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

MEXICO CITY — With his home country fans cheering, Daniel Suarez said he was “living a dream” as he went from last in a backup car to win Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The crowd roared when Suarez took the lead with 19 laps to go after Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch crashed racing for the lead and triggering a 13-car crash.

“In more than 20 years of my career, I have never experienced what I experienced today,” Suarez said. “When I took the lead, I was able to hear the people like that they were riding right here (with him). Not just in the stadium. The stadium was huge but also in corners one and two and three. It was unbelievable. I got goose bumps and I felt so blessed.”

The crowd in the stadium section of the 2.42-mile course cheered every time he drove his black No. 9 for JR Motorsports — it was supposed to be a green No. 9 but he wrecked that car in qualifying earlier in the day — by them in the lead.

“There were people jumping on the fence for Daniel,” runner-up Taylor Gray said of the atmosphere. “It was wild. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

But Suarez had to refocus for the final laps.

“I had to really talk to myself and say, ‘Hey, focus, don’t get distracted because you saw (the) people, Mexican flags everywhere, Daniel’s Amigos everywhere … people with signs ‘Vamos Suarez (Let’s go Suarez). I really had to work on myself not to get distracted.”

When Suarez crossed the finish line, the fans erupted.

It was his fourth career series win. He started last in the 39-car field, the deepest starting position for a road course winner in the Xfinity Series.

Behind Suarez and Gray were Austin Hill in third, Christian Eckes and Zilisch.

In all his high hopes and hard work over the last year to promote NASCAR’s return to his home country of Mexico, even Daniel Suarez could not have imagined the amazing story of his dramatic win in Saturday’s The Chilango 150 – coming from last place on the grid in a back-up car and charging to Victory Lane.

After victory burnouts, the 33-year old from Monterrey, Mexico climbed out of his No. 9 JR Motorsports Chevrolet, stood on the car’s roof, pounded his chest and pointed upward to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez grandstands – shouting to the thrilled crowd in his native Spanish and thanking his loyal fans for their support.

“It’s everything I was looking for, just a special day,” said an emotional Suarez, the 2016 NASCAR Xfinity Series champion, who led a race best 19 of the race’s 65 laps and beat Taylor Gray to the checkered flag by 0.598s in a back-up car the team rebuilt after he crashed in the morning qualifying session.

“A very special day – very, very special to be here in front of my people, all these people that have supported me for many, many years and known me since my NASCAR Mexico days. Now I’m fighting with the big boys,’’ said Suarez, who was forced to use the “international provisional” starting position after his incident in qualifying.

Even after diligently working his way through the entire 37-car field, Suarez had to “earn” this win – by every definition. The NASCAR Cup Series full-timer went door-to-door with Gray on a restart with three laps remaining ultimately pulling away – only to have to fend off a fast-approaching Gray again on the final stretch of the very last lap.

Suarez first took the lead Saturday in similarly dramatic fashion, prevailing on a three-wide re-start with 19 laps remaining.

He emerged out front after going door-to-door-to-door with the race’s early leaders, rookie Connor Zilisch and fellow NASCAR Cup Series regular Ty Gibbs. Polesitter Zilisch, who led 17 laps, wheel-hopped taking the opening corner under those crowded circumstances on the restart, spun and then hit his JR Motorsports teammate Carson Kvapil as the pile-up behind began.

Gibbs, who led 18 laps, moved forward from the initial contact and then also made contact with Kvapil’s Chevy on the next turn. The ensuing pile-up affected 13 cars in varying degrees.

Suarez drove through the melee and you could hear the crowd’s massive cheers over the sounds of the roaring stock cars – the Mexican fans stood on their feet, arms raised, Mexican flags in the air.

Richard Childress Racing’s Austin Hill finished third, Kaulig Racing’s Christian Eckes was fourth and Zilisch recovered to finish fifth in another of the day’s more remarkable drives.

After that incident with 17 laps remaining, Zilisch fell back to 28th place with damage to the right side of his Chevy, only to move through the field at an amazing pace – up 14 positions in the three laps after the restart. He was 10th place with 10 laps to go and then earned that top-five finish.

“I’m proud of my team for their effort,’’ said Zilisch, who leaned against his car alone on pit road, obviously disappointed with the outcome after such a strong afternoon.

“Obviously the finish isn’t what we wanted. We probably had a better car than fifth place, but we got caught up in an incident on that last restart. Just proud to be able to come here and get a decent finish.

“Congrats to Daniel [Suarez], it’s awesome to see him win here in his hometown. That’s super big for him. Really proud of JR Motorsports and we’ll get it next week.”

As for the incident, Zilisch conceded, “Still don’t know what I really could have done to get the to the front quicker. Probably could have been a little cleaner on that last restart and gotten by guys quicker … really proud to finish top-five after day like that.’’

William Sawalich, Austin Green, Jeb Burton and his cousin Harrison Burton and Sammy Smith rounded out the top 10.

There were seven lead changes among six drivers with Kvapil winning the first stage and Smith winning stage two.

NASCAR Xfinity Series championship leader Justin Allgaier had to take his No. 7 JR Motorsports Chevrolet behind the wall for repairs before the end of the first stage, ultimately settling for a 34th place finish – 15 laps down to the winner. Fortunately for the reigning series champion, he held a 92-point advantage over Hill atop the points standings heading into Mexico City. He now leads the championship by 54 points.

The series moves to Pocono (Pa.) Raceway for next Saturday’s Explore the Pocono Mountains 250 (3:30 p.m. ET, The CW, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

RESULTS to come

NASCAR is going international for the first time in decades this weekend.