Texas race breaks IndyCar record on ESPN2

Robbie Knievel jumps Hummers before a large Indy Car crowd Saturday night in Texas

The Bombardier Learjet 550k, won by Scott Dixon on Saturday night, ranks as the highest-rated and most-viewed IndyCar Series race broadcast in ESPN2 history.

The broadcast produced a 1.0 cable rating and reached 939,160 households to make it the most successful ever on ESPN2. The Bombardier Learjet 550k surpassed the 0.85 rating for this year’s season-opening race at Homestead that previously situated the top spot.

The Bombardier Learjet 550k also was the second most-viewed IndyCar Series race in ESPN and ESPN2 history, trailing only the 2005 event at Kansas Speedway. That race drew a 1.05 rating and attracted 970,450 households on ESPN.

The 1.0 rating for the Bombardier Learjet 550k also was a 44 percent increase over last year’s race that drew a 0.7 rating and reached 639,952 households.

“A full field of 28 cars as a result of the unification and the thrilling three-wide racing fans expect from Texas Motor Speedway translated into a very successful broadcast for our television partners at ESPN," Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “We also put forth more effort on the national level in terms of promotion and we hope that had an effect on the amount of viewers as well. This is a positive step forward for the league post-unification, but there is a lot more work to do on a national scale to make the IndyCar Series more prominent among sports fans."