NASCAR's season-opening Nextel Cup race produced a rating of 10.1, making it the fifth-highest rated Daytona 500 ever, according to Nielsen Media Research. The average audience of 17.53 million viewers for the Fox telecast also made the 49th Daytona 500 the fifth most-watched in history. An estimated 33.7 million views watched at least part of the Great American Race.

Last year, the race, sandwiched between NBC's coverage of the Turin Winter Olympics, set an all-time record for viewership, with 19.35 million.