MEXICO CITY – Amid much anticipation from fans and NASCAR teams alike, the NASCAR Cup Series has arrived in Mexico City for the series’ first points-paying international race in seven decades, Sunday’s aptly-named Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (3 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

The industry has long been preparing for this inaugural visit to the renowned 2.42-mile, 15-turn road course in the middle of bustling Mexico City. And perhaps no one is more eager for NASCAR’s Mexican arrival than Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who has made multiple visits to his home country in support of the event, excited to show the world-class facility NASCAR’s brand of Cup racing.

“I’m super excited, regardless of what happens on Sunday,” said the Monterrey, Mexico-native Suarez, who has competed – and won three times – on the track’s oval-configuration while racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series, which will also be competing this weekend.

“I’m super excited for the event. I’m super excited to live in the moment because the first time is going to only happen once. I’m really trying to be as present as possible; enjoy the moment and try to execute the best possible weekend that we can. We know that we are capable of winning the race, but that’s not the goal. The goal is the execution of the entire weekend, and hopefully the win is the result of the execution part.”

Suarez, who scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win on a road course at Sonoma, Calif. in 2022, has been a vital supporter of this initiative. For months, the popular driver has starred in the NASCAR commercials promoting the Mexican race – the script depicting him trying to teach fellow racers how to speak in Spanish.

“At first, I thought man, I don’t know if this is going to work out, like, I don’t think this is going to be funny,” Suarez said smiling. “And honestly, it turned out amazing. I give a lot of credit to NASCAR for trying all these different things. I think people are liking it. Drivers are embracing it. And, obviously, I’m having fun with it. I’m the one teaching the language, so for the first time, I feel like I’m in my zone, so that’s good.”

Suarez is certainly among the group of drivers hoping a new venue may produce different results on the season. The driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is ranked 28th in the championship with 11 regular season races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field.

Others traditionally considered road course aces similarly see this as a big opportunity to punch a Playoff ticket. Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Suarez’ Trackhouse teammate Shane Van Gisbergen are all some of the most talented road racers in the sport and all are still looking to earn a victory this season. Many still well below the 16th place Playoff cutoff line.

Interestingly, six of the 14 regular season races in the Next Gen Era have been won by drivers ranked 16th or worse in the standings at the time of their victory.

“Everyone expects us to perform on road courses,” said the New Zealand-native Van Gisbergen, who made the ultimate NASCAR debut winning at the Chicago street race two years ago in his very first start.

“Not that we have been hanging out for it (road courses), but the ovals have been a big learning process the last couple of months. It will be nice for sure to have a bit of a break and races on the types of courses I’m used to which means turning right.”

Hendrick Motorsports has won at eight different road courses – the most in NASCAR history. And four of the remaining 11 races will be on road courses.

Hendrick’s William Byron continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings – up by 41 points on his teammate Kyle Larson heading to south of the border – and both are also considered favorites this weekend. Hendrick drivers – Byron (two), Larson (two) and Bowman (one) – have won five of the last eight road course races. If Elliott wins this weekend he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer for second most road course wins all-time (eight).

Last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin claimed his first career Xfinity Series win at the Mexico road course in 2006. He, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (who won the 2008 Xfinity Series race) and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski are the only drivers to have raced at the circuit – competing in the Xfinity Series there.

RFK’s Chris Buescher, who finished runner-up to Hamlin last week at Michigan, boasts the best road course average finish (8.7) in the Next Gen cars.

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at noon ET (Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

NASCAR Xfinity Series is set to return to Mexico

The NASCAR Xfinity Series marks its return to Mexico with Saturday afternoon’s The Chilango 150 (4:30 p.m. ET on the CW Network, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio). The series has held four previous races at the famed Autodrome Hermanos Rodriquez – the last in 2008 won by Kyle Busch.

This is the second of seven road course races on the schedule. Series rookie, JR Motorsports’ Connor Zilisch won at Circuit of The Americas from pole position.

