Rockingham's NASCAR return reaches impressive viewership as CW reports figures

NASCAR returned to Rockingham Speedway last weekend for the Xfinity and Craftsman Truck Series. The North Carolina circuit had not hosted an Xfinity Series race since 2004, or a Truck race since 2013. Despite the weekend not featuring a Cup Series race, bustling crowds gathered at the circuit and broadcaster The CW has reported impressive viewership figures. 

According to Sports Business Journal, The CW reached 1.053 million viewers for Saturday's Xfinity Series race.

Although the Xfinity and Truck Series proved a success at the track, Rockingham Speedway President and CEO of Track Enterprises Bob Sargent is keen to see a return of the Cup Series. He explained during an interview with The Charlotte Observer:

“I’m pretty hands on, so I talked to them from Thursday night, when we got here, to all day today.

“Talked to a lot of different people at NASCAR, whether they were here or weren’t here. [Former NASCAR president and current board member] Mike Helton was here yesterday, and I talked to people on the phone today. And the teams that were here, we talked to them a lot.

“Older, veteran drivers that I got relationships with, they were texting me, calling me. And then again, the sponsors who were here, I talked with them all day long. The fans. The officials. My workers. A lot of positives from everybody.”

Clarifying that he felt the success of last weekend has justified a spot on the Cup Series calendar, Sargent added:

Jeb Burton, Jordan Anderson Racing Chevrolet

Photo by: James Gilbert / Getty Images

“Yes, absolutely, with the caveat that NASCAR is a big, worldwide entity, and when you look at dates, there are only so many.

“There are only so many geographic regions and things like that. So there are many factors that go into when dates get put where. So it’s not a magic wand. But I feel comfortable, and am not saying anything out of line that, yes, we did everything we needed to do.

“It’s a process. But we are on the radar. We are in that process.”

A return for the Cup Series has not been confirmed at this stage.