MEXICO CITY — For years, Oscar Sanchez has jogged around Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and imagined what it would be like to see NASCAR Cup Series cars on his home track.

The circuit is open during weekdays to runners and cyclists, and Sanchez, a 38-year-old auditor and nearby resident, often takes advantage of its public access. So when he stood in the grandstands on Friday for the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series practice session and watched the Cup cars zoom around the same track, it was an emotional moment.

“The roar of the engines for the practice was … Oh!” Sanchez said Saturday amid the hum of the bustling fan midway. “I closed my eyes and just smelled it.”

He imitated the experience, shutting his eyelids and waving a savory scent toward his nose like a chef hovering over a freshly prepared dish. Then Sanchez’s eyes flashed open again.

“It’s really a dream come true,” he said.

Much of the focus for NASCAR’s inaugural Cup Series race in Mexico City (airing Sunday at 3 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime) — its first points race outside the United States since 1958 — has been the search for new fans. International expansion has long been coveted by NASCAR executives, who believe they have an opportunity to grow their non-American audience as other major sports leagues have.

But a smaller group of longtime Mexican NASCAR fans, who had never seen Cup Series cars in person until this weekend, didn’t need to be convinced. As diehards getting their first real-life taste of NASCAR’s top series, it’s been sensory overload.

“It was so loud,” said Mauricio Sanchez, a 25-year-old photographer from the Cancún area (and no relation to Oscar). “Our local races are not that loud, even in a pack. Kyle Larson was the first car to go out (in practice), and he just flies by, and I was like, ‘Oh my God!’ …

“The first impression, I will never forget it for the rest of my life. I will never be able to repeat that moment, the first time you hear the Next Gen driving full throttle.”

Mauricio first watched a NASCAR race at age four, according to his parents, and gravitated toward Kyle Busch, who was a teenager at the time. More than two decades later, Busch is now a 40-year-old veteran who still races in NASCAR.

Mauricio was wowed to see Busch’s No. 8 car go around the track (Busch qualified 11th for Sunday’s race) in person and proudly wore the gear of a driver he praised for having “a personality with no filter.”

“Watching him driving is just awesome,” Mauricio said. “We have a lot of fans who are new to the sport, but having this opportunity to watch something I’ve loved only on TV is just impressive.”

“Having this opportunity to watch something I’ve loved only on TV is just impressive,” fan Mauricio Sanchez said of NASCAR’s return to Mexico City. (Jeff Gluck / The Athletic)

Americans get 35 points races plus two exhibition races in their country this year, and the oversaturation can lead to some malaise among the fan base. But for those seeing Cup cars for the first time, the freshness and enthusiasm are high.

For example, while some traditional fans have criticized NASCAR’s Next Gen car, Mauricio said it “looks incredible” and is “better in person.”

Oscar Sanchez was drawn to NASCAR for its thrilling oval racing — not road courses like Mexico City (which is the track Formula One uses on its annual visits here). But he’ll take what he can get for a first Cup experience, he said.

“I would prefer Daytona or Talladega, but this is amazing,” he said.

Oscar first learned about NASCAR through games on the original PlayStation in 2000. He felt connected to the sponsor brands at the time and liked that stock cars looked like real cars on the street.

In 2002, when he got cable TV, he came across NASCAR races and realized he recognized real-life tracks like Daytona and Charlotte from the games he played. He’s been a fan ever since, changing his rooting interests from Dale Earnhardt Jr. to Chase Elliott (the son of Bill Elliott, whom Oscar associates with his early days as a fan).

“You can see drama, you can see many cars, you can see crashes,” Oscar said of NASCAR’s appeal. “It’s more connected to the people than Formula One, I think.”

Indeed, most Mexican race fans are more drawn to open-wheel racing (Formula One and IndyCar) instead of stock cars. But some find NASCAR more appealing.

