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NASCAR helped rev up the ratings at NBCSN in 2015, no small feat considering it was a non-Olympic year for the network.

The telecast of the July 26 Crown Royal Presents the Jeff Kyle 400 at The Brickyard was NBCSN’s top non-Olympic telecast ever with 4.7 million viewers.

The audience tuned in to watch eventual NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion Kyle Busch reach Victory Lane for the first time at the historic 2.5-mile track. The win was his fourth in five races as Busch made a dramatic comeback from injuries sustained in the season-opening XFINITY race.

During the first year of a 10-year deal with NBC that includes televising Sprint Cup and XFINITY races, NASCAR dominated the list of most-watched non-Olympic programs on NBCSN to date, sweeping the top four spots and taking five of the top 10.

In addition to the Indianapolis race, the Aug. 16 Sprint Cup Series race at Michigan International Speedway also made the top four with 4.29 million viewers. The Aug. 2 Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway was third at 4.26 million, and the Oct. 25 Sprint Cup race at Talladega Superspeedway was fourth at 4.24 million.

All of these highly watched races have put NBCSN on pace for its best year ever, since its launch as OLN in 2003.

The momentum for NASCAR didn’t stop at NBCSN. The Nov. 22 Ford EcoBoost 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, which was televised on NBC and NBCSN, was the most-watched NASCAR season finale since 2005, peaking with nearly 12.4 million average viewers.

Viewership for races on network NBC were up 10 percent over the same events in 2014. And viewership for races on network FOX were up 9 percent from the previous year.

Across all NASCAR digital platforms, unique visitors (7 percent), page views (14 percent) and video views (7 percent) were up year-over-year on Sprint Cup Series race days. Meanwhile, NASCAR Facebook and Twitter accounts combined to generate 4.1 billion impressions, which was 52 percent higher than last year.

The list of NBCSN’s top 10 non-Olympic shows ever:

July 26, 2015: NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Indianapolis: 4.7 million
Aug. 16, 2015: NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Michigan: 4.29 million
Aug. 2, 2015: NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono: 4.26 million
Oct. 25, 2015: NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Talladega: 4.24 million
June 1, 2014: NHL conference finals (LA-CHI, Game 7): 4.14 million
June 17, 2013: NHL Stanley Cup finals (CHI-BOS Game 3): 4 million
Aug. 9, 2015: NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen: 3.98 million
June 15, 2013: NHL Stanley Cup finals (CHI-BOS, Game 2): 3.96 million
June 10, 2015: NHL Stanley Cup finals (TB-CHI, Game 4): 3.91 million
June 8, 2015: NHL Stanley Cup finals (TB-CHI, Game 3): 3.9 million

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“NASCAR extends its condolences to the friends and family of Judy Allison, the wife of NASCAR Hall of Famer Bobby Allison. Judy, the matriarch of a cornerstone NASCAR family, provided the foundation for the careers of a legendary husband and two sons who both lost their lives entirely too soon. Her love extended well beyond her own family, as many in the NASCAR family leaned upon Judy for support and compassion during many difficult times.
 
“We are deeply saddened by the loss of a true friend, and a woman who has given much to our sport.”

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DARLINGTON, S.C.— Jeff Gordon, a highly respected four-time Sprint Cup Series champion, has been awarded the NMPA Spirit Award for the fourth quarter of 2015 by the members of the National Motorsports Press Association. The award is designed to recognize character and achievement in the face of adversity, sportsmanship and contributions to motorsports.

Gordon, 44, has often contributed his time and efforts to many charitable causes over the past 25 years and has served as one of NASCAR’s greatest ambassadors. He collected 93 Sprint Cup Series wins, including three Daytona 500 in 1997, 1999 and 2005 and five Brickyard 400 victories in 1994, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2014. He retired as a driver in Cup competition at the end of the 2015 season.

