Shane van Gisbergen — winner: “What a week. I’ve really enjoyed myself. I felt pretty rubbish today. Our car was amazing. I think the 54 was close. That list stint, man, what a pleasure just ripping lap after lap. Watching them get smaller in the mirror. Unreal. I’ve been privileged to have some great (cars) in my time, but when I go slow, I just lose concentration, so I was trying to stay in a rhythm and a routine, and Josh and Stephen are doing such a great job keeping me calm and focused, and man, that was epic.”

Christopher Bell — second: “He was really good. Ultimately it was just a third-lpace day. I thought Ty was really good, the yellow flag bit him, and we walked away with second. More than anything, it was just me. I need to do a little bit more homework to figure out where I can be better to keep up with these guys. The Joe Gibbs Racing team brought an amazing Camry, and I can’t really say it was my car that was lacking. It was on me this weekend. Happy for Shane. There’s a lot of pressure for him to come out and do well in these road-course races, and he sets the bar for us.Happy for Shane. There’s a lot of pressure for him to come out and do well in these road-course races, and he sets the bar for us.”

The Trackhouse Racing driver qualifies for the 2025 playoffs with his second career victory.

Chase Elliott — third: “The restart was (chaotic) for sure. I felt we were in a really good spot. I was super excited about having tires, and we got in front of (Ty Gibbs), and I thought that was going to be the race for the win, initially. I got clear of (Ross Chastain) and (John Hunter Nemechek). I started settling in, and I didn’t have anything left. I was kind of cooked after that. I think we pressed so hard to get through traffic, when it got singled out, I didn’t have a lot of pace left. I felt I gained on them a little while, but it was pretty tough sledding to get to that point, but we pressed on. I’m proud of our group for just sticking with it. We were up and down all day. Finally got going there a few runs from the end, and Alan made a good call to get us on tires. Finally had a restart go halfway decent and got a decent top three out of it.”

Alex Bowman — fourth: “Running well probably made it easier than it could have been. Just proud of the whole team. I put us behind this week. In full transparency, I couldn’t walk on Wednesday, so I missed all my sim stuff, all my meetings. Just trying to get back going. I had a lot of help from a lot of people to fix whatever the hell was going on, and thankfully enough, I was able to run all the laps this weekend. Honestly, my goal this weekend was just to come here and run all the laps and end up with a top five. I definitely will take it. Proud of Blake and all the guys. I wish I wouldn’t’ have burned the tires off so bad at the end, but we were pretty decent. It’s been neat. I’ve never been out of the country before. Certainly, this week has been a lot. Travel for this week has been a lot with what I had going on. I wish I could have walked around the city and enjoyed it a lot more than I did because I just laid in a hotel bed all weekend. It’s a neat spot. Have to thank my girlfriend, Chloe, for picking me up off the floor and getting me some help. Yeah, it’s been a heck of a week.”

Michael McDowell — fifth: “We know we need a win to get in the playoffs. Proud of everybody at Spire Motorsports. We had an alternate strategy. Without that caution, it would have worked out pretty well. Passed a lot of cars at the end. Top five, proud of that. Not what we came here to do. We’ll build on it. We’ve got a lot of good road courses coming up, but this was an opportunity I think we let slip away.”

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s comments were caught by Carson Hocevar’s in-car camera after the race.

John Hunter Nemechek — sixth: ““Hats off to this whole team. PI’m super stoked on a sixth-place finish. Our road course program has not been good here, so solid run for us after the last three weeks we’ve had – two wrecks, and not so good run in Nashville – we needed this as a team to get back on track. Had a lot of text messages from my wife (Taylor) and had a lot of text messages from Jimmie (Johnson) yesterday. I was pretty down after qualifying, and beating myself up pretty bad, but we executed during the race. I got spun out a couple of times and still came home sixth. Hats off to Travis (Mack, crew chief) on the strategy. He called a really good race, and we were able to execute and come home sixth. Proud of the day.”