Mexico City resident Andres Lambreton, 27, became a NASCAR fan by accident. He watched NFL games on Sundays with his father (a huge Dallas Cowboys fan), and the channel would often get turned to golf when the football game was over. But Lambreton was bored by golf, so he once changed the channel to a same-day replay of a NASCAR race at Texas.

Now-retired Martin Truex Jr. was leading that mid-2010s race at the time, Lambreton recalled, so the youngster decided Truex was his new favorite driver. Watching NASCAR suddenly became a regular tradition for father and son.

“NASCAR is an awesome product and an awesome race series, but it’s hard to give it a chance if you haven’t consumed it or been close to it,” Lambreton said. “So this is a massive opportunity for NASCAR and for motorsports fans from both countries to become closer.”

On Saturday, Daniel Suárez won NASCAR’s Xfinity Series race in his home country. “I cried as hard as a situation like this permits,” one fan said. (James Gilbert / Getty Images)

But Lambreton’s passion went to another level when Mexico native Daniel Suárez began his stock car career.

Lambreton can rattle off the key moments from 2016, when Suárez won his first three Xfinity Series races and the series championship. He remembers crying when Suárez won the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway to clinch the title, and his interest in racing led to a job doing social media for a sports website. And the emotion returned later Saturday when Suárez won the first Xfinity Series race in Mexico City in 17 years.

“I cried as hard as a situation like this permits,” he said via text message.

Each of the longtime fans said they hoped Sunday’s race would be enjoyable or that their favorite driver would do well. But Mauricio then caught himself, not wanting to sound too greedy.

“I’m living a dream,” he said, “and that’s all that matters today.”

(Top photo of fans reacting to Daniel Suárez’s win in Saturday’s Xfinity Series race: James Gilbert / Getty Images)

NASCAR is heading south of the border this weekend for the inaugural running of the Viva México 250.

In addition to being the Cup Series’ first race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, it’s also the first time a points-paying race in the series will take place outside of the United States since 1958 when NASCAR raced in Toronto, Canada.

The course is a road course, also used for the annual Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix. Set at the highest elevation of any course on the NASCAR Cup Series circuit, the track is 2.429 mi with 15 turns and 100 laps total.

Here’s everything you need to know about today’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Mexico City.

Viva México 250 start time: What time is today’s NASCAR race on?

Today’s (June 14) NASCAR race, the Viva México 250, begins at 2 p.m. ET.

What channel is today’s NASCAR race on?

Today’s NASCAR race won’t be on traditional television; it will air exclusively on Prime Video.

How to watch the NASCAR Cup Series at Mexico City for free:

If you aren’t a Prime Video subscriber yet, you can get started with a 30-day Amazon Prime free trial, including Prime perks like the Prime Video streaming service, free two-day shipping, exclusive deals, and more. After the free trial, Amazon Prime costs $14.99/month or $139/year.

All 18- to 24-year-olds, regardless of student status, are eligible for a discounted Prime for Young Adults membership as well, with age verification. After a six-month free trial, you’ll pay 50% off the standard Prime monthly price of $14.99/month — just $7.49/month — for up to six years and get all the perks.

With Prime Video, you can also take advantage of the streamer’s Shop the Race storefront, exclusively on the Amazon mobile app, to shop gear, flags, and more for your favorite driver.

NASCAR Mexico City starting lineup:

1. No. 88 Shane van Gisbergen
2. No. 60 Ryan Preece
3. No. 1 Ross Chastain
4. No. 54 Ty Gibbs
5. No. 71 Michael McDowell
6. No. 5 Kyle Larson
7. No. 34 Todd Gilliland
8. No. 16 A.J. Allmendinger
9. No. 22 Joey Logano
10. No. 99 Daniel Suarez
11. No. 8 Kyle Busch
12. No. 9 Chase Elliott
13. No. 21 Josh Berry
14. No. 43 Erik Jones
15. No. 35 Riley Herbst
16. No. 17 Chris Buescher
17. No. 7 Justin Haley
18. No. 12 Ryan Blaney
19. No. 19 Chase Briscoe
20. No. 2 Austin Cindric
21. No. 3 Austin Dillon
22. No. 45 Tyler Reddick
23. No. 77 Carson Hocevar
24. No. 38 Zane Smith
25. No. 23 Bubba Wallace
26. No. 41 Cole Custer
27. No. 24 William Byron
28. No. 10 Ty Dillon
29. No. 48 Alex Bowman
30. No. 6 Brad Keselowski
31. No. 20 Christopher Bell
32. No. 42 John Hunter Nemechek
33. No. 47 Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34. No. 51 Coyd Ware
35. No. 4 Noah Gragson
36. No. 11 Ryan Truex
37. No. 78 Katherine Legge

NASCAR on Prime Video 2025 schedule:

Prime Video will broadcast two more NASCAR races this season, including today’s.

Why Trust Post Wanted by the New York Post

This article was written by Angela Tricarico, Commerce Writer/Reporter for Post Wanted Shopping and New York Post’s streaming property, Decider. Angela keeps readers up to date with cord-cutter-friendly deals, and information on how to watch your favorite sports teams, TV shows, and movies on every streaming service. Not only does Angela test and compare the streaming services she writes about to ensure readers are getting the best prices, but she’s also a superfan specializing in the intersection of shopping, tech, sports, and pop culture. Prior to joining Decider and The New York Post in 2023, she wrote about streaming and consumer tech at Insider Reviews

The 2025 NASCAR Cup Series hits Mexico City today, Sunday, June 15, for the Viva Mexico 250.

Sunday’s race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez marks the first time that the Cup Series has raced internationally in a points-paying event in the division’s modern era, and the first time that a NASCAR national series has raced in Mexico City since the Xfinity Series (then known as the Busch Series) in 2008.

READ MORE: NASCAR confirm Joe Gibbs Racing facing penalty after Mexico City mishap

Last time out at Michigan, it was Denny Hamlin who came out on top in the No. 11 Toyota, securing the 57th win of his Cup Series career to make him Joe Gibbs Racing’s most-winningest driver of all time.

Hamlin, however, won’t be in action on Sunday, instead replaced by Ryan Truex after choosing to remain at home following the birth of his baby son.

The last time that NASCAR hit a road course this season was at Circuit of the Americas back in March, with Christopher Bell winning that day ahead of the likes of William Byron and Tyler Reddick.

All three of those drivers suffered a rough qualifying session on Saturday, however, meaning they face a huge battle to be in contention on this occasion.

With that said, let’s get into all of the important details you need to know ahead of today’s action and how you can watch it all unfold live.

READ MORE: NASCAR Qualifying Results: Ross Chastain and SvG shine as Trackhouse star in Mexico City

NASCAR Cup Series: Mexico City race start times

The 100-lap NASCAR Cup Series race from Mexico City starts today, Sunday, June 15, 2025, at 3 pm ET.

Here are the start times converted to your local city and time zone.

READ MORE: NASCAR legend issues verdict on Denny Hamlin retirement

How to watch NASCAR Mexico City race on TV today

Today’s NASCAR Cup Series action from Mexico City will be broadcast live on Prime Video in the United States.

Radio coverage of the race will also be available via SiriusXM and MRN.

Broadcast details vary depending on your location. Please check below to see how you can catch the Cup Series action in your country.

READ MORE: Hendrick Motorsports announce driver health update ahead of Mexico City with replacement on standby

How many laps is the NASCAR Mexico City race?

The NASCAR Mexico City race will require 100 laps to complete.

What date is the 2025 NASCAR Mexico City race?

Sunday, June 15th 2025.

What time is the 2025 NASCAR Mexico City race?

The NASCAR Mexico City race will start at 3:00 PM ET.

What channel is the NASCAR Mexico City race on?

