BROOKLYN, MI – Last Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway was the best race of 2025 and the best MIS race in the last 10 years, according to a poll.
Nearly 26,000 people voted in the weekly poll from The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck. About 92.2% of fans voted “yes” to the weekly question, “Was it a good race?”
Gluck has been doing the poll for every race since 2016. The previous high for a Michigan race was 90.7% in 2022.
This week’s rating for MIS was 2 percentage points higher than the next-most popular race of 2025, the Coca-Cola 600 (90.2% voted yes).
Sunday’s race was full of drama, as Denny Hamlin took the lead from William Byron with four laps to go, to win. Portage native Carson Hocevar was leading until he blew a tire with 19 laps left. The lead was in jeopardy most of the race – amplified further by fuel savings and pit strategy on the final run.
The race was shown on Amazon’s Prime Video – the first time the MIS race has been on streaming instead of cable or broadcast TV.
MORE: For first time, Michigan NASCAR race will be streamed – not on cable, broadcast TV
How did that impact TV ratings?
The race averaged 1.77 million viewers and peaked at 2.09 million. That’s a little less than normal – as the MIS race has averaged roughly 2.1 to 2.6 million viewers since 2021.
While Prime Video’s totals are lower, the platform boasts of increased numbers for younger demographics.
In the “coveted” 18-to-34 demographic, Prime averaged 195,000 viewers on Sunday. That’s up 11% (from 175,000 viewers) compared to a race on cable from the same weekend in 2024.
Through Prime’s first three races, its median viewer age is 56.5 – compared to 62.8 on linear networks for the rest of 2025.
Another notable difference on Prime Video is the length of its post-race show. While other networks often rush off air to get to other content, Prime Video has prioritized an extensive show – with its broadcasters discussing the race with drivers over beers.
Sunday’s 52-minute post-race show on Prime averaged 964,000 viewers.
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