NASCAR Chicagoland Nationwide TV Rating

ESPN’s live telecast of the STP 300 NASCAR Nationwide Series race at Chicagoland Speedway on Sunday, July 22, earned ESPN’s second-highest cable rating this season and saw a 57 percent ratings increase from last year’s event.

The telecast earned a 2.2 household coverage rating (1.9 U.S. rating), averaging 2,818,857 viewers, according to the Nielsen Company. Last year’s race, which was run on a Saturday night, earned a 1.4 household coverage rating.

The rating was ESPN’s highest on cable since the season-opening event at Daytona that earned a 3.3 rating and had the largest cable viewership ever for a NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

ESPN’s pre-race NASCAR Countdown program for the Chicagoland race also had a large ratings increase, jumping 133 percent from a 0.6 last year to a 1.4 on Sunday.

Across ESPN, ESPN2 and ABC, NASCAR Nationwide Series races are averaging a 1.5 U.S. rating, up seven percent from this point in 2011 and up 15 percent from 2010.