Amazon Prime will broadcast the race with radio coverage from MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

Where is the NASCAR Mexico race located?

The NASCAR Mexico City race is a 242-mile long NASCAR Cup Series motor race held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico.

How many miles is the NASCAR Mexico City race?

The NASCAR Mexico City race is 241 miles or 389.46 kilometers.

When was the NASCAR Mexico City race first run?

The 2025 NASCAR Mexico City race is the first event at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

Related

Compared to all other forms of motorsport throughout the world, NASCAR maintains an identity as being distinctly and unmistakably American. But as the language of racing is universal, so is the language of NASCAR.

For the very first time in the sport’s modern era, the NASCAR Cup Series races outside the United States this weekend with its first trip to Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Viva Mexico 250. Located in Mexico City and named for Mexican racing heroes Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez, Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez presents a 2.42-mile, 15-turn course that will greatly challenge the Cup field as they try to become the first of their generation to win a points-paying international race at the highest level of stock car racing.

Denny Hamlin gets waiver from NASCAR to skip Mexico City race following the birth of his son

Steven Taranto

Where to watch the NASCAR Cup Series in Mexico City

When: Sunday, June 15, 3 p.m. ET
Where: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez — Mexico City, Mexico
Stream: Amazon Prime

Starting lineup

Shane van Gisbergen won the pole for the Viva Mexico 250 in qualifying on Saturday, setting the fastest time (92.776, 93.904 mph) in a session that was cut short by rain. Van Gisbergen’s pole is his first of the season and the second of his Cup career.

1. #88 – Shane van Gisbergen (R)
2. #60 – Ryan Preece
3. #1 – Ross Chastain
4. #54 – Ty Gibbs
5. #71 – Michael McDowell
6. #5 – Kyle Larson
7. #34 – Todd Gilliland
8. #16 – A.J. Allmendinger
9. #22 – Joey Logano
10. #99 – Daniel Suarez
11. #8 – Kyle Busch
12. #9 – Chase Elliott
13. #21 – Josh Berry
14. #43 – Erik Jones
15. #35 – Riley Herbst (R)
16. #17 – Chris Buescher
17. #51 – Justin Haley
18. #12 – Ryan Blaney
19. #19 – Chase Briscoe
20. #2 – Austin Cindric
21. #3 – Austin Dillon
22. #45 – Tyler Reddick
23. #77 – Carson Hocevar
24. #38 – Zane Smith
25. #23 – Bubba Wallace
26. #41 – Cole Custer
27. #24 – William Byron
28. #10 – Ty Dillon
29. #48 – Alex Bowman
30. #6 – Brad Keselowski
31. #20 – Christopher Bell
32. #42 – John Hunter Nemechek
33. #47 – Ricky Stenhouse Jr.
34. #51 – Cody Ware
35. #4 – Noah Gragson
36. #11 – Ryan Truex
37. #78 – Katherine Legge

Storyline to watch

The unfamiliar settings and language barrier of Mexico City (Daniel Suarez not included) aren’t the only adjustments needed this week. There is also the matter of Mexico City’s elevation, as Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits at an elevation of nearly 7,500 feet above sea level. That’s over three times the elevation of the next-highest Cup Series track above sea level, which is the Las Vegas Motor Speedway at a meager 2,000 feet.

Higher elevation, of course, means less oxygen, which puts a premium on the strength and conditioning of each Cup driver as well as the steps they’ve taken to prepare for Mexico City’s environment. But just as the drivers are affected physically by the higher altitude, so too are the machines they drive.

The thinner air at higher elevation will also affect the engines of each Cup car, with Roush Yates Engines CEO Doug Yates telling reporters this week that Mexico City’s air could reduce horsepower by as much as 20%, with cooling the engine being a major challenge at low speeds under caution. In advance of this, NASCAR will allow each manufacturer to use two different sets of hood louvers during practice to see which one best cools the engine, which will then be used for the rest of the race weekend.

