What’s Happening?

This week, NASCAR returns to racing abroad as the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head south of the border into Mexico City. NASCAR has raced outside the United States in the past. In fact, the first time NASCAR left the States was all the way back in 1952 when the Grand National division ran a temporary course in Ontario, Canada. Since then, NASCAR has held events abroad off and on across its many divisions. With NASCAR returning to Mexico City this weekend, and with talk about having next year’s Clash in Brazil, we here at The Daily Downforce thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the instances when NASCAR raced outside of the country on an international stage.

So, buckle up! Here are some of the times NASCAR raced abroad.

Twin Ring Motegi (1998)

The site of Danica Patrick’s lone professional racing win, NASCAR once raced at the now-defunct Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Twin Ring Motegi is a motorsports park that includes a road course and, yes, the only oval racing circuit in Japan. The oval track is an egg-shaped speedway, similar to Darlington, with turns three and four being much tighter than turns one and two. NASCAR’s only race at the track happened on November 22, 1998. The race was the Coca-Cola 500 and was most notable for being the first race in which the father-son duo, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced against one another. Both sponsored by Coca-Cola, Junior and Senior drove the number 1 and number 3 Coca-Cola Racing Family Chevrolets, respectively.

Jeremy Mayfield claimed the pole for the race and led the opening lap. Jeff Gordon took the lead from him on lap 2 and led until lap 28. In the laps that followed, Mayfield, Gordon, Sterling Marling, Jeff Burton, and Mike Skinner swapped the lead. Dale Earnhardt took the lead on Lap 103. It was a highly competitive race. However, at the end of the day, Mike Skinner in the RCR number 31 Lowe’s Chevy won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 6th in his very first Winston Cup Series start, besting his father, who crossed the line in 8th. The three-year deal to race in Japan concluded after this event and NASCAR did not return there for the 1999 season.

Twin Ring Motegi continued to be a fixture on the IndyCar schedule until 2011. For the 2011 running of the race, the race was moved over to the road course circuit as the oval had been damaged by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Following 2011, IndyCar never returned to Motegi.

NASCAR Thunder Special in Suzuka (1996-1997)

I started this list with the Twin Ring Motegi race because that track was a more typical/traditional oval circuit. It fit NASCAR best. But, as referenced in that entry, it was the last race as part of a three-year deal with the Government of Japan to hold one NASCAR race a year in the country. Prior to going to Motegi, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series had a two-year stint in Suzuka.

The Suzuka circuit in Japan has held many races over the course of its long and storied history. Perhaps most famously, it’s the site of the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula One. But it did host a pair of exhibition NASCAR Cup races in 1996 and 1997 on an abbreviated course. The first running of the event was held on November 24, 1996, and it saw Rusty Wallace take home the win. The series returned a year later with Mike Skinner taking the crown. This means that Mike Skinner won two of the three-year race deal between NASCAR and Japan. That’s just wild!

Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigez (2005-2008)

Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigez is the circuit NASCAR is returning to this weekend. That is to say that NASCAR has raced there before. Between 2005 and 2008, the Mexico City circuit was a regular fixture on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. For the first three years, the race was run in early March during the Cup Series first off weekend of the year. During its first two years, the track used the chicane in its layout. The chicane was ditched for the final two runnings of the event.

Eventual 2005 and defending NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. won the inaugural race at the track. To date, he was the only Xfinity Series regular to win the event as the Buschwhackers hoisted the trophy in subsequent years. Denny Hamlin won the 2006 running of the race while Juan Pablo Montoya won it in 2007. The last race until Saturday to run at the track was won by Kyle Busch in 2008.

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2007-2012)

With the success of the races in Mexico City, the NASCAR Xfinity Series added yet another race abroad for the 2007 schedule, this time opting to cross the northern border into Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the infamous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The NAPA Auto Parts 200 was run for six years between 2007 and 2012 and it was always a show. Gilles Villeneuve’s son, Jaques Villeneuve ran the race almost every year and was an absolute terror in the Team Penske number 22 Dodge. No driver wanted to see him in their rearview mirror because it only meant one thing: in the next corner, they were getting dumped.

