Southern 500 sees a dip in viewership as only 1.88M people tune in to watch Chase Briscoe’s win as compared to 2.4M last year

Chase Briscoe’s win in the Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway drew just 1.88 million viewers on USA Network, according to a post by reporter Jeff Gluck on social media. The number shows a sharp drop compared to last year’s broadcast, which attracted 2.4 million viewers.

The post was shared on X, where Gluck wrote:

“The Southern 500 on USA Network drew 1.88 million viewers. Last year: 2.4 million on USA.”

Jeff Gluck

@jeff_gluck

The Southern 500 on USA Network drew 1.88 million viewers. Last year: 2.4 million on USA.

One of the reasons for the drop in numbers, as per Programming Insider, could be the Sunday night college football game between Miami and Notre Dame, which drew around 10.404 million viewers. Despite the decline in ratings, a weekly poll conducted by Jeff Gluck himself on X showed 61.1% of the audience enjoyed the race, where Chase Briscoe delivered a commanding performance on the track.

The 29-year-old led 309 of 367 laps, sweeping the first two stages of the race. The finish was intense, with Tyler Reddick closing in over the final 10 laps. Reddick pulled alongside Briscoe entering Turn 3 on the last lap but could not complete the pass. Briscoe won by 0.408 seconds, with Erik Jones crossing third.

This win assured Chase Briscoe’s place in the Round of 12 of the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs. It was also his second Southern 500 win in a row, making him the first driver since Greg Biffle in 2005 and 2006 to defend the crown. This was his second win of the 2025 season and the fourth of his Cup Series career.

After the race, Chase Briscoe credited his Joe Gibbs Racing team, saying the result showed the speed they believed had always been there. Toyota cars dominated the night, locking out six of the top seven finishing spots. John Hunter Nemechek came fourth, followed by AJ Allmendinger in fifth. Bubba Wallace and Denny Hamlin took sixth and seventh.

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Chase Briscoe is confident in his team’s championship potential

During NASCAR Cup Series Playoff Media Day at Charlotte Convention Center, Chase Briscoe said that while statistics don’t show the full picture, his Joe Gibbs Racing No. 19 team is operating at a “championship caliber” level.

Briscoe has enjoyed a solid season with two wins, 11 top-five finishes, six poles, and 628 laps led. He currently sits eighth in points with an average finish of 13. However, on the Teardown podcast, he admitted the numbers don’t fully reflect the team’s true form.

“If you look at our season as a whole, like statistically, no, we don’t look like one of those teams,” Briscoe said.

He explained that while the No. 19 has often been fast, its finishes have either been strong top-fives or much further back, creating inconsistency. Recent weeks have shown greater stability. Briscoe has not finished outside the top 23 in his last nine starts, a run that includes defending his Southern 500 title at Darlington. Speaking about the team’s outlook, he added:

“I still don’t feel like we’ve showed what we’re capable of. I mean, tonight I definitely felt like we did, but like I feel like what we did is very realistic for us to do a lot, like when we put everything together. And yeah, I think the sky’s the limit for us.”

Chase Briscoe’s qualifying record has shown the team’s speed. He got his sixth pole of the season at Iowa Speedway, making it seven front-row starts in his last eleven attempts. He also took three consecutive poles at Michigan. These results show the raw pace of the No. 19 car, even if finishes haven’t always matched that performance.