Up against FIFA World Cup competition and an expedited start time, the NASCAR Cup Series race at Pocono Raceway on Prime Sports drew earned 1.66 million viewers according to Nielsen’s Big Data + Panel measurement.
The race started at 1:20 p.m., pushed up two hours due to the threat of rain, and was down 11 percent year-over-year with both years using the Big Data + Panel measurement. The broadcast peaked from 4:00 to 4:15 p.m. at 2.30 million viewers, which was up six percent over the peak viewership quarter hour in 2025.
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NASCAR Live from Victory Lane, the Prime Sports post-race show, averaged 1.03 million viewers, up from 29 percent last year.
All told, the numbers reflect justification for NASCAR and its TV partners’ reticence to revert to the 1 p.m. start times of yesteryear.
The NASCAR O’Reilly Series drew 1.11 million viewers on Saturday for The CW Network, up 28 percent from this same weekend last year, which was a race at Mexico City. It was, however, down from the 1.12 million viewers the Pocono race drew for The CW on June 21, 2025.
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This 2026 race peaked at 1.341 million viewers for the 6:45-7:00pm ET quarter hour. It’s also the 17th consecutive race with over one million viewers for NOAPS on The CW.
Some other notes from a NASCAR on Prime press release:
Through four races, NASCAR on Prime is averaging 2.29M viewers, up +5% vs. the comparable four-race average on Prime Video (2.18M). NASCAR on Prime is attracting an increase of +11% among viewers 55+ vs. last year’s comparable four-race average on Prime (1.29M vs. 1.16M). NASCAR on Prime is averaging a median age of 57.9, more than five years younger than audiences watching NASCAR Cup Series races on linear channels this season (63.1).
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