A healthy mix of series regulars, Buschwhackers, and road course ringers went to victory lane during this span of races. Winning the first one in 2007 was Kevin Harvick in the number 21 Chevy for RCR. The following year, Ron Fellows won the race in the rain in the number 5 JR Motorsports GoDaddy.com Chevy. Current NASCAR on Prime broadcaster and NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Carl Edwards won the race in 2009. Boris Said captured his only NASCAR win in the race in 2010. SVG’s mentor, Marcos Ambrose, won the race in 2011. And finally, in 2012 future Xfinity Series Champion, Justin Allgaier won the final race at the track, driving for Turner Motorsports.

Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (2013-2019)

After the deal with Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended, NASCAR wanted to keep a presence in Canada. So, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to racing exclusively in the States, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series struck a 9-year deal to run at the less popular Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario, Canada. Chase Elliott won the first race at the track in 2013, driving the number 94 Aaron’s Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. His buddy Ryan Blaney won it the following year in the Brad Keselowski Racing number 29 Ford. Erik Jones won the race in 2015 for Kyle Busch Motorsports.

Perhaps the most thrilling finish during this stint was the 2016 finish. The race came down between now-Cup Series drivers John Hunter Nemechek, driving for his father’s NEMCO Motorsports, and Cole Custer, driving the 00 for JR Motorsports. Coming to the line, JHN pinned Custer against the wall and held him there as he crossed the line first. Custer, furious, confronted Nemechek and the two brawled on the frontstretch. As a JRM fan, I never forgave JHN for this move. Other winners at the track include Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, and Brett Moffitt.

Though races in 2020 and 2021 were scheduled, they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In their place were additional races at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR never returned to the track at any capacity.

Conclusion

That does it for this one, Daily Downforce readers! What are your expectations for this weekend’s return to Mexico City? Do you expect a thrilling finish? What are your hopes for NASCAR racing abroad in the future? Let us know! And be sure to comment what you think on all of our social media pages (X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)

NASCAR fans have grown accustomed to seeing speed, throttle and braking on broadcasts for years. There has been one measurement, though, that has eluded networks and viewers for years.

Until now.

Viewers of the Prime Video races have been able to see fuel usage with the introduction of the Burn Bar. Race teams have measured burn rates and fuel levels down to the last ounce for years, but the methodology has been kept secret for competitive reasons.

Prime Video, though, developed an AI tool using car data available to broadcasters and teams that can measure miles per gallon. The Burn Bar made a brief appearance during Prime’s first broadcast, the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. It has been used more frequently the past two weeks and will be deployed again on Sunday during the race in Mexico City.

NASCAR on Prime analyst Steve Letarte, a former crew chief for Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., contributed to the development of the Burn Bar and sees it as the first step in taking race analysis to a new level.

“It’s the first true tool that is taking information off the car, making calculations and then displaying to the fan a calculation or measurement that is being used in the garage. And it does affect the team,” he said. “There’s not a sensor on the car giving us miles per gallon. It’s a mathematical calculation of other cars performances.”

The AI model analyzes thousands of performance data per second, including a range of in-car telemetry signals, RPMs, throttle and optical tracking of each car’s position. The model then evaluates each driver’s fuel consumption and efficiency throughout the race.

Letarte worked with Prime Video “Thursday Night Football Prime Vision” analyst Sam Schwartzstein and Amazon Web Services during the process. They came up with four methodologies that were tested during the first part of the season, which was broadcast by Fox. Schwartzstein and Letarte would then get the data from teams after races to see how close they were until they picked one that worked the best.

The Burn Bar received its toughest test during last week’s race at Michigan as the final 48 laps were run without a caution flag. Most teams made their final pit stops with 50 laps to go, meaning teams were going to be down to the end of their fuel runs at the checkered flag.

“We projected William Byron to run out, which he did, and then we were on the razor’s edge for Denny Hamlin. And then watching the truck push him back into victory lane at the end, knowing he was as close as we thought he was. What a cool way to see this feature come to life and elevate NASCAR broadcasts,” Schwartzstein said.