Engine failures were a constant during NASCAR’s first stint racing in Mexico City when the Xfinity Series visited Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the 2000s, as there was an average nearly seven engine failures a weekend between 2005 and 2007. However, there were no engine failures in 2008, the last race at Mexico City before being taken off the schedule.

NASCAR news of the week

• This weekend’s race in Mexico City will take place without Michigan winner Denny Hamlin, who announced Thursday that he would not travel to Mexico while he attends to his fiancee after the birth of their new son. NASCAR has granted Hamlin a waiver to maintain his playoff eligibility despite missing a race, while Ryan Truex will drive the No. 11 in Hamlin’s place.
• Following a vicious head-on impact with the Turn 2 wall at Michigan, Hendrick Motorsports shared Thursday that Alex Bowman was evaluated for back pain and that Xfinity Series driver Anthony Alfredo will be on standby should Bowman need a relief driver in Mexico City. Earlier this week, Jeff Gordon told SiriusXM that Bowman was “very sore” but OK after this accident.
• Prior to last Sunday’s race in Michigan, Ram Trucks officially announced they will re-enter the Craftsman Truck Series in 2026, bringing a new manufacturer to NASCAR and marking the return of a Dodge brand for the first time since they left the sport following the 2012 season. In addition to Ram, NASCAR senior vice president and chief racing development officer John Probst shared the sanctioning body is “very close” to a deal with another manufacturer to join the sport.
• Travis Carter, a longtime fixture in the NASCAR garage as a championship-winning crew chief and later a car owner, died Tuesday following a short stay in hospice at the age of 75. As a rookie crew chief in 1973, Carter led Hall of Famer Benny Parsons to his first and only Winston Cup championship, kicking off a career that saw him win the 1975 Daytona 500 with Parsons and also lead Harry Gant to great success throughout the 1980s. Carter later became the owner of Travis Carter Enterprises, which fielded cars throughout the 1990s and into the 2000s for Jimmy Spencer as well as others like Darrell Waltrip, Todd Bodine and Joe Nemechek.

Pick to win

Shane van Gisbergen (+330) — There was some talk after Circuit of the Americas earlier this year that van Gisbergen may have lost his advantage as a road course racer or that the rest of the Cup field has caught on to the technique that he brought with him from V8 Supercars to win in his debut at Chicago in 2023. Whether that proves to be the case remains to be seen, and it wasn’t as though SVG was an also-ran at the first road race of the season at Circuit of the Americas.

Van Gisbergen led 23 laps on his way to finishing sixth at COTA in March, a clear message he’s still got the right stuff on road courses. Not only that, but SVG has started coming into his own as a whole, as he’s finished inside the top 20 in three of his last four starts. Suggesting that the No. 88 team now has a higher baseline for pace beyond road racing.

MEXICO CITY — With a forecast that could include rain during Sunday’s race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the challenge for drivers will increase.

“I absolutely hate racing in the rain, but I’m good at it,” said Shane van Gisbergen, who starts on the pole for the first Cup race held outside the continental United States since 1958. “I’d rather it didn’t rain, but if it happens, we put the wets on and go.”

How can van Gisbergen dislike something he’s so good at?

“I just don’t enjoy it,” he said. “It’s just never fun. You’re always sliding around, and it just turns stuff into chaos. It’s fun to watch, but I don’t really enjoy driving.”

Alex Bowman has finished 27th or worse in seven of the last nine races.

Michael McDowell, who starts fifth can relate.

“I like what SVG said because I feel the same way,” McDowell told NBC Sports. “I’m good in the rain. I have a lot of experience in the rain, but I’m never super pumped for the rain because it’s hard. It creates variables that are tough to overcome.”

One of the challenges in wet conditions is the water spray that cars in front create. The Weather Underground forecast calls for a 14% chance of rain near the start of the race, increasing to about 45% by the end of the event.

