This past weekend, we saw the top three national touring series of NASCAR return to Nashville Superspeedway for the 2nd annual time, and it didn’t disappoint. Let’s briefly talk about what happened over the weekend in Nashville, and what it means for the viewership on TV.
Who Won in Nashville?
To briefly discuss what happened in Nashville, on Friday night, for the Truck Series Race, Ryan Preece, driving the #17 Hunt Brothers Pizza Ford F-150 for David Gilliland Racing, won the Rackley Roofing 200. This was Preece’s second career Truck Series victory, both coming at Nashville. On Saturday, for the Xfinity Series race, Justin Allgaier, in the #7 Hellman’s Chevy Camaro for JR Motorsports, won the Tennesse Lottery 250. This was his 18th career Xfinity series victory, the 2nd on the season, and his first win at Nashville. On Sunday, Chase Elliott, in the #9 Napa Chevy Camaro for Hendrick Motorsports won the Ally 400. This was Elliott’s 15th career victory, the 2nd on the season, and his first win at Nashville.
The Importance of Sunday’s Race:
This weekend was the first race for NBC’s coverage of the season. According to Adam Stern on Twitter, NBC was averaging a 1.81 rating and 2.921 Million viewers for Sunday’s Cup Race, before the first rain delay. The inaugural Cup race from Nashville earned a 1.5 rating and 2.59 Million Viewers. Recently, NASCAR has had to move its coverage partnership with NBC to one of its’ sister channels, USA Network. This is due to NBCSN closing on Cable TV on December 31st, 2021. Before NASCAR closed its coverage on NBC for the day, it was announced that when the race would restart, whether it would be later Sunday night or Monday afternoon, USA Network would pick up the coverage. What is the problem with this? The main problem is that many people that have NBC, don’t have the USA Network on TV.
The Problems With the Rain:
If it wasn’t obvious before, NASCAR does not run oval races in the rain. NASCAR occasionally will run road course races in the rain. Goodyear has developed a rain tire for all three series in the last few years and was most notably used at Circuit of the Americas in 2021. So, what’s the main issue coming from this? The main issue, as previously stated, is that not everyone watching on NBC had the USA Network through cable. This also brings the question, should races start earlier to avoid the incoming weather? Many people believe that races should start earlier if they are expecting weather in the area. Another issue with this is that not every track has lights just in case of a night race. Another issue is that no one can control mother nature.
Was it a good race weekend?
Overall, yes, it was a good weekend for racing and NASCAR in general. It does bring up some questions that if the Nashville race for all three series’ should be run at night. Despite the hot temperatures, the at-track experience seemed to have been better than last year’s race weekend. Another question that could be asked is if the Nashville race should be moved to the Nashville Fairgrounds. Fans have been asking for years for the sport to return to the Nashville Fairgrounds. Last year, it was announced that NASCAR and the mayor of Nashville were working together to bring the fairgrounds back to the sport. Overall, Nashville put on another great racing weekend and fans are looking forward to more in the years to come!