Alex Strand, Prime Video’s senior coordinating producer for live sports, also sees the Burn Bar as the first tool of many that Amazon and Prime Video can develop for its coverage. Prime Video is in the first year of a seven-year agreement to carry five races per season.

“It’s really cool to live in a world where it shows us that anything is possible. We’re starting with something that we’re really excited about, but it’s setting us down a path that will open up new doors for us,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re really excited about is to say, ‘OK, we’ve had success in Year 1 on a feature that’s resonated with fans right out of the gate.’ It raises the table for our offseason.”

After Sunday’s race in Mexico City, Prime Video’s coverage for this season wraps up with the race at Pocono on June 22.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing

Joe Reedy, The Associated Press

During today’s annual press conference preceding the 24 Hours of Le Mans, officials from the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) and the Automobile Club de l’Ouest (ACO) announced the extension of their strategic alliance, securing its continuation through at least the end of 2032.

The IMSA-ACO strategic alliance provides for three automatic invitations for each year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans for IMSA competitors. Effectively, IMSA provides one automatic entry in each of the three classes racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

The championship-winning team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class earns a Le Mans entry for the following year in the Hypercar class. The winner of the annual Jim Trueman Award for the top Bronze-rated driver in the WeatherTech Championship’s Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class earns a Le Mans entry for the following year in the LMP2 class.

Similarly, the winner of the Bob Akin Award for the top Bronze driver in the WeatherTech Championship Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class earns a spot in the next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMGT3 class.

This year’s automatic Le Mans entries from IMSA are the No. 4 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 shared by Nick Tandy, Felipe Nasr and Pascal Wehrlein in Hypercar; the No. 34 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 of Nick Boulle – the 2024 Jim Trueman Award winner and WeatherTech Championship LMP2 champion – being co-driven by Jean-Baptiste Simmenauer and Luca Ghiotto in the LMP2 class; and the No. 13 AWA Racing Corvette Z06 GT3.R for 2024 Bob Akin Award winner Orey Fidani and co-drivers Matt Bell and Lars Kern in the LMGT3 class.

IMSA also will continue to hold exclusive rights in North America for the use of LMP2 and Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) race cars. As a component of the extension, IMSA will adopt the new LMP2 regulations announced by the ACO in Friday’s press conference. The new LMP2 cars are expected to begin competing in the WeatherTech Championship in 2028.

The agreement also allows IMSA to use “Le Mans” in the title of the annual 10-hour season WeatherTech Championship season finale – known as Motul Petit Le Mans – at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

IMSA and the ACO have been strategic partners since the launch of the modern-day IMSA at the beginning of the 2014 season, with formal links between the two organizations dating back for decades prior.

JOHN DOONAN, IMSA President: “The undeniable success that endurance sports car racing is currently experiencing all over the world is directly the result of the ongoing partnership between IMSA and the ACO. Together, we created technical platforms and regulations that have attracted an unprecedented number of manufacturers by ensuring relevance and budget practicality. The end result is a product that is clearly resonating with motorsport fans everywhere, as evidenced by the steady and continuous growth of our collective audience.”

PIERRE FILLON, ACO President: “Endurance racing is experiencing an unprecedented level of global success, and the alliance between the ACO and IMSA is at the very heart of this momentum. Over the past decade, we have built a common framework that aligns technical regulations, fosters manufacturer involvement, and ensures sustainable growth for our sport. Extending this partnership through 2032 provides long-term stability and a shared commitment to innovation, competition, and passion—values that define endurance racing and continue to inspire fans and stakeholders around the world.”

IMSA Wire Service PR

NASCAR Xfinity Series teams will spend much of Saturday at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, with qualifying set for 12:10 p.m. EDT (The CW sapp) and the race getting underway at 4:30 p.m. EDT. (The CW).

You can watch The CW through the CW app on various devices, including Amazon Fire TV, or through services like DIRECTV, which includes The CW. You can also access some CW content on Prime Video Channels as an add-on subscription.

