Ratings and viewership improved for the 2011 Brickyard 400, but this year’s race was still one of the lowest rated ever. ESPN earned a 4.0 U.S. rating and 6.377 million viewers for Sunday’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Brickyard 400, up 11% in ratings and 12% in viewership from last year (3.6, 5.709M), but down 2% in both categories compared to 2009 (4.1, 6.487M). This year’s Brickyard 400 ranks as the second-lowest rated ever, ahead of only last year. As recently as 2006, the race earned a 5.5 and 8.645 million viewers on NBC. That said, the race earned the largest NASCAR Sprint Cup audience of the season on cable, and the largest audience overall since the Coca-Cola 600 in May (8.132M, FOX), according to SMW.