The Indy 500, which dates to 1911, always has been held on Memorial Day or Memorial Day weekend, but most don’t know why. By then, the Indy 500 had a 63-year jump, but interest in stock-car racing increased as interest in Indy-car racing dropped off. Between 2006 and 2014, the NASCAR race in Charlotte, rechristened the Coca-Cola 600, had better TV ratings than the Indy 500 except for one year. A year ago, the last Indy 500 to be televised by ABC out-drew the Coke 600, 4.91 million viewers to 4.09 million viewers. NBC is pushing its first telecast of the Indy 500 hard, cross-promoting the race with other shows on the network and adding Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Danica Patrick as analysts.

Source: Forbes May 24, 2019 10:00 UTC