NFL put up viewership numbers of 26M last weekend; NASCAR brought in 1.294M viewers for the race at Phoenix Raceway
NASCAR just set a season low for TV numbers.
Sunday’s race at Phoenix Raceway was seen by an average of 1.294M. That is a season-low to date, by a lot. The next closest was the race at EchoPark Speedway which was rain delayed and ended close to 2am, it still brought in an average of 1.47M.
The NFL season began on September 9th. On that exact day of the race at Phoenix, the local Arizona Cardinals played an afternoon game against the Los Angeles Rams.
CBS aired different NFL games across the county during the exact time of the NASCAR race. In total. the slot earned 26M football viewers across the country. NASCAR viewership was only a fraction of that.
NASCAR has already discussed the possibility of not competing with the NFL in the future.
NASCAR TV Ratings: Phoenix Raceway (October 2026)
Kenny Wallace comments on NASCAR and the NFL
“Here’s my message to NASCAR… It’s time for NASCAR to quit going head-to-head with football,” Kenny Wallace stated via social media.
“The NFL is a juggernaut. People are addicted to the NFL like they’re addicted to social media.”
“I just don’t believe in ramming your head into something that you know is not going to help. Ben Kennedy said, ‘We are starting to look at not going head-to-head with the NFL.’ “
“I know this is controversial, what I’m going to say. Our season needs to end when the NFL starts.”
“NASCAR is lesser. We don’t have 7 million views every week. You gotta do it.”
“Here’s what I would do. Race on Sunday, race on Wednesday or Thursday. Run two races at the same racetrack.”
Ben Kennedy comments on the NFL
Ben Kennedy is the COO of NASCAR. So what did he say?
“As we think about 2032 inventory, start dates, end dates, frankly, should we be going up against the NFL at this point of the year on every single Sunday? It’s a challenging proposition,” Kennedy stated via The Sports Media Podcast.
NASCAR Race Results: Phoenix Raceway (October 18, 2026)