Reigning series champion, JR Motorsports Justin Allgaier earned his third win of the season in the series’ most recent race, two weeks ago at Nashville. It marks the fifth time in the last eight years, the veteran has scored at least three victories in a season. He holds a 92-point advantage in the championship standings over fellow three-race winner, Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill.

The Illinois native has answered his first career title run with another top-shelf season in the No. 7 JRM Chevrolet. He leads all drivers in laps led (638) and top-10 finishes (10). He’s only eight top-10 finishes from 300 in his career – a feat never before accomplished in the series.

With 12 regular season races remaining and six Playoff spots still to be claimed, Mexico City certainly presents all the makings of an ultra-competitive weekend.

Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs have the most road course wins (four) in this weekend’s field. Interestingly, nine of the series’ last 11 road course races have been won by just three drivers (Mayer, Shane Van Gisbergen and Zilisch). And Mayer, who is ranked third in the standings, is still looking for his first win of the year.

Gibbs (No. 19 Toyota) is among three NASCAR Cup Series regulars – also Suarez (No. 9 Chevy) and Christopher Bell (No. 24 Toyota) – racing Saturday. NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series rookie, Andres Perez De Lara will be making his Xfinity Series debut.

Kennametal Pole Qualifying is slated for 10:30 a.m. ET on Saturday (CW App) and historically has proven very significant on road courses with the polesitter winning 10 of the last 18 road course races.

MEXICO CITY — NASCAR’s first Cup Series race outside the United States was off to a bumpy start Friday with several teams yet to arrive in Mexico City because of travel issues in North Carolina.

At least one chartered flight to Mexico City was grounded Thursday with an engine issue, leaving teams scrambling to find alternative routes to get to Mexico. Some drove to Atlanta to catch a commercial flight.

But when the track opened Friday, many were not at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Trackhouse Racing was among them — Daniel Suarez arrived Tuesday with some support personnel so he was not affected — but the communications director for the Cup team had been summoned to help unload the Trackhouse cars off the truck because no crew members were available.

The trucks came directly from last Sunday’s race in Michigan and arrived at the Mexico City track on Thursday.

NASCAR said only “a select few” teams aren’t on site Friday morning. But, it seems most are Xfinity Series teams based on a revamping of the weekend schedule.

“Due to two aircraft issues that grounded multiple race teams in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, NASCAR has adjusted the on-track schedule for this weekend’s activities at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez,” NASCAR said in a statement.

NASCAR delayed Friday’s originally planned Cup Series practice to later in the afternoon. NASCAR also pushed all Xfinity Series practice sessions from Friday to Saturday. And, the first of two NASCAR Mexico Series races will run earlier than originally scheduled on Friday.

The Xfinity Series will lose some practice time, with just one 50-minute session on Saturday morning, right before qualifying. There are other slight adjustments as well, but Cup teams will not lose any practice.

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Thirty years after winning the Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time, McLaren has officially announced the launch of the new McLaren Racing Endurance team – McLaren United AS – which will compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship Hypercar class beginning in 2027.

Having announced back in April its plans to enter the premier category of the WEC with an LMDh prototype, McLaren shared key details about its program today. The new McLaren Hypercar will be designed internally and run in conjunction with two-time Le Mans 24 Hours class-winning team United Autosports. The new McLaren prototype will be powered by a V6 twin-turbo engine designed by McLaren Racing and McLaren Automotive, with the chassis to be supplied by Italian constructor Dallara.

James Barclay (pictured above) will join as team principal of McLaren United AS, beginning in September. Barclay will join McLaren after concluding his work as managing drector of JLR (Jaguar Land Rover) Motorsport and team principal of the Jaguar TCS Racing Formula E team in July.

Barclay was a fundamental figure in establishing the Jaguar Formula E team in 2016, and led the marque to its first motorsport world championship win since 1991.

