NASCAR’s street racing debut was a banging success, and the viewership stats are proof of it. NASCAR’s main aim for Chicago was to expand its viewership across different demographics, and it is safe to say that it was successful. NBC Sports reported a viewership of 4.795 million?the highest for the broadcaster in 6 years, which proves that the objective was achieved. NASCAR’s beloved star Dale Earnheardt Jr believes so too he has been sharing his enthusiasm on social media.

Such an overwhelmingly positive response merits in-depth comments by experts. Dale Jr is among the industry insiders who have shared their insights. On an episode of The Dale Jr. Download podcast, Dale Jr enlightened fans with his take on the massive number of views for the Cup race in Chicago, opening his argument by saying that the amazing viewership growth shouldn’t come as a surprise.

Dale Earnhardt Jr on Next Gen cars and “brand new” stuff

The Chicago weekend had disappointed quite a lot of fans, the weather being the culprit-in-chief. The Xfinity race was delayed, then postponed to Sunday morning, and finally called off. However, the spectators did see a glimpse of what was to come in the 50-minute practice and the qualifying races. Then there were other reasons, as outlined by Dale Jr.

Junior’s co-host Mike Davis gave off a sense of bewilderment as the broadcast started. Dale Earnhardt Jr projected the race’s success in a new light. He shared that Shane van Gisbergen had quite a lot to do with it, winning on his debut in the Cup Series. He mentioned,?“Shane being in the race certainly drew a lot of folks tuning in from his part of the world. […] I mean, this guy?s super famous over in Australia with V8 supercars and in New Zealand. That certainly made a difference.”

However, that is not the only factor he decoded. Diving deeper into what plays on people’s minds, Junior explained, “Anytime NASCAR does anything brand new, [like] the Next Gen car. When the Next Gen car ran its first race … it was a pretty substantial ratings pop that comes from this brand-new car. Everybody?s going to tune in and go, ‘Oh, what?s this brand new car got a race like? It?s going to be completely different.'”

Moreover, there is a third factor as well, that of skill.

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The third factor that Junior talked about was the challenge that the new street race track posed to the drivers. Fans were mostly interested in watching how drivers fare in unexplored territories. “How entertaining would it be? I think everybody found it to be pretty, pretty entertaining to be honest with you. I mean, just watching the drivers do something they?ve never done before, I think that our sport is at its best. When the drivers in the cars are challenged to the max,” said Junior further in the podcast.

Dale Jr may have retired from full-time racing in 2017, but his views on what goes on in and out of the race track remain insightful as ever.

READ MORE: Dale Earnhardt Jr Admits He ?Wasn?t Sure? About the Chicago Street Race, but NBC Changed Him Completely