• by Wayne Friedman , February 28, 2012

A special run of Fox's "Daytona 500" on Monday night threw a wrench into the typical network placings on the night. Fox pulled in a high Nielsen preliminary 4.6 rating/12 share among 18-49 viewers and some 14.1 million average viewers overall.

The special Monday night airing was caused by a Sunday rain out. The race typically airs during daytime hours on Sunday.

It gave Fox top honors on the night -- ahead of usual Monday night winners CBS and/or NBC. Fox scored a 4.6/12 on Monday, followed by NBC with a 4.4/11, CBS with a 3.1/8, ABC at a 2.4/6, and CW with a 0.5/1. Fox said the race posted its best-ever ratings results.

Perhaps with a more female-targeted lineup, NBC's high-flying "The Voice" wasn't much affected -- just slipping 10% to a still-dominant 5.4/13 among 18-49 viewers for the night. NBC's 10 p.m. show "Smash" actually gained 4%, rising to a 2.4/6.

CBS' young-skewing, more male-oriented shows seem to have wandered over the race coverage, dinging CBS a bit. The net shows lost anywhere from 5% to 15% versus their respective results a week ago.

"How I Met Your Mother" dropped two-tenths of a rating point to a 3.6/10; "2 Broke Girls" dipped to a series low, down three-tenths of a rating point versus a week ago to a 3.7/9. "Two and a Half Men" sank nearly 15% to a 3.6/9, while "Mike & Molly" gave back 15% to a 2.9/7. So did "Hawaii Five-0," landing at a 2.5/6.

Somewhat in the same vein as NBC, ABC was not harmed -- partly due to its more female-skewing lineup. "The Bachelor" rose 4% to a 2.6/7, and "Castle" climbed 5% to a 2.2/5.

CW's "Gossip Girl" and "Hart of Dixie" landed at the same number, a 0.5/1 among 18-49 viewers. But among key younger female viewers, "Gossip Girl" did earn 25% among women 18-34 to a 1.0 rating/3 share, and 14% higher among women 18-49 to a 0.8/2. The network says those were some of its best numbers in three weeks.