2026 Daytona 500 Viewership: A Surge in NASCAR Interest

The 2026 Daytona 500 delivered an average of 7.49 million viewers on FOX, marking the most-watched NASCAR telecast since the 2023 Daytona 500. This year’s race experienced an 11% year-over-year increase in viewership, despite being scheduled an hour earlier due to potential weather concerns FOX Sports.

Peak Viewership and Race Highlights

The race peaked at 9.2 million viewers – the highest for any portion of a NASCAR race in three years – during the crash-filled conclusion that saw Tyler Reddick of 23XI Racing emerge victorious. Although this represents a significant increase, the 2026 Daytona 500 did not surpass the viewership numbers of 2022 (8.87 million average viewers) and 2023 (8.18 million average viewers) FOX Sports.

Impact of New Measurement Techniques

The increase in viewership aligns with a broader trend across all sports, attributed to changes in measurement implemented by Nielsen. At the conclude of 2025, Nielsen began combining insights from its household television viewing panel with big data to provide more accurate audience measurements in the streaming era.

Daytona 500 vs. NBA All-Star Game

Despite competing with the National Basketball Association (NBA) All-Star game on NBC, which averaged a total audience delivery (TAD) of 8.8 million viewers during the final 50 minutes of the race, the Daytona 500 performed strongly FOX Sports.

NASCAR’s Media Rights Deal and Overall Viewership

This positive result comes after a challenging period for the sport, particularly during the 2025 playoffs, which averaged 2.45 million viewers – the lowest figure in NASCAR history. However, the FOX portion of the 2025 season performed well, averaging 4.52 million viewers on the main channel and 2.46 million viewers on FS1 FOX Sports.

How to Watch the Daytona 500

The 2026 Daytona 500 was broadcast live on FOX and streamed on FOXSports.com and the FOX Sports App, including FOX One. Viewers without cable subscriptions had access to the race through live-streaming services such as YouTube TV, Sling TV, Hulu+, and fuboTV FOX Sports.

2026 Daytona 500 Schedule

The week leading up to the Daytona 500 included several practice and qualifying sessions:

• Wednesday, February 11: NASCAR Cup Series Opening Practice (10 a.m. ET on FS1), Single-Car Qualifying (8:15 p.m. ET on FS1)
• Thursday, February 12: ARCA Series Practice (4 p.m. ET), Truck Series Practice (5 p.m. ET on FS1), NASCAR Cup Series Duel #1 (7 p.m. ET on FS1), NASCAR Cup Series Duel #2 (8:45 p.m. ET on FS1)
• Friday, February 13: ARCA Series Qualifying (1:30 p.m. ET), Truck Series Qualifying (3 p.m. ET), Xfinity Series Practice (4:30 p.m. ET on CW), NASCAR Cup Series Practice (5:35 – 6:25 p.m. ET on FS1), Fresh from Florida 250 Truck Series race (7:30 p.m. ET)