NASCAR beat the Indianapolis 500, but by just .1 rating point, which was good enough for the #1 slot in sports television last week. The Coca-Cola 600 on FOX scored a 4.7 rating and 11 share. These results beat ABCs Indianapolis 500 (4.6 rating and 14 share) for the second straight year. NASCAR’s number is down 8 percent from last year, while Indy’s result fell off 4 percent. The Coca-Cola 600 reached 5,055,000 households and 8,042,000 people, according to Nielsen Media Research. Indy had 4,892,000 households and 6,723,000 people. Interestingly, the Coca-Cola 600 rain delay coverage from 6:57 p.m. to 7:10 p.m. officially checked in third place among sports broadcasts with a 4.4 rating. The Indy 500 pre-race show had a 2.7 rating and 9 share, good enough for 7th place.( MotorsportsTV )(5-31-2003)
