Amazon Prime Video made its NASCAR qualifying debut at Charlotte Motor Speedway—and it certainly didn’t go unnoticed. From sharp production to unique camera angles and surprisingly smooth transitions, viewers got a broadcast that felt both new and comfortably familiar.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. was a part of Amazon’s broadcast team at Charlotte for the Coca-Cola 600. He revisited the experience and spotlighted some of the broadcast’s biggest highlights, many of which drew praise from NASCAR fans.
Dale Earnhardt Jr. Looks Back on Prime’s First NASCAR Night
Earnhardt has already talked about Amazon’s Coke 600 broadcast on his podcast. He brought it up again on NASCAR’s official social media channels and emphasized how it was a game-changer in NASCAR broadcasting.
“Hey everybody, I heard ya’all enjoyed everything that we did with Prime this weekend at the (Coca-Cola 600), and the feedback’s been awesome,” Earnhardt said. “Let’s take a look at some of the highlights from this weekend.”
Our @PrimeVideo debut had everybody talking!
Let’s revisit some of the highlights with @DaleJr. pic.twitter.com/zekFM32d6M
— NASCAR (@NASCAR) May 29, 2025
In the first clip, Carl Edwards interviews Ryan Blaney, but the moment is briefly interrupted by fans chanting “USA, USA” in the background. Smiling, Blaney pauses and says, “I’m just letting them finish out the USA chant—I can’t interrupt it.”
“This is so great that our biggest technical difficulty is that the fans are this excited. That’s wonderful!” Edwards joked.
“That’s a good problem to have,” Blaney replied.
Then we see an aerial view of Charlotte, showing the racetrack and the cityscape. This is a unique angle that we don’t usually get to see on traditional NASCAR broadcasts.
The clip also included some fun pieces of commentary and clips of the interview with Ross Chastain, who won the race.
Prime Video Draws TV-Sized Audience for Its First NASCAR Broadcast
Austin Karp of Sports Business Journal reported that the Coca-Cola 600 averaged 2.6 million viewers on Prime Video. It’s a 16% dip from last year’s Fox audience of 3.1 million.
Hearing early viewership for 1st-ever @NASCAR Cup Series race to exclusively stream (Coke 600, @PrimeVideo) got around 2.6 million viewers
🔲 2024, Fox, 3.1M, cut short by rain
🔲 2023, Fox, rainout Sunday
🔲 2022, Fox, 3.9M2.6M right around what Cup Series cable TV races get pic.twitter.com/XGc2BKHk0o
— Austin Karp (@AustinKarp) May 28, 2025
Still, considering the move from network TV to a subscription-based streamer, those are solid numbers for NASCAR and Prime’s first-ever race broadcast.
Karp’s report shows that the Coca-Cola 600 on Prime Video attracted a younger audience than NASCAR typically sees on network TV. The race had a median viewer age of 56, six years lower than the usual for NASCAR on linear broadcasts.
It’s a pattern also seen with Thursday Night Football, where Prime’s viewers were seven years younger on average than those watching on cable.
The numbers come with a trade-off, though. As Fox’s Michael Mulvihill observed, NASCAR got younger viewers, but it lost more from its older audience in the process.
As streaming becomes more mainstream, older fans may catch up, and younger audiences may grow. So, the viewership is expected to grow in future streams, but for now, NASCAR might see reduced viewership numbers.
