Martinsville had two very different TV outcomes over the NASCAR weekend. The CW averaged 928,000 viewers for Saturday’s O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race, up 27% from last year. However, NBC drew 1.987 million for Sunday’s Cup race, which is down from the 2.3 million viewers Nielsen now assigns to the 2025 event using its current measurement formula.
The O’Reilly race had its viewership peak at 1.193 million as Carson Kvapil took the win, and it was even called the most-watched fall Martinsville race for the series since 2023. Last year’s audience was about 731,000, so this year’s Saturday broadcast added nearly 200,000 average viewers.
Meanwhile, the Cup race saw the opposite trend. NBC had a 1.15 rating and 1.987 million viewers for William Byron’s win, down from a 1.26 rating and about 2.3 million viewers last year. That’s a drop of about 13.6 percent. Some older reports listed the 2025 race at 2.35 million, but the latest comparison uses Nielsen’s Big Data plus Panel numbers, so 2.3 million is the best year-over-year baseline.
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The CW aired the O’Reilly race at 4 p.m. ET this year, while the same event started at 7:30 p.m. ET in 2025. Both were on The CW, but the time change moved the race from Saturday night to the middle of the afternoon sports window.
That time change affected what the race was up against. The 2026 race overlapped with a full college football schedule, including big games on ABC, CBS, FOX, ESPN, and conference networks. Formula 1 qualifying from Mexico City also took up part of the afternoon. Last year’s Martinsville race had different challenges at night, like Game 2 of the World Series, which drew 11.4 million viewers, plus prime-time college football.
On the contrary, the Cup race was easier to compare for scheduling. NASCAR started both the 2025 and 2026 Martinsville races at 2 p.m. ET on NBC. Sunday still had tough competition. Eight NFL games started at 1 p.m. this year, three more after 4 p.m., and the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix began at 3 p.m. The 2025 Cup race also faced an NFL Sunday and the Mexico City Grand Prix.
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Then, distribution could have been another factor. NBC gives the Cup race one of the widest broadcast platforms in American TV, while The CW is also free over the air but has a different set of affiliates and a different audience. NASCAR also listed ESPN Unlimited with The CW for the O’Reilly race, while the Cup weekend had NBC coverage and separate digital options.
Not to mention, the races also delivered different championship stories. Kvapil’s Saturday win kept five drivers in the running for the O’Reilly title heading into Homestead. Byron dominated on Sunday, and Kyle Larson left Martinsville with such a big Cup lead that he only needs nine points in the finale to bag the championship at Homestead.
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