Chase Briscoe — seventh: “We just had a really good Toyota. It is sickening getting torn up that early, and all the aversity we had to go through because our car was really, really good. I don’t know if I would have been good enough to beat Shane (van Gisbergen) – but certainly, probably would have run better than seventh. It is a testament to my guys. They could have given up in many points during the race, and they continued to just fight. I want to say Happy Father’s Day to my dad, and congrats to Shane too. That whole team is almost the 14 group from last year.”

William Byron — ninth: “Today was hard fought for sure. We started behind where we would want to be but we were able to use strategy and make adjustments that got us good track position. I’m really proud of our team’s effort to turn things around today. We’ll take the top 10 and head to Pocono.”

Ty Gibbs — 11th: “I don’t know what they do on restarts where they check everybody up and then everyone just rails each other. That is where I got a little nose damage, unfortunately. Sometimes life just doesn’t work out for you. You just have to keep digging.”

The Trackhouse Racing driver will race for a championship despite being currently ranked outside the top 30 in the points standings.

AJ Allmendinger — 13th: “Honestly, I felt like we were going to have a really good car, even the way it felt in the rain. It’s easy to say that, but I really thought the car had a lot of speed. For as destroyed as it was, we still had decent speed and it drove well on wet and dry tires. I definitely think we could have ran top five all day, but unfortunately, we’ll never know. Just proud of the guys; from the way we started this weekend, we kept fighting and making it better. We had something there to be competitive and have a really good run. Our 16 group did everything they could to keep me out there and I’m never going to quit on them. just absolutely frustrating day, but proud of the effort for days like this, just keep fighting.”

Ryan Blaney — 14th: “Good points day for our 12 group and proud of the effort all weekend. I felt like we had a shot at a top-10 during that final run but came up a little short at the end. It was a great experience here in Mexico City and it was cool to see it all come together the way it did.”

Erik Jones — 17th: “Today was honestly a roller coaster. We had so much speed that first stage and even got bonus points. I think we could’ve worked our way back into the top-10 for the second stage if it weren’t for that flat tire. I’m still proud of my No. 43 Toyota team for giving us a fast car this weekend. We’re working on improving our road course package, and I think you’re seeing that overall.”

Austin Cindric — 18th: “All in all, it was a great experience getting to race in Mexico City for the first time, and everything about the weekend was unique. The conditions and strategy definitely made for an interesting race, but I’m proud of the effort from our No. 2 team.”

Daniel Suarez — 19th: “Our race was up and down. In the rain, we were decent, and then once the racetrack started drying out, I don’t feel like we were great, but we were still in the hunt. Unfortunately, the gamble didn’t work out. Honestly, I felt like today I gave my best, and it just wasn’t good enough. I wish I was in the mix a little bit more, fighting up front. It just wasn’t in the cards today. I’m happy with our performance, because I felt I left everything on the table. But it just wasn’t meant to be. The car was good. Not great but good, and the strategy didn’t work out. Nobody’s fault, the strategy just didn’t work out today. “It’s definitely a weekend I will remember for a very long time. I feel like everyone in NASCAR, we have a made huge impact this weekend racing in Mexico.”

Joey Logano — 21st: “Just a couple unfortunate moments early on that set back our team and forced us to flip our strategy. We never really had a chance to recover from that but still proud of the effort from the 22 team this weekend.”

Austin Dillon — 28th: “I’m proud of everyone in NASCAR for coming together to bring our sport to Mexico City. I just wish our Chevrolet team could have had a better end to the race weekend. We had some positives, such as finishing sixth in Stage 2 to earn stage points. We were just too tight for the majority of the race. Our RCR team kept fighting and put us in position to salvage a solid finish. Unfortunately, I got spun with less than 25 to go and we couldn’t make up any ground in the final stretch. That’s how these races go sometimes. We’ll take it and move on to Pocono.”

Kyle Busch — 37th: “”Just in the rain, and I went down into 11 and got on the brakes pretty hard. Everything was fine, everything was comfortable, stopped really good. And I’m like, ‘OK, I can be a little more aggressive getting into 1,” and I figured it was going to be fine, and as soon as I went to the brakes, it was like being on ice, and I was just sliding. About a second and a half or so, I was trying to figure out which direction to go, and I was like, ‘I’ve got to turn this thing around backward, because I’m going to nail some people.’ Hate it for all those involved in my mishap. Hate it for RCR, ECR. The car in qualifying was really good, and I felt we were going to be really sporty in the dry. I hate that the rain came, and now it’s nice and dry. Just have to go fight for more points in another week.”

