NASCAR Richmond TV rating (Update)

UPDATE The Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series race at Richmond Int'l Raceway last Sunday finished with 4.58 million viewers, marking the third-lowest Sunday Cup Series audience for Fox in the last decade. The race from Texas on April 9 this season drew 4.53 million viewers, while the spring race from Dover Int'l Speedway in '14 also was around 4.5 million viewers.

For the '17 season to date, two Cup Series races have seen audience gains, including the Daytona 500, while six races have seen year-over-year declines. The Bristol Motor Speedway race is excluded as it was rained out and ran on a Monday (Austin Karp, Assistant Managing Editor).

In Richmond, Michael Phillips reports the "historic low" for the '17 spring race at RIR was "down more than 1 million viewers from last year and only about half of what the race drew" in '08. NASCAR's decline on TV is "especially concerning given that the race was available on free, over-the-air TV in an attractive time slot." But even with "sagging ratings, NASCAR remains an attractive TV property."

NASCAR also has "time to figure out the issues." The current TV contract with Fox and NBC "runs for another five years." However, the impending retirement of Dale Earnhardt Jr. is "unlikely to help matters." RICHMOND TIMES-DISPATCH

05/02/17 Fox earned a 2.7 overnight for Sunday's Monster Energy Series Toyota Owners 400 at Richmond down 7% from a 2.9 for last year's race.