week, so why do we get down in the dumps by this? Nascar is currently crushing it.”
Blaney’s response landed well with fans who feel the sport continues to deliver, especially compared to Formula 1’s often processional races. And with TNT’s first broadcast in over a decade delivering a strong showing against F1’s much-hyped Austrian GP, the numbers seem to back him up.
While debates about media deals and scheduling will always exist, Blaney made his position clear. NASCAR, in his view, isn’t just keeping up, it’s winning.
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