NASCAR's TV ratings trump F1 for second time in a row, still missing stronghold on younger audience

For the second time this year, a NASCAR and F1 race went live on US soil concurrently last Sunday, October 22, with the former trumping the premier open-wheeler series in TV Ratings.

The Homestead-Miami Speedway hosted the Round-of-8 NASCAR Cup Series playoff race while the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas played host to the US Grand Prix. According to a report by Jon Lewis of Sports Media Watch, the Cup Series beat F1 in terms of overall viewership for the weekend.

The 4EVER 400, broadcast on cable, brought in 2.250 million average viewers on NBC, a 2.6% drop from the previous year's race as reported by Austin Konenski. Meanwhile, the US GP on ABC attracted only 882,000 viewers.

While the Cup Series race attracted more than double the viewers of the F1 race, the split in key demographics was fairly equal. In the age group of 18-49, over 339,000 viewers watched the 4EVER 400, with 142,000 from ages 18-34.

The United States GP raked in 298,000 viewers from ages 18-49 and 115,000 from ages 18-34. It is a small victory for NASCAR, as it has successfully beaten the global racing series in the key demographics.

Although the American Stock car racing series is missing the stronghold in the younger fanbase, it is a significant improvement over the first head-to-head race in spring, when the Miami GP and the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway were broadcast concurrently.

While NASCAR had an upper hand in the overall viewership, F1 beat the stock car series in key demographics. Over 625,000 viewers in the age group of 18-49 watched the F1 race while the Cup Series event attracted only 430,000 viewers in the same demographics.

While Formula 1 is gradually increasing its foothold in the US with three annual races, the American stock car series seems to be trending in the right direction.

With NASCAR securing a new deal for video games and a Netflix docuseries on the horizon, there is hope for attracting newer and younger audiences.

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Christopher Bell thrives under NASCAR playoff pressure

Since the advent of the playoff format in NASCAR, winning a race has become ever more important. While many drivers falter under pressure to win a race, Christopher Bell seems to come alive under such circumstances.

The #20 Joe Gibbs Racing driver secured two clutch wins at Charlotte and Martinsville last season to reach the championship four. This year, too, Bell took another clutch win at Homestead to advance into the season finale.

Speaking after his most recent win at Miami, the 28-year-old said, via motorsport.com:

"I certainly thrive on pressure, and I love it. I live for those type of moments. That’s why last week hurt so bad because I live for those moments. Whenever you have an opportunity to be great ... It didn’t work last week, and that really, really hurt me."

Christopher Bell is also the only driver to make the championship four in 2022 and 2023. He will now fight for his maiden title at Phoenix Raceway on November 5.