As a young child, the native of Vallejo, California and longtime resident of Pittsboro, Indiana enjoyed a very successful career driving Quarter Midgets, winning three championships. Plans of building a career in Indy Cars changed in 1990 when he discovered NASCAR’s Xfinity (then Busch) Series. A fulltime move to NASCAR’s premier Cup division in 1993 with Hendrick Motorsports set the stage for one of the most successful careers in stock car racing history.

His philanthropic efforts include pediatric cancer research and patient support through the Jeff Gordon Children’s Hospital and Jeff Gordon Children’s Foundation in Concord, North Carolina. 

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Kyle Busch underwent successful surgery on Thursday morning and is expected to make a full recovery in time for the start of the 2016 NASCAR season, Joe Gibbs Racing announced in a team release.

Busch, the 2015 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion, underwent scheduled surgery to remove two metal plates in his left foot and a metal rod and screws in his right leg. The plates, rod and screws had helped to stabilize his foot and leg following injuries suffered in an accident last February at Daytona International Speedway.


Samantha Busch, Kyle’s wife, also tweeted about the successful surgery.

The 30-year-old won five races in the sport’s top series, including four out of five in the summer and the season-ending Ford EcoBoost 400 to win his first Sprint Cup championship. The injuries suffered at Daytona kept Busch out for the season’s first 11 races before he returned for the Sprint All-Star Race in May.

Earlier this month during Champion’s Week in Las Vegas, Busch was upbeat about his medical situation.

“For it being nine months and me feeling how I feel right now, I’m pretty confident I’ll be back to normal nine months after surgery. I still have pain today and every day; it still continues to get better.

“The doctors are pretty shocked at how well I feel right now with the stuff that’s still in the foot. The leg feels fine, it’s normal except on a 20-degree day — it’s got a weird feeling with the broken spot on the bone.”

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Hendrick Motorsports announced Thursday that Kelley Blue Book will join the list of sponsors for the team’s No. 24 Chevrolet and rookie Chase Elliott in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.
 
The two-year agreement includes primary sponsorship for two Sprint Cup races annually, extending a relationship that began in 2014 with Hendrick Motorsports driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. Kelley Blue Book — a vehicle valuation and research company based in Irvine, California — will be an associate sponsor in other Sprint Cup Series events.
 
“Kelley Blue Book is a recognized and respected name in the automotive industry,” Elliott said in a release provided by the team. “It means a lot to have them support the No. 24 team, and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel of their car. Continuing what they’ve started at Hendrick Motorsports is going to be a lot of fun. Our entire team is looking forward to making the program a success.”
 
Elliott, 20, is set for a Sunoco Rookie of the Year campaign in 2016, taking the reins of the iconic No. 24 Chevy from four-time series champion Jeff Gordon. The 2014 XFINITY Series champion competed in five Sprint Cup events last season in preparation for his first full season in NASCAR’s top division.
 
The Hendrick organization announced last May that NAPA Auto Parts would be Elliott’s primary sponsor for 24 races annually through the 2018 season.

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RELATED: Learn which drivers and crew chiefs are on the move


Roush Fenway Racing has at least one crew chief change for 2016, adding Brian Pattie to call the shots for veteran Greg Biffle and the No. 16 Ford team next year.
 
Pattie first confirmed the news on SiriusXM NASCAR Radio on Wednesday night. A Roush Fenway Racing representative confirmed the move Thursday.
 
Pattie served as crew chief to Clint Bowyer with Michael Waltrip Racing‘s No. 15 Toyota for most of the last four seasons, switching to David Ragan and MWR’s No. 55 team after the first Pocono race of 2015. The Waltrip-owned team ceased operation after the 2015 season.
 
Pattie replaces Matt Puccia, who had been paired with Biffle since the midway point of the 2011 season. During their time together, Biffle posted three victories and six Coors Light Pole Awards, but their most recent stretch has seen limited success. Biffle has been winless since June 2013.
 
The team did not confirm the remainder of Roush Fenway Racing‘s Sprint Cup lineup.

 

Bob Osborne served as crew chief for the No. 6 Ford in 2015, guiding Trevor Bayne in his first full season in NASCAR’s premier series. Nick Sandler joined the No. 17 team and driver Ricky Stenhouse Jr. last year in his first stint as a crew chief.

