North Wilkesboro Speedway’s long-awaited return as a NASCAR Cup Series points-paying venue appears to have struck a chord with fans.
Television ratings released this week show that 2.4 million viewers tuned in to TNT Sports for Sunday’s Window World 450, marking the first NASCAR Cup Series points race at the historic short track since 1996.
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The audience offers another encouraging sign for NASCAR’s decision to restore one of the sport’s most storied venues to the regular-season schedule after several years of hosting the annual All-Star Race.
North Wilkesboro drew 2.4 million viewers
According to television numbers shared by sports media reporter Adam Stern, Sunday’s race averaged 2.4 million viewers on TNT Sports.
The event carried added significance beyond the ratings themselves. It marked the first time in 30 years that North Wilkesboro hosted a points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race after the track spent decades off the schedule before its widely celebrated revival.
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The race also represented another milestone for NASCAR’s new media rights era, with TNT Sports broadcasting its latest Cup Series event as part of the sport’s expanded television lineup.
While the race returned under very different circumstances than recent seasons, the audience compares favorably with the television numbers generated by North Wilkesboro’s All-Star Race in recent years.
How the audience compares to recent North Wilkesboro races
Before returning as a points-paying event this season, North Wilkesboro hosted NASCAR’s non-points All-Star Race for three consecutive years.
Those broadcasts attracted:
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2025: 1.965 million viewers (FS1)
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2024: 2.573 million viewers (FS1)
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2023: 2.20 million viewers (FS1)
This year’s 2.4 million viewers placed the inaugural points race above the 2025 and 2023 All-Star Race audiences while finishing just shy of the 2024 edition.
The strong showing adds another data point as NASCAR continues evaluating the future of one of its most popular modern schedule additions. Since reopening, North Wilkesboro has become one of the sport’s marquee weekends, blending its deep racing history with renewed fan interest.
With the historic return now officially in the books, NASCAR turns its attention to another iconic venue this weekend as the Cup Series heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Brickyard 400.
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