Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series Championship Delivers Most-Watched Title Race Since 2019

This past Sunday’s 2022 NASCAR Cup Series Championship from Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Ariz., delivered the most-watched title race since 2019 and the most-streamed Cup Series race in NBC Sports history, averaging a Total Audience Delivery (TAD) of 3.355 million viewers on NBC and Peacock.

Viewership of Joey Logano’s second-career championship was up 2% vs. last season’s championship race on NBC and Peacock (TAD 3.297 million viewers) and up 8% vs. 2020 (TAD 3.115 million viewers). Viewership for the race peaked towards its conclusion when Logano took the checkered flag (6:30-6:45 pm ET) with a TV-only audience of more than four million viewers (4.060 million viewers).

Logano outdueled fellow Championship 4 contenders Ross Chastain, Christopher Bell and Chase Elliott to win his second career Cup Series title (2018). In capturing the championship, Logano led 187 laps at Phoenix Raceway, including the final 30.

Greenville-Spartanburg, S.C., led all markets for Sunday’s championship race with a 5.8 local household rating. Below is the full list of Top 10 markets for the title race:

Rank
Market
HH Rating
1
Greenville-Spartanburg
5.8
2
Charlotte
5.5
t-3
Knoxville
5.1
t-3
Greensboro-High Point
5.1
5
Birmingham
4.1
t-6
Buffalo
3.4
t-6
Dayton
3.4
8
Louisville
3.2
9
Norfolk
3.1
10
Tulsa
2.9

Bolstered by Peacock, the Average Minute Audience (AMA) of the championship was 141,500 viewers, marking the most-streamed Cup Series race in NBC Sports history. The AMA also includes streaming on NBCSports.com and the NBC Sports app via authentication.

NBC Sports’ 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season-long viewership averaged a TAD of 2.454 million viewers across NBC, USA Network and Peacock, according to Nielsen and Adobe Analytics, essentially flat vs. viewership for the comparable races on NBC, NBCSN and Peacock in 2021 (TAD 2.485 million viewers). NBC Sports presents the final 20 races of the NASCAR Cup Series season, including exclusive coverage of the NASCAR Playoffs and Championship.

Following are the Top 10 markets for NBC Sports’ 20-race 2022 NASCAR Cup Series season:

Rank
Market
HH Rating
1
Knoxville
4.2
t-2
Charlotte
3.9
t-2
Greensboro-High Point
3.9
4
Greenville-Spartanburg
3.8
5
Birmingham
2.9
6
Dayton
2.8
t-7
Indianapolis
2.4
t-7
Louisville
2.4
t-9
Norfolk
2.3
t-9
Buffalo
2.3

NBC Sports PR