When the NHRA’s Countdown to the Championship reaches its midpoint this fall, NFL football will be in full swing, creating another opportunity for drag racing to capture the attention of an audience far larger than the sport traditionally reaches.
NHRA announced this week that the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals at World Wide Technology Raceway on Oct. 4 will air on FOX adjacent to a FOX NFL broadcast, continuing a strategy that has delivered some of the largest television audiences in the sanctioning body’s history.
The St. Louis-area event becomes the third race of the six-event Countdown to the Championship and the latest playoff race selected for one of FOX’s coveted football-adjacent broadcast windows.
The decision wasn’t made in a vacuum.
FOX’s confidence in the strategy received immediate reinforcement last weekend at the inaugural NHRA Potomac Nationals at Maryland International Raceway, which served as NHRA’s first FOX network broadcast of the 2026 season.
According to ratings released by NHRA, the Potomac Nationals attracted 905,000 viewers, a 15-percent increase over the comparable FOX broadcast on the same weekend last year, when the NHRA New England Nationals drew 789,000 viewers.
The Maryland race also continued a trend NHRA officials would like to see continue. Through seven national events in 2026, the series has already recorded four sellout race days, including a packed house for Maryland International Raceway’s first NHRA national event.
For NHRA, those numbers represent more than a strong weekend.
They represent proof that the sport is carrying momentum into the heart of its 75th anniversary season.
Last season’s football-adjacent playoff broadcast from Texas Motorplex produced the largest audience in NHRA history, drawing 2.065 million viewers and peaking at 3.631 million. Those numbers demonstrated what can happen when drag racing is exposed to viewers who may not normally seek out the sport.
Now World Wide Technology Raceway gets its turn.
The facility has become one of the most popular stops on the NHRA tour, regularly producing packed grandstands and some of the quickest performances of the season. It has also become a critical stop in the Countdown, where championship contenders begin separating themselves from the field.
“We are thrilled that FOX has selected the NAPA Auto Parts NHRA Midwest Nationals to be a part of an amazing broadcast day in conjunction with their football broadcast,” said Chris Blair, World Wide Technology Raceway executive vice president and general manager.
“This opportunity showcases our track, our city, our region and the incredible fans that make WWT Raceway so special.”
“There’s nothing like NHRA Drag Racing, and we are thrilled to share this spectacular event to a global audience and new potential fan base.”
The selection marks the sixth consecutive year an NHRA playoff race has benefited from a football-adjacent FOX window.
That consistency suggests both FOX and NHRA continue to view the partnership as one of the best opportunities available to introduce drag racing to casual sports fans.
Most markets on Oct. 4 will receive NHRA coverage immediately following FOX NFL broadcasts, giving the sport access to one of the largest television audiences available anywhere on the sports calendar.
For decades, drag racing has faced the challenge of growing beyond its traditional audience. Television remains one of the most effective ways to introduce NHRA competition to viewers who may have never attended a national event or watched a race.
The FOX schedule gives NHRA several opportunities to build toward the playoffs.
The broadcast network’s coverage began in Maryland and continues this weekend at the NHRA New England Nationals. Additional FOX broadcasts are scheduled for Norwalk, Seattle and the Cornwell Quality Tools NHRA U.S. Nationals before the Countdown begins.
The Potomac Nationals provided evidence that the audience is there.
The Midwest Nationals now becomes the next test.
If recent trends continue, NHRA could once again find itself delivering one of the largest television audiences in the sport’s history when the Countdown rolls into St. Louis.