This is the second road course event of the 2025 season and the first international race in years. The Chilango 150 will cover 165 laps, totaling 157.3 miles.

The previous race in Mexico City, which was held in 2008 and named the Corona Mexico 200, saw Kyle Busch earn the victory after passing Scott Pruett with seven laps to go.

NASCAR drivers will face one of the biggest challenges of their careers racing at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, which sits at an elevation of nearly 7,500 feet. The next highest track on the Cup circuit in terms of elevation is Las Vegas Motor Speedway at about 2,000 feet above sea level.

To prepare its drivers for the altitude, Toyota launched a comprehensive training program months ago that had its drivers wearing a mask that simulates less oxygen while training and even sleeping in a hypoxic tent.

HOW TO WATCH

• WHAT: Chilango 150
• WHEN: 4:30 p.m. EDT Saturday
• WHERE: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City
• TV: The CW. You can watch The CW through the CW app on various devices, including Amazon Fire TV, or through services like DIRECTV, which includes The CW. You can also access some CW content on Prime Video Channels as an add-on subscription.
• QUALIFYING: Set for 12:10 p.m. EDT Saturday (The CW App)

The road course in Mexico City has been repaved and reconfigured since the Xfinity Series’ last visit, with drivers tackling a 15-turn, 2.42-mile layout. There are 39 drivers on the entry list, and they all will race because of an international provisional that added a spot for a 39th qualifier (who will be ineligible for prize money or points)

Hometown favorite Daniel Suarez, who won the 2016 Xfinity championship, will be driving the No. 9 Chevrolet for JR Motorsports in his first Xfinity start this season. Joe Gibbs Racing teammates Christopher Bell (driving for Sam Hunt Racing) and Ty Gibbs (in the No. 19 of JGR) also will be moonlighting in the Xfinity race. Four of Gibbs’ 12 Xfinity Series victories have been on road courses.

The forecast looks pretty favorable, with temperatures in the mid-70s and the possibility of a shower or two.

In the Xfinity Series’ last race on May 31, Justin Allgaier took his third series win of the season in Nashville, Tennessee, while holding off a late surge from rookie teammate Connor Zilisch.

Allgaier took the lead with 47 laps to go on a daring three-wide move on the restart, passing Zilisch and Brandon Jones for the top spot.

Coca-Cola 600 champion Ross Chastain earned a top-5 for JR Motorsports, finishing fifth.

Allgaier holds a commanding lead in the series standings, with 583 points. Austin Hill is second with three wins, seven top-5 finishes and 491 points, and Sam Mayer sits third with seven top-5 finishes and 473 points.

Jesse Love (432) and Zilisch (395) are fourth and fifth.

Qualifying was originally scheduled for 10:35 a.m., but two aircraft issues grounded multiple race teams back in North Carolina on Thursday, delaying their arrival for the first race weekend featuring the Cup Series in Mexico City.

The major adjustment will be a delay for the Xfinity Series, which shifted from two Friday practices (a 50-minute session plus a 25-minute stint) to one 50-minute practice Saturday at 11:05 a.m. EDT. Qualifying, which will split the field into two groups, will begin Saturday at 12:10 p.m. EDT. That prep time comes before the Xfinity Series’ The Chilango 150 on Saturday at 4:30 p.m. EDT.

Chase Elliott had high praise for the job Amazon Prime Video has done in broadcasting the last handful of NASCAR Cup Series races, after getting a special livery and special treatment.

The current set of NASCAR races are being broadcast by Amazon Prime, as part of a five-race segment that started in Charlotte and ends at Pocono. As it stands, the sport will have its first international race in 25 years, with the Viva Mexico 250 in Mexico City set to begin Sunday, though Denny Hamlin will miss the race due to the birth of his son.

By and large, fans have appreciated Amazon’s broadcast of the races, lauding how the races look and feel in comparison to FOX Sports’ coverage. Part of what makes the races on Prime engaging is the talent the network has enlisted to break down the competition, which includes former stars Carl Edwards and Dale Earnhardt Jr.

