NASCAR Nationwide Series Season Ends on High Ratings Note; ESPN2’s Ratings Up for 2008

A season of improved ratings and viewership for the NASCAR Nationwide Series on ESPN2 ended on a high note this past weekend as the Ford 300 at Homestead-Miami Speedway delivered a 1.6 household coverage rating, an increase of 33 percent from the 1.2 rating for last year’s race that also aired on ESPN2.

ESPN2’s coverage of 23 NASCAR Nationwide Series races during the 2008 season averaged a 1.5 rating, a seven percent gain from last year’s 1.4 average. The coverage also saw a double-digit increase in the Males 25-54 demographic, averaging 1.3 vs. 1.1 last year.

The event at Homestead-Miami Speedway, in which Clint Bowyer wrapped up the series championship, averaged 2,096,644 viewers, up 38 percent from last year’s telecast.

Live NASCAR racing returned to the ESPN networks in 2007 and the NASCAR Nationwide Series immediately became ESPN2’s highest-rated series.

ESPN2 airs highlights of the NASCAR Nationwide Series awards banquet on Sunday, Nov. 30, at noon ET.

NASCAR Season Reviews Air Sunday on ESPN2

The recently-completed NASCAR Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series seasons will be reviewed in a pair of half-hour special programs airing Sunday, Nov. 23, at 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2. The Sprint Cup season review program airs first, followed at 1:30 p.m. by the Nationwide Series review.

ESPN and ABC aired the final 17 races of the Sprint Cup season, while ESPN2 was the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season.

About NASCAR on ESPN:

ESPN and ABC have comprehensive, multi-platform coverage featuring telecasts of the final 17 NASCAR Sprint Cup races, including the 10-race “Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup” on ABC. Additionally, ESPN2 is the home of the NASCAR Nationwide Series all season. All programming is produced totally in high definition. ESPN’s comprehensive, multimedia NASCAR coverage extends to ESPN.com, SportsCenter, ESPN the Magazine, ESPN Classic, ESPNEWS, ESPNRadio and ESPN International, among other ESPN platforms. ESPN aired 262 NASCAR Cup Races over a 20-year period starting in 1981 and returned to NASCAR coverage in 2007. The network's award-winning, live flag-to-flag coverage on ESPN has been honored with 18 Sports Emmy Awards, as well as many industry honors. It is widely credited for helping to popularize the sport nationwide. NASCAR races have appeared on ABC for decades, beginning with broadcasts on the award-winning Wide World of Sports program in the 1960s.

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