Returning to Road America brought a needed boost to IndyCar TV ratings heading into the summer stretch.

A thrilling return for the Verizon IndyCar Series at Road America pays off in the ratings and viewership department. The Kohler Grand Prix, won by Will Power on Sunday in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, drew a 0.44 rating on NBCSN, with 470,000 viewers for the first open wheel race at the track since 2007.

While the series has not run at the track in the last nine years, comparisons can be made to two different points in the 2015 season – the MAVTV 500 at Auto Club Speedway and the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at the Milwaukee Mile. The race from California ran on the same weekend as this year’s race at Road America, while the Milwaukee Mile clearly provides us with the closest proximity comparison.

In both cases, numbers looked stronger in 2016 than last year. With a 0.37 rating on the same weekend in 2015, and a 0.42 rating for the race at the nearby Milwaukee Mile, Road America ends up slightly on top. Viewership is a bit more mixed, however, with Milwaukee bringing in more last year with 532,000 viewers.

Of course, not everything came up smelling like roses for the IndyCar TV ratings when you factor in their competition. The viewership numbers still pale in comparison to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, which brought in nearly four million viewers on Sunday afternoon. The NHRA is also proving to be a formidable opponent in the television world, with live coverage from Norwalk, Ohio going head-to-head with the start of IndyCar coverage. NHRA would win the battle, drawing just over 650,000 viewers.

Going forward, NBCSN will look to build momentum around IndyCar ahead of a lengthy break due to Olympic commitments. There will be three races upcoming for the series in July, at Iowa, Toronto, and Mid-Ohio. Then a close to one-month break leads into the tricky triangle at Pocono and the resumption of the Firestone 600 at Texas to finish August. Perhaps NBCSN as the primary home to the United States during the Summer Olympics can continue to raise the profile of the network.

One question many viewers will be asking through the end of the season will be who the leader is in the NBCSN booth for IndyCar. It is no secret that Leigh Diffey is a class act and favorite among racing fans, but he is committed to covering every Formula One race for the NBC Sports family of networks, as well as IndyCar and many NASCAR Xfinity Series races. Already Rick Allen, Kevin Lee, and Brian Till have had to stand in for Diffey during F1 conflict weekends, with four conflicts still to come, including the final three races. Is it time for NBC to find their new lead voice of IndyCar?

What did you think of the IndyCar coverage on NBCSN this past weekend? What about the racing at Road America? Give us your grades for the Kohler Grand Prix below or on social media.