Mexico City – Shane Van Gisbergen once again mastered a new track – this one the iconic Mexico City road course – to win NASCAR’s first Cup Series points-paying race outside the United States of the modern era.

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)

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“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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Q. What a strong final run of the day for Chase Elliott, winds up third. It seemed chaotic from our seat. How was it from behind the wheel?

CHASE ELLIOTT: The restart was for sure, and yeah, I felt like we were in a really good spot. I was super excited about having tires and getting ourselves to — we got in front of the 54 and I thought, to be honest, that was going to be the race for the win there initially.

Yeah, got clear of the 1 and the 42, I think, and started settling in, and I didn’t have anything left. I was kind of cooked after that.

Yeah, I think we just pressed so hard to try to get through traffic that we — yeah, when it got singled out, I didn’t have a lot of pace left. I felt like I gained on him there for a little while, but it was pretty tough sledding to get to that point. We pressed on. Really proud of our LLumar Chevy group for sticking with it.

We were kind of up and down all day and finally got going there a few runs from the end and Al made us a good call to get us on tires. Finally had a restart go halfway decent and got a decent top 3 out of it.

Q. What would you say about this track and how it raced today and all the conditions you guys had to work through, the rain and dry and everything?

CHASE ELLIOTT: Yeah, I mean, there was a lot going on for sure. Certainly from the restarts. But once it singled out, it really became a normal road course, I thought.

But the restarts were crazy. You get in those situations and it’s just so tough because it’s like you don’t want to be the one to run in there and kind of gouge people out of the way, and as soon as you don’t, you get gouged from behind.

I don’t love that, but that’s kind of what we got now, these bumpers are so strong. It’s kind of just chaos there for a few laps until we can get single filed out and then it gets pretty fun.

NASCAR PR

The victory punches van Gisbergen’s ticket into the NASCAR Cup Series playoffs during his first full-time season with the series. He previously won the inaugural Grant Park 165 on the Chicago Street Circuit in 2023.

The next stop for the NASCAR Cup Series is Pocono Raceway for The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM. The race on Sunday, June 22 takes the green flag at 2 p.m. ET, with coverage on Prime Video, the Motor Racing Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio.

-Photo credit: Jim Fluharty, HHP for Chevy Racing

Q. Welcome to the playoffs, Shane Van Gisbergen! You told me yesterday a win fixes our year, but you’ve faced so much adversity this entire weekend when you think about it, the travel issues, not feeling well before the race, and then the rain today. What was the biggest challenge?

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: You listed them all, man. What a week. I’ve really enjoyed myself here. I felt pretty rubbish today leaking out both holes. That wasn’t fun. Thank you to SafetyCulture, Trackhouse, Chevy, and ECR engines. Our car 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.

Q. I’ve never heard a driver stop telling me to slow down. Was this the best race car you’ve ever sat in?

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: It’s certainly up there. I’ve been privileged to have some great ones 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.

Q. We were hanging out this morning and you were texting your good friend Max Verstappen. Your talent was clear today, but did he give you any tips that wound up helping?

SHANE VAN GISBERGEN: Yeah, a little bit in the wet. Just what lines to take and how to approach it. Yeah, what a guy. I don’t know how he went today, but hopefully he went well, and hopefully I get this thing over the fence.

NASCAR PR