Rating Sunday's all-day-long Daytona 500

Nearly 30 million people saw at least part of the Daytona 500 on television Sunday, Fox Sports says.

That would represent a significant increase over early audience estimates for NASCAR’s season opener and biggest race last year. But there also are significant asterisks attached.

Nielsen Media Research’s estimate of 29.8 million viewers would represent a 14 percent gain over last year’s 26.2 million for the Daytona 500. A Fox news release acknowledges that Sunday’s race telecast lasted more than six hours.

And you almost want to ask: What kind of numbers do you get with a telethon that’s on all danged day? Or those endless infomercials no one claims to watch? What about “The Wizard of Oz,” again?

I know which I’d rather watch. And that’s even if I’ve already seen the same cut-away car and cheesy animation 100 times. Even if I’ve heard Darrell Waltrip’s monologue enough to recite it right along with him.

The two delays on Sunday, to allow for attempts to repair deteriorating asphalt, put the race on hold and parked the cars on pit road for nearly two and half hours. Nielsen excluded those delays from its early accounting, treating that time the same way it does rain delays in Major League Baseball games.

Here’s a part of the overnight Nielsen report that might provide a little pause: The race portion of Sunday’s broadcast earned a national rating of 7.7/16, with 13.3 million viewers. Last year, the race itself drew 9.2/19 in those reports.

So is that up? Or is it down? That might become clearer in the full reports Nielsen will provide later this week. The numbers are important to the business of advertising rates, which mean more to the network and its advertisers than viewers. At least until the cable bill increases. Fox Sports said it sold out ad slots for Sunday’s Daytona 500. An AP report put that at nearly 85 units, between $500,000 to $550,000 each.

That’s just what they said. We’ve all heard what’s said while a race broadcast is under way. How much do ratings reports and pegging the hype-o-meter really matter when fans decide whether to watch a race, a telethon, a Jury Garland movie, or if they’ll go see mama instead?

NASCAR’s pubic relations people have pointed out that the numbers are only numbers. They help determine what’s working and what’s not. They are guideposts, so to speak, along the way. As such, they are not determining factors.

Let’s also note that the very same guys were pushing those ratings reports – and even bragging about them – during the Great Growth Period that NASCAR enjoyed a decade or so ago.

As the numbers -- whatever they mean -- have changed, the banter from the booth has seemed increasingly disconnected from the races we're watching.

Maybe that's just human nature, rated or not, according to Nielsen.

If you can back it up, it's not just bragging. If it gets fuzzy, just talk a little louder.