At one point, both Edwards and Elliott raced against one another and the Hendrick Motorsports star sang the former’s praises as a driver during his pre-race press conference in Mexico City. As Elliott was praising Edwards, the 29-year-old also gave the former star his flowers for the job he’s done as part of Amazon’s crew.

“He’s always been very professional,” Elliott began on Edwards. “He does good in front of the cameras, but he’s also a good guy away from that too. I’m not saying he’s not, but he is, I think, a good choice for Amazon.

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“They’re leaders in entertainment and technology, and I think that’s a perfect fit on a lot of levels. Seeing a fresh perspective on our sport is cool, and I’m happy to be a part of the effort and have their support.”

And while viewership among adults 55+ is down 40 percent as a result of NASCAR shifting to Amazon, its numbers among viewers between 18-34, 18-49, and 25-54 have all seen increases of one-third, 11 percent, and 21 percent, respectively. Still, fans saw the numbers as a win in the long term.

“This is a win for NASCAR. People will try to spin this as a negative, but in the long run, this is a win,” one fan wrote. Another added: “Massive win for NASCAR, the older generation will always complain but finally numbers moving in the right direction.”

NASCAR fans have grown accustomed to seeing speed, throttle and braking on broadcasts for years. There has been one measurement, though, that has eluded networks and viewers for years.

Until now.

Viewers of the Prime Video races have been able to see fuel usage with the introduction of the Burn Bar. Race teams have measured burn rates and fuel levels down to the last ounce for years, but the methodology has been kept secret due to competitive reasons.

Prime Video, though, developed an AI tool using car data available to broadcasters and teams that can measure miles per gallon. The Burn Bar made a brief appearance during Prime’s first broadcast of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 25. It has been used more frequently the past two weeks and will again be deployed on Sunday during the race in Mexico City.

NASCAR on Prime analyst Steve Letarte, a former crew chief for Jeff Gordon and Dale Earnhardt Jr., contributed to the development of the Burn Bar and sees it as the first step in taking race analysis to a new level.

“It’s the first true tool that is taking information off the car, making calculations and then displaying to the fan a calculation or measurement that is being used in the garage. And it does affect the team,” he said. “There’s not a sensor on the car giving us miles per gallon. It’s a mathematical calculation of other cars performances.”

The AI model analyzes thousands of performance data per second, including a range of in-car telemetry signals, RPMs, throttle and optical tracking of each car’s position. The model then evaluates each driver’s fuel consumption and efficiency throughout the race.

Letarte worked with Prime Video “Thursday Night Football Prime Vision” analyst Sam Schwartzstein during the process. They came up with four methodologies that were tested during the first part of the season, which was broadcast by Fox. Schwartzstein and Letarte would then get the data from teams after races to see how close they were until they picked one what worked the best.

The Burn Bar received its toughest test during last week’s race at Michigan as the final 48 laps were run without a caution flag. Most teams made their final pit stops with 50 laps to go, meaning teams were going to be down to the end of their fuel runs at the checkered flag.

“We projected William Byron to run out, which he did, and then we were on the razor’s edge for Denny Hamlin. And then watching the truck push him back into victory lane at the end, knowing he was as close as we thought he was. What a cool way to see this feature come to life and elevate NASCAR broadcasts,” Schwartzstein said.

Alex Strand, Prime Video’s senior coordinating producer for live sports, also sees the Burn Bar as the first tool of many that Amazon and Prime Video can develop for its coverage. Prime Video is in the first year of a seven-year agreement to carry five races per season.

“It’s really cool to live in a world where it shows us that anything is possible. We’re starting with something that we’re really excited about, but it’s setting us down a path that will open up new doors for us,” he said. “I think that’s what we’re really excited about is to say, ‘OK, we’ve had success in year one on a feature that’s resonated with fans right out of the gate.’ It raises the table for our offseason.”

After Sunday’s race in Mexico City, Prime Video’s coverage for this season wraps up with the race at Pocono on June 22.

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AP NASCAR: https://apnews.com/hub/nascar-racing