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Tim O’Brien will fill the vacant lead engineer position for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s No. 88 Hendrick Motorsports team in the 2016 season, the team confirmed.

O’Brien worked with Clint Bowyer upon his arrival to Michael Waltrip Racing in 2012 before serving as the lead engineer for the No. 55 MWR team in 2015. His tenure with the Waltrip-owned team followed a seven-season stint with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates.

The position became available after former No. 88 lead engineer Kevin Meendering left Hendrick Motorsports to crew chief for Elliott Sadler‘s newly minted JR Motorsports ride in 2016. Meendering served as the No. 88 lead engineer for five seasons before his departure.

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RELATED: Buy Darlington tickets
MORE: Darlington wins Myers Brothers Award | See the ’15 throwback schemes

Darlington Raceway announced the theme of its award-winning throwback campaign on Wednesday for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 racing event on Labor Day weekend (Sept. 2-4. 2016). The track will focus on the 1975-84 era of the sport next year, a revolutionary time period when iconic drivers such as Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough, Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip left their imprints on stock car racing.

“The track will be celebrating the 1975-84 time period of the sport during our throwback weekend in 2016,” Darlington Raceway President Chip Wile said in a release on the track’s website.

“We had tremendous response from the industry last season, which included the race teams, NASCAR, NBC, Goodyear and the NASCAR Hall of Fame, to name a few. This is a fun and unique way to honor the history and heritage of NASCAR racing at one of the sport’s most iconic tracks on Labor Day weekend.”

This season marks the second year of Darlington’s throwback campaign, which saw drivers wheel old-school schemes, brought back the original NASCAR logo and honored Hall of Fame drivers, among other initiatives. The program proved incredibly successful in the industry and received the prestigious NMPA Myers Brothers Award on Dec. 3 for its inaugural running. Wile has said that the program was part of a five-year platform.

Last year also saw the return of the race to Labor Day weekend for the first time since 2003. The South Carolina hosts events for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and XFINITY Series.

The track will announce events surrounding the throwback weekend as the Southern 500 approaches.

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RELATED: See all the drivers and crew chiefs on the move in 2016

Richard Petty Motorsports announced Wednesday that Chris Heroy will take the reins as crew chief for the No. 9 Ford and rookie driver Brian Scott in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series next season.
 
Heroy has served as crew chief for Chip Ganassi Racing‘s No. 42 Chevrolet for the past four years, two each with drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Larson. The 38-year-old — nicknamed “Shine” (short for “sunshine”) for his easygoing demeanor — was previously the lead engineer for Hendrick Motorsports No. 5 team.
 
Heroy has netted 14 top-five finishes and three Coors Light Pole Awards in 144 Sprint Cup appearances as a crew chief. He’ll work alongside former colleague Trent Owens, currently the crew chief for the No. 43 Ford and driver Aric Almirola.
 
“I’m really excited to join the team,” Heroy said in a release provided by RPM. “I really enjoyed working with Kyle (Larson) for his rookie season, and I’m looking forward to working with Brian as he works toward the Rookie of the Year title. This team has done a great job building consistency over the past year and continuing their winning tradition is a top priority, and I believe we can accomplish that this season.
 
“I’m excited to work with Trent as well. We worked together when Kyle was racing for both Ganassi and Turner Scott. I think we will work well together, and we can get Richard Petty Motorsports to Victory Lane.”
 
Scott, a Sunoco Rookie of the Year candidate for next season, was announced last week as the Petty team’s replacement for Sam Hornish Jr., who parted ways with RPM after one season in the No. 9 ride. Drew Blickensderfer began last year as crew chief for the No. 9 Fusion, ceding that role in May to Kevin “Bono” Manion for the rest of the season.
 
The 27-year-old Scott, a NASCAR XFINITY Series regular the past six seasons, has 17 starts in NASCAR’s top division over the last three years. He won his only Coors Light Pole Award in May 2014 at Talladega Superspeedway.