“I am honored to be joining a brand with such an incredible history of racing excellence,” Barclay said. “The passion and commitment to success that McLaren Racing embodies is something I’ve always admired. I look forward to the challenge of building a team that competes at the highest level of racing and represents the pioneering spirit that McLaren is known for.”

Zak Brown, McLaren Racing CEO, said: “McLaren Racing’s return to the FIA World Endurance Championship marks the beginning of a new and exciting chapter for us, and James’s leadership will be crucial in guiding us through the coming months as we prepare for our 2027 entry. We have a rich history in the sport, and with James at the helm, we are confident that McLaren Endurance Racing will quickly establish itself as a competitive and successful team.

“I’m looking forward to seeing the team’s future take shape under his leadership and can’t wait to give fans an exclusive preview of our 2027 race car.”

That preview will come tomorrow, before the start of the 93rd Le Mans 24 Hours, when McLaren will reveal its Hypercar challenger at the Manufacturers’ Village in Le Mans.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — NASCAR’s first Cup Series race outside the United States was off to a bumpy start Friday with several teams yet to arrive in Mexico City because of travel issues in North Carolina.

At least one chartered flight to Mexico City was grounded Thursday with an engine issue, leaving teams scrambling to find alternative routes to get to Mexico. Some drove to Atlanta to catch a commercial flight.

But when the track opened Friday, many were not at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Trackhouse Racing was among them — Daniel Suarez arrived Tuesday with some support personnel so he was not affected — but the communications director for the Cup team had been summoned to help unload the Trackhouse cars off the truck because no crew members were available.

The trucks came directly from last Sunday’s race in Michigan and arrived at the Mexico City track on Thursday.

NASCAR said only “a select few” teams aren’t on site Friday morning. But, it seems most are Xfinity Series teams based on a revamping of the weekend schedule.

“Due to two aircraft issues that grounded multiple race teams in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, NASCAR has adjusted the on-track schedule for this weekend’s activities at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez,” NASCAR said in a statement.

NASCAR delayed Friday’s originally planned Cup Series practice to later in the afternoon. NASCAR also pushed all Xfinity Series practice sessions from Friday to Saturday. And, the first of two NASCAR Mexico Series races will run earlier than originally scheduled on Friday.

The Xfinity Series will lose some practice time, with just one 50-minute session on Saturday morning, right before qualifying. There are other slight adjustments as well, but Cup teams will not lose any practice.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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MEXICO CITY — NASCAR’s first Cup Series race outside the United States was off to a bumpy start Friday with several teams yet to arrive in Mexico City because of travel issues in North Carolina.

At least one chartered flight to Mexico City was grounded Thursday with an engine issue, leaving teams scrambling to find alternative routes to get to Mexico. Some drove to Atlanta to catch a commercial flight.

But when the track opened Friday, many were not at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Trackhouse Racing was among them — Daniel Suarez arrived Tuesday with some support personnel so he was not affected — but the communications director for the Cup team had been summoned to help unload the Trackhouse cars off the truck because no crew members were available.

The trucks came directly from last Sunday’s race in Michigan and arrived at the Mexico City track on Thursday.

NASCAR said only “a select few” teams aren’t on site Friday morning. But, it seems most are Xfinity Series teams based on a revamping of the weekend schedule.

“Due to two aircraft issues that grounded multiple race teams in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, NASCAR has adjusted the on-track schedule for this weekend’s activities at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez,” NASCAR said in a statement.

NASCAR delayed Friday’s originally planned Cup Series practice to later in the afternoon. NASCAR also pushed all Xfinity Series practice sessions from Friday to Saturday. And, the first of two NASCAR Mexico Series races will run earlier than originally scheduled on Friday.

The Xfinity Series will lose some practice time, with just one 50-minute session on Saturday morning, right before qualifying. There are other slight adjustments as well, but Cup teams will not lose any practice.

Originally Published: June 13, 2025 at 9:48 AM CDT