Martinsville TV ratings spike
Fox's broadcast of last Sunday's DirectTV 500 NASCAR Nextel Cup race from Martinsville Speedway earned a final 6.2 Nielsen Media Research rating, which is a total of more than 9.6 million watching in 6.8 million households.
According to Street and Smith's SportsBusiness Daily, the rating is 21.6 percent higher than the 5.1 the race drew last year, when it was aired on the same weekend as the Masters, one of professional golf's four major tournaments.
This was the most viewed Nextel Cup race in Martinsville Speedway history, outperforming the previous rating of 5.4 on Fox (2001 and 2004 spring races) by 15 percent.
The Kroger 250 Craftsman Truck Series race also drew record television numbers for the track, earning a 1.1 rating on Speed, up 10 percent from the 1.0 rating for the 2005 race.
