• Viewership down 16.2% compared to last year’s Michigan race, which averaged 2.11m viewers on USA Network
• Last year’s comparable weekend in Sonoma averaged 2.9m viewers on Fox

Nascar averaged 1.77 million viewers for its Cup Series race at Michigan Speedway on Amazon Prime Video, its lowest audience of the 2025 season.

The audience was a 16.2 per cent decrease on last year’s race at Michigan, which averaged 2.11 million viewers on USA Network. However, the 2024 edition took place much later in the regular season in August and was postponed until Monday night, impacting viewership.

Looking at the comparable 2024 race at Sonoma Raceway, which aired on Fox on 9th June, there is a much more significant year-over-year (YoY) audience decrease of 38.9 per cent.

Nascar is now averaging 2.18 million viewers through its first three races on Prime Video after hitting 2.72 million in Charlotte and 2.06 million viewers in Nashville. Nascar states that it is averaging 2.27 million viewers through its first three races on Prime Video.

Considering this is a new broadcast partnership, the viewership so far is not an overly disappointing result for the series. The three-race run that began with Charlotte last season averaged 2.82 million viewers and, while not an exact science, Prime Video is currently 22.5 per cent down on that benchmark.

The promising news is that, over that same three-race run, Nascar is posting YoY gains in the 18 to 34 demographic (up 32 per cent), the 18 to 49 age range (up 11 per cent) and viewers aged between 25 and 54 (up 21 per cent).

Nascar commissioner Steve Phelps said in March that he expected Prime Video’s audience to be “at least as good as what we’d see on cable”, setting a clear benchmark for viewership performance. Attracting a younger audience is also a positive sign for the series’ long-term health.

In many ways, Nascar’s performance on Prime Video so far has echoes of the National Football League (NFL) during its first year on the streaming platform.

Prime Video’s Thursday Night Football (TNF) package averaged 9.58 million viewers across its 15 regular season games in 2022, a considerable decrease on the audience of 16.2 million that Fox attracted the year prior.

However, Amazon was keen to highlight its youthful NFL audience, claiming it had the youngest median age of any NFL broadcaster since 2013. Viewership was also up 11 per cent from last season among the 18 to 34-year-old demographic.

Factoring in the latter stat, that means the NFL saw a larger drop in overall viewership and a smaller gain in the 18 to 34 demographic in the first year of its deal with Amazon compared to Nascar so far.

Jay Marine, Amazon Prime Video’s global head of sports, said in 2023 the platform was “playing the long game” with its TNF rights. Prime Video averaged 13.2 million viewers for the 2024 NFL season, an 11 per cent increase compared to 11.86 million viewers in 2023.

With Prime Video locked in for another six years as part of Nascar’s new US$7.7 billion broadcast deal, the series will be hoping to replicate the viewership gains seen by the NFL.

Quinn Davis will make her ARCA Menards Series debut at Elko Speedway, her marketing group 4racingmedia announced on June 11.

Davis will drive the No. 31 Toyota for Rise Motorsports. Davis will have sponsorship support from Key Heating and Cooling LLC, BullSnot, Unstoppable and Axcel Sports.

“Davis will once again strap into the #31 Rise Motorsports Toyota Camry, this time wrapped in an eye-catching Richard Petty Blue livery that pays homage to stock-car royalty while signaling a new chapter for the rising star,” the announcement stated.

“Every lap at Elko is a new lesson,” Davis added. “Our Nashville run proved we belong. Now it’s time to chase another top finish—and put this Petty Blue Camry at the front.”

Mason Mitchell Adds Additional Races With Venturini

Davis debuted in the ARCA Menards Series East in the 2025 race at Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway. She started ninth and finished seventh, five laps down.

Rise is 10th in the national division owner standings. Derek White piloted the No. 31 most recently in the race at Michigan International Speedway and team owner Tim Goulet will drive it in the upcoming race at Berlin Raceway.

Davis will compete in the Shore Lunch 250 at Elko on Saturday, June 21 at 9 p.m. ET with TV coverage provided by FOX Sports 2 and a live stream available on the FOX Sports App.

Mark Kristl joined Frontstretch at the beginning of the 2019 NASCAR season. He is the site’s ARCA Menards Series editor. Kristl is also an Eagle Scout and a proud University of Dayton alum.

The NASCAR Cup Series heads to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City for the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 (3 p.m. ET, Prime Video, MRN Radio, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). Prime Video will also air Cup Series qualifying at noon ET on Saturday.

QUALIFYING ORDER: Cup Series | Xfinity Series

Saturday’s qualifying session will consist of just one round, but it will be completed in two 20-minute groups. The groups below are determined via metric that combines the previous race finish by owner (70%) and current owner points position (30%).

