Bristol Night Race delivers massive ratings increase

NASCAR’s night race at Bristol Motor Speedway took place on Saturday, and the ratings are in. Per Adam Stern of the Sports Business Journal, USA Network earned a 0.98 rating and 1.868 million viewers for the Bass Pro Shops Night Race. It’s a 10 percent increase in rating and a 20 percent increase in viewership from last year (0.89 rating and 1.562 million).

NASCAR fans saw Kyle Larson win the Bristol night race by seven seconds. It was his 28th Cup Series race victory in his career and fifth this season. This was also a playoff elimination race, and Martin Truex Jr., Ty Gibbs, Brad Keselowski and Harrison Burton were the four drivers who were eliminated.

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After the race, Larson reacted to making Henrick Motorsports history on Saturday, leading all but 38 laps in the 500-lap race. “That’s pretty cool because, as you mentioned, there’s been some legendary Hall of Famers race for Hendrick Motorsports, and we’ve all grown up watching Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson dominate,” Larson said.

Kyle Larson reacts to big NASCAR win at Bristol

“Pretty cool to add my name to another record at Hendrick Motorsports, and again, just very fortunate to be with that group, Chevrolet, Jinya Ramen Bar, Prime, everybody involved, Valvoline. It’s so much fun, and especially racing in front of you fans under the lights at Bristol. This is my favorite track, and I hope you guys enjoyed that race there and enjoyed the methodical lap traffic run.”

Larson also talked about all four Hendrick Motorsports cars advancing in the playoffs and how the dynamic works with his three teammates. “I think we all work really well together, and the teams throughout the week do, as well. Probably even more closer than the drivers get to work with each other just because the crew chiefs and engineers and team members, they’re with each other every day,” Larson explained. “But no, I mean, I think we just try to help each other out. We want Rick and Linda Hendrick to have the best odds going into Phoenix to win a championship in the 40th season. You don’t do that by not working together.”

Larson and the rest of the NASCAR drivers will now get ready for the next Cup Series race, the Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway on Saturday. The race will start at 3 p.m. ET and air on USA Network.