DOVER, Del. -- Danica Patrick was on the cover of Sports Illustrated. At the conclusion of the 92nd running of the Indianapolis 500, she was the first interview on ABC following her pit-road altercation with Ryan Briscoe. And all this came on the heels of the February merger between Champ Car and IRL.

Yet when the final numbers were tallied earlier this week, NASCAR's marathon race outperformed the greatest spectacle in racing.

The Coca-Cola 600 drew a 4.7 final rating compared to the Indianapolis 500's 4.5 rating, a 4 percent margin.

"This is the eighth year in a row that the Coke 600 has drawn a bigger audience than the Indy 500, so it's become something of an expectation, actually," said Michael Mulvihill, vice president of FOX Sports research and programming. "I wouldn't say we were surprised by the performance; we were satisfied with it.

"When you're talking about being on the same day as the Indy 500, which is one of the classic events in all of American sports, and be able to consistently year in and year out draw a bigger audience than Indy does, I think that's extraordinary."

Indianapolis 500 overnight television ratings initially beat Sunday night's Coca-Cola 600 by 16 percent, a 5.1 overnight vs. a 4.4 overnight (based on the nation's top 55 markets). That's typical for these two events on Memorial Day weekend. But also in typical fashion, by Wednesday, NASCAR's numbers had jumped above Indy's once smaller markets were included in the final ratings.

What does that mean, and why does it still matter in Dover?

The glaring fact is that one of NASCAR's "regular races" beat open-wheel's premier event in viewership. When Sunday's 400-mile Cup Series race is wrapping up at Dover, ABC will begin its coverage of the IndyCar race at Milwaukee.

"To be able to have one of our regular races -- one that isn't the Daytona 500 -- outperform every other motorsport in America is great," said Ramsey Poston, NASCAR's managing director of corporate communications. "We've always said that ratings fluctuate, they come and go. People have different viewing habits for different reasons. On that one particular day, race fans across America tuned in with bigger numbers to the Coca-Cola 600, and we're obviously very proud of that."

The numbers from the Coca-Cola 600 represented the first increase in ratings for the event in three years. Last year, the race brought in a 4.5 rating and a 10 share.

Poston pointed to the multiple strategies of the Charlotte race and how the event unfolded late as to why fans tuned in. "You had a race where the cars were racy, strategy on pit road was different -- some were taking two [tires], some were taking four, some were taking a gas-and-go. That played out for all 600 miles and you had that suspense, that suspense of what is going to happen next and who's going to win the race. And you really didn't have a sense of that until very late in the race."

Indianapolis went green just before 1 p.m. ET, and Charlotte's green didn't drop until 5:51 p.m., so on-track activity didn't overlap thus the events did not compete head-to-head. But the NASCAR race did in fact conflict directly with the NBA playoff's Game 3 between the Lakers and Spurs on TNT -- it saw a ratings increase of 28 percent from last year's playoff game.

Those ratings competitions happen all season, beginning with the Daytona 500 pitted against the NBA All-Star Game. Basketball playoffs, baseball playoffs and the NFL follow. Critics will say that's like comparing apples and oranges -- motorsports to stick-and-ball sports. But competing against another form of racing is an equal stage, Poston said.

"It is apples and apples. It's motorsports vs. motorsports. It's network telecast vs. network telecast. And that is how we judge competition with other sports, as well," Poston said. "We compare ourselves only with other programming that is nationally telecast."

Along the same lines, if both premier events were pitted against one another, the Daytona 500 doubles the Indianapolis 500. This year, NASCAR's season-opener brought in a 10.2 rating with a 20 share.

The high numbers are a significant sign, considering the ratings decline during the past three years. Yet every race this season except for the rain-delayed California event that was run on a Monday and the Texas event has seen an increase in ratings from last year. NASCAR officials point to several things.

"We've absolutely seen everything more focused on track competition, whether it's the new car and how it's performed or competition today," Poston said. "Obviously, Kyle Busch has been a huge story this year, love him or hate him. Carl Edwards has had a great year. We have 12 races under our belt, and we have eight different winners in 12 races. All the manufacturers have won. All the major teams have won races. That's the kind of competition and intrigue that keeps people watching and coming back."

Poston admitted declining ticket sales this season has been a concern, but that fluctuating attendances is not significant enough to make a dent or boost in television ratings.

"Ratings fluctuate and go up and down," Poston said. "What we focus on is the long-term growth of the sport. When we take a look at the sport over a five- or seven-year period, there's a steady incline. That's where we are. We continue to be the No. 2 most popular sport on TV. That's us. That hasn't changed.

"It's a little bit like if you own a stock on Wall Street. Watching that stock every single day of the week is going to drive you crazy. What you want to look at is how that stock is performing over a longer period of time."