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RELATED: How to watch on Prime Video | Weekend Schedule

# denotes series rookie
(i) denotes ineligible for driver points

Nascar has secured fast-food chain Arby’s as a new founding partner for the upcoming street race in Chicago.

Confirmed:

• Arby’s will bring ‘unique activations, surprise appearances, and product offers’ to the weekend
• Nascar is yet to agree an extension to its three-year deal with Chicago, which expires this season

Context:

Arby’s comes on board as the third founding partner of the race, joining Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) and Xfinity’s Xumo brand. Nascar has been looking for a third partner to support the race since McDonald’s opted to prematurely terminate its three-year deal at the start of this season. ABB also served as a founding partner last year after signing on as an official partner of Nascar Impact, but will not return to the race for 2025. It hasn’t been disclosed how much Arby’s is paying to be a founding partner, but Nascar was looking for around US$2 million annually when it established the event in 2022.

Arby’s has an existing partnership with Rick Ware Racing, supporting their driver Cody Ware. The company will run as the primary sponsor on his number 51 car during the weekend.

Comment:

“It’s a watershed moment anytime you have a new brand joining the sport for the first time, especially when it’s a partner like Arby’s with such a unique, recognisable brand,” said Craig Stimmel, senior vice president and chief commercial officer of Nascar.

“The fact that we’re welcoming Arby’s to Nascar on the streets of Chicago speaks to the tremendous momentum behind the Nascar Chicago Street Race and the sport overall.”

“Arby’s is thrilled to hit the track as a founding partner of the 2025 Nascar Chicago Street Race,” added Jeff Baker, chief marketing officer at Arby’s.

“This marks an exciting moment for our brand in the world of motorsports, with one of the most dynamic and ground-breaking events in racing. Nothing goes better with Nascar than one of our delicious Arby’s sandwiches, and we can’t wait to bring the meats to the streets for race fans and Arby’s fans in Chicago and beyond.”

Coming next:

The third-ever Chicago Street Race takes place on Independence Day weekend from 4th to 6th July, but there is every chance this could be the last one. The event is not confirmed on the Nascar schedule beyond this season and Nascar executives have repeatedly declined to discuss the future of the race.

The event has suffered from various logistical issues during its two years as part of the Nascar calendar and local residents have voiced concerns around the disruption caused by the race.

Go deeper:

What’s Happening?

In the latest episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast, NASCAR’s Managing Director of Racing Communications, Mike Forde, explained how Chevrolet played a big role in helping Ram Trucks announce their return to NASCAR this past weekend.

Helping the Competition

Ram Truck’s return to NASCAR was a major milestone for everyone involved in the upper levels of NASCAR. For some time now, the sport’s officials have claimed that they were close to adding a fourth manufacturer. That is now finally a reality. 

Ram made their triumphant return to NASCAR this past weekend at their home track, Michigan International Speedway. However, according to Forde, this announcement couldn’t have happened without help from a real-life competitor and future on-track rival.

In the June 11 episode of NASCAR’s Hauler Talk podcast, Forde praised fellow Ram’s OEM Chevrolet, which, as MIS manufacturer partner, had to allow RAM to make its grand return.

“Every racetrack has a manufacturer partner. So you see the pace cars that are used for that given weekend are always branded by that manufacturer,” Forde said. “Michigan International Speedway is a Chevrolet track.”

Forde explained that Chevrolet, as the track’s manufacturer partner, gets a prominent placement both on the track and in the fan zone throughout the race weekend at MIS. He then went on to state that Chevrolet could have denied the Rams’ at-track activation and thrilling announcement Sunday afternoon.

“So, for Chevrolet to give up that real estate, both in the fan zone and in [the] pre-race stage… is a big deal, and something they could have every right to say no to, and they did not.” — Mike Forde

Overall, Ford expressed that he was happy to see the other three manufacturers happy to make room for another OEM in the sport. “So big props to Chevrolet, they’re embracing it,” Forde said. “Ford [and] Toyota, they embrace new OEMs. It ups the competition, and it’s better for everybody.” 


Rams Return to NASCAR

For the first time in over a decade, NASCAR officially has four manufacturers. Ram Trucks, a division of Stellantis, is set to rejoin the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, making them the series’ first new or returning OEM since Toyota in 2004.

The OEM plans to make its debut at Daytona next spring and has yet to announce what teams and drivers will be behind the wheel of their race trucks. Furthermore, Stellantis plans to bring another OEM, assumed to be the Dodge brand, to the Cup Series in the coming years.

The Craftsman Truck Series creates an easy point of entry for any OEM as it utilizes a spec engine from Ilmor. On the other hand, to race in the Cup Series, Stellantis will have to develop an engine program and follow a long checklist from NASCAR.

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