NASCAR receives massive social media boost in wake of Netflix series

Folks, we might already be seeing the Netflix effect in NASCAR. The sport received a ton of social media followers in the last month. This season started out with the release of NASCAR: Full Speed and after Daytona and Atlanta, things are trending up.

Folks, NASCAR is not what it was just five or six years ago. And that’s a good thing. Before the pandemic, it felt like the sport was lost, fans weren’t tuning in on TV or coming to the race track.

However, the last three years have started to shift that downward trend. The sport already had momentum prior to the Netflix series. Now, it feels like stock car racing is building a strong run on the outside and soon, they are going to make a big move.

KickinTheTires put together the social media numbers for the last 30 days. Across Instagram, Twitter/X, and Facebook, NASCAR has gained 316,746 total followers. 258,030 of those are on Instagram alone, which tends to trend to a younger audience than Facebook and Twitter/X.

.@NASCAR: Full Speed debuted on @netflix 1 month ago. During that time, #NASCAR has made some substantial gains on social media:

IG: +258,030 Followers
Twitter/X: +17,844 Followers
FB: +40,872 Followers

📸: Blake Ulino/@KickinTheTires#NASCARFullSpeed | #Netflix | @SocialBlade pic.twitter.com/kPJsC2I2P1

— Seth Eggert (@SethEggert91) February 29, 2024

Any growth is good growth, but this is some serious news. To gain that many followers in such a short amount of time is impressive. The start of the season has impressed as well. Daytona had a rain delay until Monday which hindered ratings.

For those wondering, the social media growth for the month of February in 2023 was a fraction of this year’s numbers. Just 53,785 new followers across all three major platforms.

By comparison, since @High_OnMovies had asked, last February, @NASCAR's social media gains were the following:

IG: +32,207 (Feb 2023) -> +258,030 (Feb 2024)
Twitter/X: +6,739 (Feb 2023) -> +17,844 (Feb 2024)
FB: +14,839 (Feb 2023) -> +40,872 (Feb 2024)#NASCAR | @KickinTheTires https://t.co/ktchHwdN69

— Seth Eggert (@SethEggert91) February 29, 2024

NASCAR ratings improve for Week 2, Atlanta

Another good sign in the media is last week’s TV ratings. Now, TV is becoming more and more outdated as streaming continues to expand. However, it is one way to feel the pulse of the NASCAR fanbase.

Looking at the Atlanta ratings, there was a noticeable jump. Not just against last year’s Atlanta race in March, but against the final Auto Club Speedway race in Week 2 of last season as well.

For the three-wide finish at Atlanta, there was a 5% increase in viewership compared to the Week 2 race at Fontana last year. The 4.464 million viewers were a 33% increase when compared to last year’s Spring race at Atlanta. Major news for FOX and NASCAR.

Both the Truck and Xfinity Series saw an increase in viewership as well. Right now, it feels like NASCAR controls its own destiny. Potentially a second season on Netflix of Full Speed and then you go into the 2025 TV deal with races on TNT as well as Amazon’s Prime Video. We could continue to see growth like this for another year.