Shane van Gisbergen qualified for the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series playoffs with his second career victory on the circuit, dominating the inaugural race at Mexico City.

The Trackhouse Racing driver became the 10th driver to win in 2025 with his first top five this season (his previous best was a sixth at Circuit of the Americas).

After winning in his Cup debut on the streets of downtown Chicago in 2023, van Gisbergen earned his second victory in his 30th start. He led a race-high 60 of 100 laps to become the 33rd driver to win multiple Cup races on road courses (and the eighth to win their first two races on road courses). He also joined Fireball Roberts and Chase Elliott as the third driver with two inaugural road or street course wins.

The Trackhouse Racing driver turned in a dominant performance for his second career Cup victory.

The margin of victory was 16.567 seconds, the largest in Cup since Texas in November 2009 (25.686 seconds) and the largest on a road course since Riverside in 1979 (32.9 seconds).

Christopher Bell finished second, followed by Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman and Michael McDowell, who earned his first top-five finish since joining Spire Motorsports this season.

The win by van Gisbergen will shake up the regular-season points standings. He had entered the Mexico City race in 33rd place and 130 points below the cutline — the second-deepest deficit for a playoff driver to overcome with a win (Harrison Burton was ranked 34th before his Daytona win in 2024.

With van Gisbergen now locked into the playoffs, Chris Buescher holds the final provisional spot on points in the 16-driver field. Buescher is 19 points ahead of Roush Fenway Keselowski teammate Ryan Preece.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr.’s comments were caught by Carson Hocevar’s in-car camera after the race.

MEXICO CITY RESULTS

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

INDYCAR

In a blistering race with no yellow flags, Lochie Hughes tossed caution in the breeze when it mattered most and ended up in victory lane.

Hughes used a late charge to win the INDY NXT by Firestone race Sunday at World Wide Technology Raceway, his second win in his rookie season in the INDYCAR development series. Hughes, from Australia, drove his No. 26 McGinley Clinic/USF Pro Championship car to a 4.3521-second victory over Myles Rowe, who earned a career-best second place in the No. 99 Abel/Force Indy machine.

SEE: Race Results

“I was starting fifth, and I was pretty angry with yesterday (after qualifying),” Hughes said. “So, I honestly didn’t really care. I just thought I’d send it and try something with the setup and send it and see what happens.”

Caio Collet finished third in the No. 76 HMD Motorsports car after leading 58 of the first 61 laps in the 75-lap race, the first oval event this season. Salvador de Alba finished fourth in the No. 27 Grupo Indi car fielded by Andretti Global, just .0676 of a second behind Collet and the final podium position.

Pole sitter and championship leader Dennis Hauger rounded out the top five in the No. 28 Nammo machine, the third Andretti Global car to finish in the top five. Hauger’s lead over Hughes in the standings slimmed to 19 points after he carried a 38-point lead into this race weekend.

Hughes made a stunning charge toward the front after deciding to try to use his higher-downforce setup to find speed on the higher line on the 1.25-mile oval. The risky ploy, as pieces of worn tire rubber can accumulate in the upper groove and reduce grip, began to pay off when Hughes passed the No. 14 HMD Motorsports car of Josh Pierson to climb from sixth to fifth on Lap 46.

The boldest, most decisive moves by Hughes came in a four-lap span from Laps 59-62, when he blazed a trail on the high line to jump from fourth to first.

Hughes was in second at the start of Lap 62 when he approached the leading car of Collet, who was running behind the No. 3 Frank’s Red Hot car of Ricardo Escotto, who was on the tail end of the lead lap. Hughes swept past both cars on the outside of Turn 2 and powered away, never trailing thereafter.

“It was mega,” Hughes said of his car. “I still can’t really believe it, to be honest. I was so, so disappointed after yesterday. I thought we had thrown away a good result. We did it somehow.

