The 2026 NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series on The CW Network Delivers Strongest Viewership in Five Years

33-Race Season Averaged 1,044,000 Total Viewers

22 Races Drew More Than One Million Total Viewers, the Most Races in Nine Years

Most-Watched Championship Race Since 2019, Delivering 1,181,000 Total Viewers

BURBANK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The CW Network’s second full year broadcasting the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series concluded on Saturday, November 7, as the most-watched season in five years.

Ratings highlights for the 2026 season include:

• Averaged 1,044,000 total viewers for all 33 races, per Nielsen Panel + Big Data.
• Second consecutive year of viewership growth and the strongest season since 2021.
• Double-digit increase in the Adults 18-49 demo, up +13% over last season.
• 22 races throughout the year averaged more than one million viewers, the largest number of races with more than one million viewers during a single season in nine years.
• For the year, all NASCAR programming on The CW reached nearly 38 million total viewers.

Highlights of this season’s championship race from Homestead-Miami Speedway include:

• 1,181,000 total viewers saw Justin Allgaier win his second NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series championship. Viewership peaked at 1,638,000 total viewers from 7:30-7:45 pm ET.
• Strongest championship race since 2019, with total viewers up +16% compared to last season’s championship race from Phoenix.
• Most-watched Homestead-Miami race since 2021 and the highest fall Homestead-Miami race since 2019.

In addition, CW Sports reached 12.3 million total viewers over the weekend across NASCAR, ACC and Pac-12 football, PBR bull riding championship, and college basketball. The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series will return to The CW next year with the 2027 season beginning on Saturday, February 20, 2027, from the legendary Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida.

About The CW Network
The CW is one of America’s premier broadcast networks, delivering 18 hours per week of primetime entertainment and children’s programming plus, on average, more than 13 hours of sports programming every weekend. CW Sports is the broadcast home to almost 700 hours of sports programming annually, including the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series; WWE NXT; college football and men’s and women’s basketball from the ACC, Pac-12 and Mountain West conferences; AVP beach volleyball; Professional Bull Riding Team Series; Professional Bowlers Association (PBA) events; and the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series. CW Sports content is available on the ESPN App to ESPN Unlimited Plan subscribers. CW Entertainment offers a variety of popular scripted and unscripted programming, including Wild Cards, Sullivan’s Crossing, Police 24/7, Penn & Teller: Fool Us, Scrabble, and Trivial Pursuit. The CW’s primetime and other entertainment programming can be found on the CW App across all major platforms and through a dedicated CW-branded hub on The Roku Channel, featuring more than 800 hours of content. The CW is owned by Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), a leading diversified media company. For more information about The CW, please visit www.cwtv.com.