NASCAR faces bittersweet scenario in viewership during eventful Richmond race

The viewership of the recently concluded NASCAR Cup Series Cook Out 400 at Richmond Raceway has been revealed. The first race after the two-week Olympic break saw close racing, strategic pitstops, and Austin Dillon’s controversial win that kept fans on the edge of their seats. Despite the eventful race, NASCAR found itself in a mixed situation regarding TV ratings.

Adam Stern of Sports Business Journal reported that Sunday’s Richmond race, which aired on USA Network, garnered a 1.2 TV rating and attracted 2.22 million viewers. This marked a slight decline of 9.03% from last year’s Richmond race numbers that had a 1.4 rating and 2.43 million viewers.

The decrease in TV viewership can be attributed to the race clashing with the 2024 Paris Olympics closing ceremony on NBC. However, Cook Out 400 remained the most-watched non-Olympic sporting event on U.S. TV last week.

“@USANetwork got a 1.2 rating and 2.22 million viewers for Sunday's NASCAR race at Richmond, down from a 1.4/2.43 million last year, though this year went up against the @Olympics Closing Ceremony on NBC. @NASCAR was the No. 1 non-Olympic sport event of the week on U.S. TV,” Stern said on X (formerly Twitter).

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Austin Dillon explains his agressive move against Joey Logano and Denny Hamlin during NASCAR race at Richmond

The No. 3 Richard Childress Racing driver wrecked Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano on the final lap of the Richmond race to get his first win of the season.

After the race, Dillon spoke to the media and defended himself. He said that he aggressively entered Turn 3 as he intended to make Logan lose control and leave the track since he was leading the race. However, he admitted that he unintentionally made contact with Hamlin.

“I was just trying to get to. I went into Turn 3 in fifth gear and drove in, tried to get him loose and got him off the track. I got the car downshifted and the car actually turned pretty good when I did that," Dillon said via Matt Weaver of Sportsnaut.

“And then when I was coming back, the 11 (Hamlin) was coming, and that was kind of a reaction. The 22 (Logano) was trying to get him loose. But the 11 was more of a reaction, and I wasn’t lifting at that point because I was more looking at where the 22 was. When the 11 came across it was just a reaction.”

There have been no penalties or suspensions announced until now, but it will be interesting to see how NASCAR will handle this situation.