Should the track be wet at the beginning of the race (3 p.m. ET on Prime), it will make a front starting spot even more important. That makes his third starting spot even more valuable to Ross Chastain.

“You’ll just get gapped out just from the spray being part throttle on the straightway, not being able to have any vision if you’re back in the field,” Chastain told NBC Sports. “I’ve been there and it’s terrifying when you can’t see. It’s like driving blindfolded.”

Wet conditions at the start also present opportunities.

“You want to be aggressive, honestly, in the beginning if it is raining to get up front, be the first one or two cars so that you have the best vision you can,” McDowell said.

The right (pit) decision?

Trent Owens, crew chief for AJ Allmendinger had an interesting choice to make when it was time for him to pick his pit stall Saturday.

Pit stalls are selected in order of how a team qualifies, so the pole-sitter gets the first pick and on down. Allmendinger qualified eighth, giving him the eighth pick of stalls.

Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez’s pit road is limited to 40 stalls. There will be 37 cars in the race. That leaves only three openings (and a small opening across the start/finish line).

RFK Racing placed three cars in the top 10 last week at Michigan for the first time since 2016, but Brad Keselowski is looking for win.

Teams prefer to have an opening either in front of their stall (for easy access out) or an opening before their stall (for easy access into their box).

When it came time for Owens to pick his pits, he had two viable options. He could pick the second pit stall — near pit exit. That would put Allmendinger in the box behind Shane van Gisbergen and in front of Kyle Larson.

Or Owens could have picked pit stall 13, which was further away from pit exit but had an opening before it for easy access into the box.

Jose Blasco-Figueroa grew up in Mexico City and his mother’s home is 25 kilometers from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

Owens chose pit stall 2, meaning the first three pit stalls — van Gisbergen, Allmendinger and Larson — could have three of the top cars in the race. That could mean they could be pitting together. Add to it that the pit boxes are 26.5 feet long — the shortest in the series — and it could get tight.

“Our biggest reason is (van Gisbergen) is in stall 1 and we feel like he’s the dominant car,” Owens told NBC Sports for his reasoning in picking stall 2. “So we feel like when we pit we’re not going to get blocked in.

“We could have chose (stall) 13, which has a small opening in, but it’s also a narrow pit road, short pit boxes. We just feel like pit stall 2 can potentially limit our errors because (Larson), which is behind us, has a full pit stall opening behind him, so if (Larson’s crew chief Cliff Daniels) plays nice, he’ll stop back at his stall and give us enough room.”

That is likely to happen because that would allow Larson to exit his stall without being blocked in by Allmendinger.

Much goes into winning a race, but could Owens’ decision to pick pit stall 2 help Allmendinger get to victory lane?

Too fast on pit road?

Another key area to watch with pit road is toward pit exit.

There are 11 timing loops on pit road used to determine pit road speeding. Pit road speed is 40 mph and with the 5 mph allowance, drivers can go 45 mph before they are penalized.

Seven of the zones are either 147-feet-7 inches long or 157-6. But the last two are significantly shorter.

The next-to-last timing zone — encompassing pit stalls 1-3 near pit exit — is 73-feet-2 inches. The last timing line, which goes to pit exit — is 46-feet-7 inches.

NASCAR’s pit road speeding is determined based on time over distance. So if a driver enters a zone too fast, he can slow before the end of it and still make speed. With two shorter zones at the end of pit road, drivers won’t have as much a a chance to do so.

Get caught speeding on pit road in those two sections — or any for that matter — and the pass-through penalty will cost a driver positions on the track.

“You just can’t afford to speed,” Ryan Preece, who starts second today, told NBC Sports. “Track position is obviously a huge thing no matter where it is. For me, you want to push those lights, you don’t want to give up one position, but if you overdo it, you’re going to give up 36, so it’s kind of a risk vs. reward type of situation.”

