Sometimes our data mining efforts turn up surprising insights when we look at populations of people, their behaviors, and other characteristics. Looking at the most likely viewers of this weekend’s Daytona 500, however, is not one of those times. If you have a picture in your head of a stereotypical NASCAR fan, chances are it’s pretty much accurate.

Over the last few weeks, we asked 8,855 US consumers whether they planned to watch this year’s installment of the Super Bowl of Racing. Here’s how the topline numbers looked:

Overall, 27% of US consumers are at least Somewhat Likely to watch the race, with 15% saying Very Likely. Compare this to the Super Bowl itself (48% said Very Likely) or the Grammy’s (30% said at least Somewhat Likely) and you get an idea of where it fits in the media rankings.

When you break down the demographics of likely viewers, they hold pretty true to what you would expect:

– 35% of men are at least Somewhat Likely to watch, compared to just 20% of women.

– The most likely age group to watch are those aged 45-54 (22% Very Likely) while the least likely to watch are those under age 29 (only 8% Very Likely)

– People with only a high school degree or some college but no college degree are the most likely to watch, at a rate 24% and 16% higher than more educated consumers, respectively.

– People in the US Midwest said Very Likely more than all other regions, with the US South very close behind. People in the US Northeast are the least likely to watch, followed closely by the US West.

– Daytona 500 viewers are also much more likely to be Republicans. 35% of GOP loyalists are at least Somewhat Likely to watch versus just 20% of Democrats and 29% of Independents.

–  They’re also more likely to watch Fox News, enjoy action movies over other genres, and drive Trucks more than other people. No surprises there.

Given the pervasive advertising in NASCAR, on the driver’s suits, the track walls, the TV commercials, and, of course, the collage of ads on the cars themselves, we wanted to see which brands got the biggest support among likely Daytona 500 viewers. Naturally, let’s look at cars first:

While Ford is the most chosen car by likely Daytona 500 viewers, that is also true across every viewer category, including non-viewers. When we look for correlations or “lift,” we see that Chrysler and Chevrolet enjoy the biggest jump among race fans, compared to casual or non-viewers.

Secondly, let’s look at home improvement stores, where the big industry players are among the most prominent sponsors of NASCAR. With his long run of titles, one would assume that Jimmie Johnson would give Lowe’s, his marquee sponsor, a big boost among race fans. What do the numbers tell us?

It looks like neither Lowe’s or Home Depot get a big boost among Daytona 500 viewers, relative to casual viewers and non-viewers. Ironically, the highest lift is connected to Sears. Still a distant 3rd, Sears gets a 140% greater reaction from likely Daytona 500 viewers than other consumers.

Finally, let’s take a quick look at mobile carriers. Given Sprint’s huge investment in sponsoring the entire Sprint Cup racing series, we should see a big boost of support for the brand among Daytona 500 viewers, right?

Nope. What stands out here is that nothing stands out. Sprint is no more popular among likely Daytona 500 viewers than they are among anyone else. We don’t know the advertising industry very well but you would hope to see at least some lift here, given what is probably a huge investment.

Anyway, that was our little analysis of the 2013 Daytona 500 viewer. If you’re planning to watch the race, have fun.