For motorsports fans, last weekend was a treat to watch. How often do you get to see a double masterclass across two racing disciplines? On one hand, we had Kyle Larson showing just what he was made off when he snagged his 30th Cup Series win at Homestead Miami. “It feels amazing,” he said. It was pure relief after battling teammate Alex Bowman to the end. Meanwhile, F1 kept the pedal over in China as McLaren ruled the grid. The two motorsports don’t come together very often, but when they do, it’s been an interesting battle to watch.
Jimmie Johnson once gushed about their edge, saying, “In NASCAR, there’s no streaming telemetry like F1.” It’s a tech gap that still haunts stock car fans. The crossover buzz was real, but not everyone’s buying the hype as Kenny Wallace didn’t mince words: “NASCAR’s got a newfound problem—F1’s stealing the spotlight.”
History fuels this rivalry too when Kyle Busch once dangled $100,000 per race to lure F1’s Kimi Räikkönen over. “I wanted him to feel the rush,” Busch said, and you can almost see his smirk. Then there’s that unforgettable day Johnson and Fernando Alonso traded cars. “It was a blast,” Johnson recalled, the joy still fresh. Even Dale Earnhardt Jr. gave F1’s Max Verstappen a nod, saying, “He’s on another level—I respect that.” These moments stitch NASCAR and F1 together, don’t they? But right now, NASCAR might be having the last laugh after defeating F1 at its own number games.
F1 took the United States by storm just a few weeks ago. A huge influx of fans poured into the sport, and it seems to have peaked when Liam Lawson swapped his usual ride for a NASCAR Next Gen Mustang, courtesy of Ford Performance. “It was a cool experience,” he said, sounding like he’d just stepped off a thrill ride. But amidst this, there was a disturbing trend. F1 was starting to see a rise in viewership numbers while NASCAR was on a downward spiral. Homestead-Miami corrected that!
The viewership numbers from this weekend surprised a lot of people. NASCAR’s Cup Series at Homestead owned it with 2.4 million viewers on FOX. Xfinity grabbed 1.1 million on CW, and the Truck Series pulled 900,000 on FOX. At the same time, F1’s Chinese Grand Prix, airing before the sun even peeked out, still got 820,000 on ESPN. That’s over 200% more than the 260,000 it got pre-pandemic in 2019. Talk about a comeback! It shouldn’t be a surprise for fans. The Homestead-Miami race from the end of the 2024 season had fans at the edge of their seats, and drew roughly 2.34 million viewers at the time.
Compare that to the weekend before: NASCAR’s Phoenix race on FS1 hit 2.82 million—a four-year cable high—but dropped 30% from last year’s 4.03 million on broadcast. F1’s Australian Grand Prix drew 1.1 million, a record for that race, though down 1% from last year’s Bahrain opener at 1.12 million. NASCAR’s holding strong, but F1’s clawing its way up, even with tougher time slots.
IndyCar got a crushing 704,000 at The Thermal Club, which was half of St. Pete’s 1.4 million and down from last year’s 788,000. It couldn’t touch NASCAR’s three series and just squeaked past NHRA’s 670,000. The worst part was IndyCar’s 3 pm start slammed right into NASCAR’s. “Being on at the same time as NASCAR should be a crime,” Parker Kligerman snapped.
Jeff Gluck felt the ache too. “IndyCar is the second-favorite motorsport for a lot of NASCAR fans,” he wrote on X, “but putting them head-to-head continues to feel so self-defeating for IndyCar viewership.” Kligerman tried juggling both races, saying, “I tried watching both but it’s damn hard to have two races on at once and enjoy both.” Then, a blackout mid-race at Thermal thanks to the heat made it worse. “IndyCar succeeding is better for all motorsports, but we all need to work together,” Kligerman begged, and it’s like a plea from the heart.
Regardless, this remains a big win for NASCAR, especially given its recent troubles in broadcasting. Commercial breaks right in the middle of the action and a plethora of other problems have plagued the sport for a long time. When it comes to F1, ESPN offered a no-ad approach. Despite this, seeing NASCAR perform better is a sign of better things to come. Perhaps the trend of falling viewership can finally turn around.
For now, there’s another F1-NASCAR connection for fans.
When Liam Lawson made a NASCAR record before potentially getting sidelined by Red Bull
Liam Lawson, Red Bull’s F1 star, just shook things up big time. He’s struggling in Formula 1 after crashing out in Australia and starting dead last in China. Instead of sulking, he jumped into a NASCAR simulator at Ford’s Performance Technical Center in North Carolina. And guess what? He’s hooked! “Dude, I would love to do a race in America,” he said, eyes lighting up. When NASCAR’s Noah Gragson asked if he meant stock cars, Lawson didn’t blink: “Yeah, 100 percent.”
This isn’t just a whim. Lawson’s lap times at the virtual Circuit of the Americas, came in at 2 minutes, 15 seconds, which weren’t far off the pros, even if Gragson bet he’d spin out. Gragson was stunned, admitting, “He knocked it out of the park,” after Lawson tackled Bristol too. For a guy who’s won in F3 and F2, this was a gut-check moment—showing he’s got the chops to switch lanes.
But here’s the kicker: Lawson’s F1 seat isn’t safe. Red Bull picked him over Yuki Tsunoda to race with Max Verstappen, yet two rough races have fans whispering about a swap. Lawson’s not fazed. He’s chasing something bigger, maybe a NASCAR gig, especially with Ford and Red Bull teaming up for 2026. Gragson sees it too as a Kiwi kid who could trade F1’s sleek tracks for NASCAR’s raw chaos.
Imagine Lawson, the 23-year-old New Zealander, roaring into a NASCAR race, helmet on, adrenaline rushing. F1’s pressure cooker might be cracking him, but NASCAR could be his breakout. Who else would like to see him race it out at Daytona next season?
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