From SceneDaily.com

Fox says its broadcast of Sunday’s rain-shortened Daytona 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Daytona International Speedway earned a Nielsen Media Research fast national rating of 9.2 and a 19 household share.

The rating was down 9.8 percent from last year’s 10.2/20.

Fox said the rating for this year was hurt by the cancellation of the race’s final 48 laps because of rain during “what are historically its most-watched laps” but still averaged 16.0 million viewers. The network says the race drew more people than the 15.4 million viewers for the NCAA Final Four, 15.2 million for the Beijing Olympics, 14.9 million for the National Basketball Association Finals, the 14.2 million for the Kentucky Derby, the 13.1 million for the final round of The Masters golf tournament and 7.2 million for last year’s Indianapolis 500.

Greenville, S.,C., led all local markets with a 21.2/33, followed by Greensboro, N.C., 19.9/33; Dayton, Ohio, 18.0/31; Indianapolis, 17.2/31; Knoxville,  Tenn., 16.9/27; Charlotte 15.6/27; Orlando, Fla., 15.4/29; Nashville,  Tenn., 15.3/27; Tampa, Fla., 15.2/30; and Jacksonville, Fla., 15.1/25.  
 
The fast national rating was up considerably from the 8.0 overnight rating reported for the nation’s largest metropolitan areas. That figure was down 14.9 percent from the 9.4 Fox earned overnight for the event in 2008, according to Street & Smith’s SportsBusiness Daily.