“I just thought I’d try the high line one lap, and it worked. I was like, ‘Oh, found something,’ and then just kept running it and ended up with a win. It’s awesome. I’m so happy.”

Said Collet, who used a low-downforce setup for speed: “I thought I had it with 50 to go, but once I caught traffic, I really lost the tires, and it was really hard to hang on. And they just came flying by.”

Hughes averaged 157.199 mph in the caution-free race, the first without a yellow flag this season and the first oval race without a caution in the series since this event in 2022. There also were 165 on-track passes in this feverish race, an INDY NXT record at WWTR.

The next INDY NXT by Firestone race is Sunday, June 22, the Grand Prix at Road America (11 a.m. ET, FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

After a rough start to his weekend in Mexico City, Shane van Gisbergen found race day to be smooth sailing by leading 60 of 100 laps to win the inaugural Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Van Gisbergen, a New Zealander in his rookie year as a full-time Cup driver after winning championships in Australia’s V8 Supercars tour, earned his second career victory in the first NASCAR Cup Series race on foreign soil since 1958 and first of the sport’s modern era.

Getting to Mexico City to begin with proved quite the challenge for Van Gisbergen, as he was among the NASCAR drivers and industry personnel whose trip south of the border was delayed Thursday after their plane suffered a mechanical failure as it was preparing to take off from Charlotte, N.C. It took an early morning flight for Van Gisbergen to finally get to the racetrack for practice Friday, but the complications of international travel didn’t end there despite him winning the pole. Prior to the start of Sunday’s race, Van Gisbergen reportedly began to feel unwell before strapping in to his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.

NASCAR 2025 race schedule, results: Complete list of Cup Series race dates, winners, tracks, locations

Steven Taranto

If Van Gisbergen was struggling behind the wheel, it certainly didn’t look like it. The road racing ace was in command of the field throughout Sunday’s race, easily handling a transition from wet to dry conditions before taking complete control after a caution in the middle of green flag stops fell in a way that played into Van Gisbergen’s strategy while going against that of his nearest competitor, Ty Gibbs.

“I felt pretty rubbish today — leaking out both holes, that wasn’t fun,” Van Gisbergen joked to Prime. “Our car, it was amazing. I think the 54 was close, but that last stint, man, what a pleasure just ripping lap after lap and watching them get smaller in the mirror. Unreal.”

Van Gisbergen’s domination of Sunday’s race came thanks in part to some advice from four-time F1 World Champion Max Verstappen, who Van Gisbergen texted before the race looking for advice on how to drive Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in wet conditions with rain in the forecast. “A little bit in the wet, and just what lines to take and how to approach it. What a guy,” Van Gisbergen said of what Verstappen told him.

Van Gisbergen won by a prohibitive 16.5 seconds over runner up Christopher Bell, with Chase Elliott third, Alex Bowman fourth and Michael McDowell fifth. John Hunter Nemechek ran sixth, followed by Chase Briscoe in seventh, Cole Custer — who earned his first top 10 of the year — in eighth, William Byron ninth and Chris Buescher 10th.

While the driver known as SVG put on a clinic out front, most of the other drivers in the Cup field partook in the sort of slam-bang affair befitting of a lucha libre. A multi-car crash in wet conditions took both Kyle Busch and Kyle Larson out of contention, and after the checkered flag, two particular luchadores ended up in una guerra de palabras that escalated an existing feud.

After Carson Hocevar locked up his brakes in the stadium section of the course and spun out Ricky Stenhouse Jr. for the second time in the last three races, Stenhouse angrily confronted Hocevar in his car after the race, making it clear to him that the foreign soil they were on was the only thing keeping him from taking further action. “I will beat your ass,” Stenhouse could be heard saying from Hocevar’s in-car camera. “I will when we get back to the States!”

“I just got left and in the marbles and slid a lot longer than I expected,” Hocevar told reporters of the incident, which came after Hocevar was already running a lap down due to earlier problems. “Obviously, number one, not somebody that I would ever want to hit again. But number two, I wasn’t racing anybody. I was just logging laps and just trying to wait on a yellow and maybe see if we could put our day back together. I just hit a curb wrong and got in the marbles and slid all the way through the corner.