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

MEXICO CITY — Daniel Suarez stood outside the infield medical center Saturday morning and declared: “I’m going to put on a show for you guys.”

Daniel Suarez and crew celebrate in victory lane after winning the NASCAR Xfinity Series The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

He sure did. And he hopes to put on one more Sunday afternoon to delight the fans of his home country even more than he did Saturday, if that is even possible.

Suarez, the only Mexican driver to win a Cup Series race, rallied from the rear of the field by winning the Xfinity Series event in a backup car at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The Mexican fans waved flags. They chanted Suarez’s name. They held signs that said “Vamos Suarez.”

“I have never experienced what I experienced today,” said Suarez, the 2016 champion of the series, NASCAR’s version of a triple-A baseball. “When I took the lead, I was able to hear people like they were right next to me. … It was unbelievable.

“I got goosebumps. I felt so blessed. I never had that feeling in my life. And then I had to tell myself, ‘Daniel, don’t get distracted.’”

The 33-year-old Suarez won’t get much time to celebrate. He starts 10th in the NASCAR Cup Series event Sunday, the first Cup points race outside the United States in 67 years.

Starting 10th in the Cup race for Trackhouse Racing will be much better than what Suarez had to face on Saturday, after he wrecked in Xfinity qualifying, which required JR Motorsports to pull out a backup car.

“Right now, I feel like this gives me a lot of confidence,” Suarez said. “When I crashed in Xfinity qualifying, I went into Cup qualifying a little bit down.

“I was good, but I was not 100 percent because I just crashed. … But the feeling I had in my [Cup] car in qualifying, I was very happy with it. I think my car was capable of winning the pole position.”

FINAL LAPS: Daniel Suárez wins The Chilango 150 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

When watching the team prepare the Xfinity backup, Suarez appeared confident and relaxed, taking selfies with fans as he walked to driver introductions and addressing the crowd.

It has already been a busy five days for Suarez, who made several appearances in the city promoting the race with a trail of media and a documentary crew following just about every move.

All for a driver who is on a 49-race winless streak in Cup. His last win came in the second race of the 2024 season at Atlanta. And he sits 28th in the standings.

“I’ll go out there tomorrow and have fun and enjoy it,” Suarez said. “That’s what I did today. Today, I just enjoyed the moment.

“My goal wasn’t to win the race. My goal was to maximize the potential of the race car.”

Trying to maximize the potential hasn’t been easy on the Cup side this week. 

His race team had travel issues Thursday and he operated with a skeleton crew for practice Friday as NASCAR put Cup cars on the 2.42-mile 15-turn road course for the first time. The rest of his crew made it on Saturday, with his engineers just about a half-hour before qualifying.

“I love adversity,” Suarez said Friday. “I love it. You put me against the wall, I’m going to come at you swinging. And our team is the same way.  … This is just going to be a better story when we win on Sunday.”

Suarez faces incredible pressure in Mexico City, as he is fighting to keep his ride at Trackhouse Racing with up-and-comer Connor Zilisch running well enough in Xfinity to potentially be elevated to Cup.

Zilisch, also driving for JR Motorsports, dominated the race until a restart with 19 laps remaining when he entered the first turn on the inside of a three-wide situation with Ty Gibbs in the middle and Suarez trying to make a move on the outside.

Zilisch slammed into Gibbs, who hit Suarez, but Suarez was able to survive and take the lead, never relinquishing it the rest of the way.  Zilisch took the blame for the accident.

It wasn’t totally easy the rest of the way for Suarez. On the final lap, Taylor Gray, battling Suarez for the lead, forced him off the course. Gray checked up to allow Suarez to gather his car and Suarez retained the lead. Gray gave him another tap late in the final lap and Suarez crossed the finish line to huge cheers.

He will get more cheers on Sunday. 

“This race was very special,” Suarez said. “I know it’s Xfinity. The big one is tomorrow. But it is a very special race for me.”

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

Get more from NASCAR Cup Series Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more