The Daytona 500 kicked off the Nascar season and the main storyline going into the race was Danica Patrick. Patrick became the first female driver to lead a lap of Nascar's biggest race. The result was a 30 percent viewership increase on the event that was eventually won by Jimmie Johnson for the second time.
Patrick started from the pole position, a story that prompted more people than usual to tune in and see possible history unfold. The race was seen in 10 percent of homes in the top 56 U.S. television markets. That was 30 percent higher than the 7.7 rating that last year's race drew in. It was the best year-to-year big-market ratings improvement in the Daytona 500's history.
So is Patrick to thank? Patrick becoming the first woman to start from the pole position became a national headline leading up to the race. While Johnson won the race for a second year in a row, Patrick's eighth place finish, became the bigger story. It was the best finish by a woman at the Daytona 500 since Janet Guthrie who finished 11th in 1980.
The South has become a ratings hotbed for Nascar, but over recent years the sport has begun to gain national attention. Patrick winning the pole position gave the Daytona 500 more exposure in the week leading up to the event than normal. More casual fans felt compelled to tune in.
The race coming down to the wire also helped pull in the ratings increase. Ratings spiked to 12.8 percent during the last 15 minutes of the race. Fan-favorite racers Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr. fought for the win in the final laps. Johnson took the lead on Lap 191 after Earnhardt was forced to restart his car with six laps left.
The race was held one day after more than 30 spectators of the Nationwide race were injured at the Speedway. Driver Kyle Larson's car crashed through the barrier, sending debris into the crowd.