“I tried to turn left to avoid him, but just a really, really sloppy day by me.”

Mexico native Daniel Suarez, who won Saturday’s Xfinity Series race in front of his home country, finished in the top 10 in both stages and briefly took the lead after a restart, but faded to 19th at the finish. Suarez finished just ahead of Ryan Truex in 23rd, who spent the day filling in for Denny Hamlin behind the wheel of the No. 11 Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Hamlin did not make the trip to Mexico City due to the birth of his son, giving the younger brother of former Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. the opportunity to make his first Cup start since 2014.

In winning the inaugural Cup race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez after winning the inaugural Chicago Street Race in his 2023 Cup debut, Shane van Gisbergen becomes the first driver to earn both of his first two Cup wins in inaugural races at a track since Marvin Porter won at the Santa Clara Fairgrounds in 1957 and Marchbanks Speedway in 1960. Van Gisbergen’s 16.567 second margin of victory is also the largest in any Cup race since Kurt Busch won at Texas by 25.686 seconds in the fall of 2009.

Viva Mexico 250 results

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

At Nashville, there was a very public feud between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar. Early in the run, Hocevar spun Stenhouse into the outside wall, causing the single-car team’s first DNF of the 2025 season.

Stenhouse promised payback, but through a series of public and private comments throughout the week, the two drivers smoothed things over. Hocevar even promised to “round the edges off,” admitting that his aggressive style can sometimes cross the line.

Well, two weeks later, the feud reignited in a big way as NASCAR took on Mexico City. Hocevar was involved in several incidents throughout the race in a difficult day for the Spire Motorsports drivers. He also caused the final caution of the race after losing control in the final corner and stalling his No. 77 Chevrolet.

Later on, he was running a lap down as he followed Stenhouse into the stadium section. Stenhouse was on the lead lap, running 23rd, but Hocevar entered a little too hot as he battled his car. He ran into the back of Stenhouse, spinning him out yet again. Stenhouse fell to 26th, ultimately dropping down to 27th by the time the checkered flag flew.

Post-race confrontation

After the race, Stenhouse did not hide his frustration, marching over to Hocevar’s car and sticking his head in the window to shout at him. In-car cameras caught most of the discussion 

“I’m gonna beat your ass,” said Stenhouse. “You’re a lap down, you got nothing to do, why’d you run right into me?”

Hocevar was apologetic and explained that he locked up in the marbles, but Stenhouse quickly shouted back, “I don’t give a damn.” Stenhouse again promised to beat Hocevar up once they returned to the states.

Stenhouse was involved in a shocking brawl during the 2024 All-Star Race when he punched Kyle Busch after waiting for him in the garage area. He was fined $75,000 by NASCAR for that altercation.

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Very little went right for Shane Van Gisbergen in the buildup to NASCAR’s first international Cup Series points-paying race of the modern era.

A mechanical issue on takeoff forced his team charter to abort the initial journey to Mexico City. He arrived at the venue Friday, a day late, and after winning the pole Saturday, the New Zealander fell seriously ill.

He was sleeping on the floor of his hauler before Sunday’s race, unsure he’d be able to physically complete the 100-lap event at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

But there’s something special about the Kiwi and new venues, especially in the rain, and he salvaged the weekend by winning on the road course to earn an automatic berth into NASCAR’s playoffs.

Van Gisbergen led 60 of 100 laps and beat Christopher Bell by 16.567 seconds.

Shane Van Gisbergen celebrates after winning a NASCAR Cup Series auto race at Hermanos Rodriguez race track in Mexico City, Sunday, June 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Fernando Llano)

Photo:

“I tried to treat it like when I go to Asia, just drink bottled water and be careful in the shower and brush your teeth with bottled water, but I just went downhill,” Van Gisbergen said. “Couldn’t keep anything in. Everything just went straight through me. I felt really queasy and my mind was there, but my body just had so much pressure in my stomach. Crazy weekend and everyone dug deep.”

