Ryan Blaney has a deeper connection to NASCAR than most drivers, which can be traced back to his father, Dave, who competed in 473 Cup Series races during his career. The Team Penske rider cares about the sport and wants it to be successful.
This is evident in his races and his willingness to regularly participate in Fox’s broadcast booth and work as an analyst during Xfinity series races. He does everything to promote the sport.
With that in mind, it came as no surprise that the 29-year-old driver spoke this week about the latest TV ratings showing a spike and wondered why improved numbers aren’t getting the same attention and reaction from fans as the negative ones.
NASCAR TV ratings rebound after terrible start
TV ratings did not look good during the first eight races of the NASCAR Cup Series in 2023. In fact, they looked downright awful. With the exception of Daytona and Auto Club, which saw attendance declines of 7.7% and 5.6%, respectively, all other races saw double-digit declines, with Circuit of the Americas declining the most at 16.1%.
Not surprisingly, a number of fans, including those who regularly claim the sport is dying, have been vocal in saying that the drop in viewership only confirmed NASCAR was going in the wrong direction.
Then Martinsville happened. And Talladega. And now Dover. In the last three weeks, all viewers have increased. The Monster Mile Monday race averaged 1.067 million viewers on FS1 compared to last year’s race which averaged 944,000 viewers and also took place on a Monday.
Ryan Blaney wonders why not so much attention is paid to good ratings
The increase in numbers is undoubtedly a positive trend and something that race fans were talking about around the water cooler this week. But Ryan Blaney doesn’t think the good news is being talked about enough and addressed the issue on Twitter this week.
“Crazy that when ratings go down everyone goes insane and says it’s in the trash, but when ratings go up it gets a quarter of the attention,” he wrote. “I think what I’m saying is, I wish people would have the same reaction when things are positive as people do when things are negative.”
Blaney’s tweet received a significant response, including from industry insiders like veteran Dave Moody.
“We live in a chicken little society that always emphasizes the negative,” he replied.
Chase Elliott Effect?
Interestingly, Blaney’s good friend Chase Elliott missed six of those first eight lower-rated races while recovering from surgery after sustaining a knee injury in a snowboarding accident.
In the days leading up to his return to Martinsville, NASCAR went all out in a social media hype to promote the return of the sport’s most popular driver. His fellow drivers were openly enthusiastic about his return, including several who admitted they hoped it might have an impact on ratings.
Apparently it did. And his friend wants everyone to know about it.
For the latest news and information about the three national NASCAR series, click here @kdsportswriter on twitter.
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