IndyCar releases streaming audience numbers from first iRacing event

By Apr 1, 2020, 11:35 AM EDT
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The inaugural iRacing IndyCar Challenge at Watkins Glen International drew nearly a half-million views Saturday on various streaming platforms, according to IndyCar.

The numbers, which were provided by IndyCar, reflect the total number of viewers who watched some portion of the race Saturday and not the live average viewership for the race (a metric commonly used by networks to gauge audience for programming).

According to metrics released Wednesday morning by IndyCar for the race, which was won by Sage Karam:

  • As of Saturday night, IndyCar measured 433K views on INDYCAR and iRacing’s channels.
  • The average session time for users was nearly 20 minutes during the live event.
  • By Monday, more than 600K views were totaled on INDYCAR, iRacing, and driver channels.
  • On the Fantasy Challenge driven by Firestone, the series had a similar number of players as it did entering the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida, which was postponed because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

The second round of the IndyCar iRacing Challenge will be held Saturday at 2:30 p.m., featuring a field of IndyCar drivers competing at Barber Motorsports Park.

The third race of the eNASCAR Pro Invitational Series will take place 1 p.m. Sunday at Bristol Motor Speedway. Last weekend’s race at virtual Texas Motor Speedway drew 1.3 million viewers on FS1, breaking the record of 903,000 for eSports TV viewership set bv the previous week’s race.

During an episode of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast last month, Parker Kligerman disclosed that the first two races this year in the eNASCAR Coca-Cola Series (the premier iRacing series for professional racers) averaged 180,000 live viewers across its platforms with an average user time of 19 minutes.

IndyCar Power Rankings: Pato O’Ward moves to the top entering Texas Motor Speedway

By Mar 29, 2023, 6:00 AM EDT
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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17th after qualifying 14th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)