It was the second Cup Series victory of his career. He won in his NASCAR debut at the inaugural 2023 street course race in Chicago — a victory that changed his career trajectory. Van Gisbergen left Australia V8 Supercars, where he was a multiple champion, for a full-time move to NASCAR.

Although he had success in the Xfinity Series — he won three races last year as Trackhouse Racing developed him for a Cup Series ride — Van Gisbergen has struggled this year at NASCAR’s top level.

He started the race ranked 33rd in the Cup standings with only one top-10 finish through the first 15 races of the season. But his victory in Mexico City revived his season and gives him a shot to race for the Cup Series championship.

“It means everything to us, this is why I’m here,” Van Gisbergen said. “I am getting better and more competitive. We’re really making a lot of progress.”

Van Gisbergen celebrated in his traditional rugby-style way — he drop-kicked a signed football into the grandstands and then said he had recovered enough to enjoy “some Red Bulls mixed with adult beverages” later Sunday.

Van Gisbergen benefitted from an early pop-up rain shower on the first lap of the race because he’s an exceptionally skilled driver on a wet surface. His win at Chicago was in monsoon-like conditions.

Trackhouse now has two of its drivers — Ross Chastain and Van Gisbergen — locked into the playoffs. But it was a bit of a disappointment for Daniel Suarez, the Monterrey native who thrilled the hometown crowd with a win in the Xfinity Series race on Saturday, as he failed to challenge his teammate for the win and finished 19th.

“I wish I was in the mix fighting for it a little more, but it just wasn’t in the cards,” Suarez said. “Every single thing about this weekend exceeded my expectations, the people, the fans, the sponsors, the excitement, the energy.

“I had expectations for this weekend, not the results but, like, the event, and I can tell you that I personally exceeded those expectations,” he added. “So very, very happy for that. Very blessed. I hope that we can do it many more times.”

Suarez, who appeared to be blinking back tears as he sang along with the Mexican national anthem in pre-race ceremonies, desperately wanted the home win in this contract year with Trackhouse. He was the face of this event as NASCAR ventured outside the U.S. with its top series for the first time since 1958.

Bell finished second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. He was followed by Chase Elliott in a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet. Alex Bowman, who hurt his back in a crash last week at Michigan, withstood the pain for a fourth-place finish in his Hendrick Chevrolet.

Michael McDowell of Spire Motorsports was fifth and followed by John Hunter Nemechek in a Toyota for Legacy Motor Club. Chase Briscoe of JGR was seventh and followed by Cole Custer for Haas Factory as the highest-finishing Ford driver. William Byron of Hendrick was ninth and Chris Buescher of RFK Racing rounded out the top 10.

Chevrolets took five of the top-10 positions, including the victory.

Stenhouse vs. Hocevar

The ongoing feud between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar continued after the race as a furious Stenhouse reached inside Hocevar’s cockpit on pit road.

He seemed to grab at Hocevar as he spoke to him, then slapped at his helmet as Stenhouse walked away. It wasn’t clear what Stenhouse was upset about, but he’s been furious with Hocevar for three consecutive weeks, dating to contact between the two at Nashville.

Hocevar’s in-car camera captured the audio of the confrontation.

“I’m going to beat your (butt),” Stenhouse threatened. “You’re a lap down, you’ve got nothing to do. Why you run right into me? It’s the second time. I’m going to beat your (butt) when we get back to the States.”

Hocevar said after the race he couldn’t really hear Stenhouse.

“I know he was very mad and I was very apologetic,” Hocevar said. “I got in the marbles and slid a lot longer than I expected to. Number one, not somebody I would ever want to hit again. But number two, I was basically just logging laps. I tried to turn left and avoid him. Just a really sloppy day for me.”

Gordon gives command

NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon was selected to give the command for drivers to start their engines and admitted before the race he’d done some practicing.

Why? Because he incorporated both English and Spanish in his delivery of the most famous words in racing.

“Hola Mexico!” Gordon shouted. “Pilotos start your engines!

Up Next

NASCAR races next Sunday at Pocono Raceway, where Ryan Blaney won last year.

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