So it’ll be one more year for IndyCar’s Dallara DW12 chassis, which has already been in service for 14 years, certainly making it the oldest platform used in a major auto racing series.

IndyCar had promised that a new car would debut for the 2027 season, but that has been postponed until at least 2028, according to the Indianapolis Star and Racer.com. Why? Not so much because the car itself couldn’t be ready, but because engine suppliers Honda and Chevrolet need more time to develop upgraded powerplants, which include a new engine and energy recovery system.

According to Racer, the two companies need at least 18 months to build and test 50 new engines each, the quantity that is required to supply the series. Apparently, the Roger Penske–owned IndyCar series has yet to give Chevrolet and Honda a final draft of the rules governing the new engines.

The current formula—a 2.2-liter, twin-turbocharged V-6, used by both Honda and Chevrolet—dates back to 2012. A hybrid system was added late last season and has earned mixed reviews from drivers and teams.

Current supplier Dallara will also build the new car, currently called the IR-27. It’s unclear if it will be renamed the IR-28 … or beyond.

The 2025 Viva Mexico City 250 will take place at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on Sunday. The 17-turn, 2.674-mile track has hosted Formula 1 races and was previously a stop on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. Road racing savant Shane Van Gisbergen, who further exemplifies NASCAR’s growing global reach as a New Zealander, is the +330 favorite in the 2025 Viva Mexico 250 odds, while Christopher Bell is at +700 after winning the only previous road race of the year in Austin.

The green flag drops at 3 p.m. ET and the race is scheduled for 100 laps around the famed Mexico City circuit. This will be the second of six road races on the NASCAR schedule this season. Before entering any 2025 Viva Mexico 250 picks, NASCAR DFS lineups on sites like DraftKings and FanDuel, or locking in NASCAR props on sites like PrizePicks, Sleeper Fantasy, and Underdog Fantasy, be sure to see the latest 2025 NASCAR at Mexico predictions from SportsLine’s proven projection model.

Developed by daily Fantasy pro and SportsLine predictive data engineer Mike McClure, this proprietary NASCAR prediction model simulates every race 10,000 times, taking into account factors such as track history and recent results.

The model began its 2025 season by calling Chase Elliott to win for a +300 payout at the Clash at Bowman Gray and was also high on Byron as a +2000 longshot at Daytona. Then it predicted Kyle Larson’s win in Miami for a +350 payout, Christopher Bell’s +600 triumph in the NASCAR All-Star Race and Denny Hamlin’s +650 victory in Michigan. In 2024, it nailed Larson to win in Las Vegas for a 21-5 sports betting payout and predicted Denny Hamlin’s wins in Bristol at 5-1 and Richmond at 17-4.

It also impressively nailed five of Larson’s wins during his historic season in 2021. All told, the model has nailed a whopping 22 winners since 2021. Anyone who followed its lead on betting apps and sportsbooks on those NASCAR picks could have seen huge returns. New users also have the opportunity to take advantage of the latest Bet365 promo code, Caesars Sportsbook promo code and Fanatics Sportsbook promo code.

Now, the model simulated the 2025 Viva Mexico 250 10,000 times. Head to SportsLine to see the complete projected NASCAR at Mexico City leaderboard.

Top 2025 Viva Mexico 250 predictions

For the 2025 Viva Mexico 250, the model is high on Michael McDowell, even though he’s a +2200 longshot in the latest 2025 NASCAR at Mexico odds. He’s a target for anyone looking for a huge payday. The 40-year-old is in his 18th season racing in the NASCAR Cup Series and he has two victories under his belt, including a win in the 2021 Daytona 500 and a road race triumph in the Verizon 200 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

McDowell began his racing career as an open-wheel driver and his comfortability on road courses has helped him stay competitive in NASCAR. Of the 45 career top-10 finishes that McDowell has recorded, 11 have come in road races. Earlier this season in Austin, he led three laps on his way to a solid 11th-place finish and he’ll be looking to Mexico City to jumpstart his season after only recording one top 10 over the first 15 races of the season. BetMGM is offering the best odds here for McDowell and you can also build in first-bet insurance with the latest BetMGM promo code.

The model has also revealed one of its surprising NASCAR prop bets for Sunday: Daniel Suarez finishes top five for a +200 payout. It might be difficult to hear over the roar of his Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet, but Suarez will be the prohibitive fan favorite as the only Mexican driver in the field. The 33-year-old has made the NASCAR playoffs in two of the last three seasons, thanks to wins at Sonoma in 2022 and Atlanta in 2024.

He is 28th in the NASCAR standings and likely in a position where he’ll need to win his way back into the postseason this year and Mexico City looks like a perfect opportunity. Suarez finished 36th in Austin after a crash, but he qualified fifth for that race so he has documented speed in a road setup this season. He’s also managed six career top-five finishes on road courses and that’s why the model sees this +200 offering from FanDuel (check out the latest FanDuel promo code too) as an incredible value. See which other drivers to avoid and the rest of the projected NASCAR leaderboard at SportsLine.

How to make 2025 NASCAR at Mexico picks

The model is also targeting three other drivers with Mexico NASCAR odds of 12-1 or longer to make a serious run at the checkered flag. Anyone who backs these drivers could hit it big. You can see all of the model’s NASCAR picks, props, and projected leaderboard over at SportsLine.

So who wins the 2025 Viva Mexico 250, and which longshots are must-backs? Check out the latest 2025 NASCAR at Mexico odds below, then visit SportsLine now to see the full NASCAR Mexico projected leaderboard, all from the model that has nailed 22 winners, and find out.

2025 NASCAR Mexico odds, drivers, lineup

See the full NASCAR at Mexico picks at SportsLine

Shane Van Gisbergen +330
Christopher Bell +700
William Byron +800
Tyler Reddick +800
Kyle Larson +800
Chase Elliott +1000
AJ Allmendinger +1200
Kyle Busch +1400
Daniel Suarez +1400
Chris Buescher +1600
Ross Chastain +1800
Michael McDowell +1800
Alex Bowman +2500
Carson Hocevar +2800
Chase Briscoe +3000
Ty Gibbs +3000
Austin Cindric +3500
Denny Hamlin +4000
Ryan Blaney +4000
Joey Logano +5500
Todd Gilliland +15000
Bubba Wallace +15000
Brad Keselowski +15000
Noah Gragson +20000
Ryan Preece +20000
Justin Haley +20000
Austin Dillon +20000
Zane Smith +25000
Cole Custer +25000
Josh Berry +30000
Riley Herbst +30000
Erik Jones +30000
Ricky Stenhouse +40000
John Hunter Nemechek +40000
Ty Dillon +100000
Katherine Legge +100000
Cody Ware +100000

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.

___

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

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.

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

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

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.

___

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

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

The Viva Mexico 250 marks a historic moment as the NASCAR Cup Series races internationally for the first time in 25 years — and for the first time in a points race since the 1950s. Set at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a legendary track built in 1959 and home to the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix, this event promises high-stakes action in a landmark setting. Here’s what you need to know about the race, how to watch and more.

When is the Viva Mexico 250?

The Viva Mexico 250 is scheduled for Sunday, June 15th at 3 p.m. ET.

Where is the race?

The Viva Mexico 250 will take place at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico.

How long is the race?

The Viva Mexico 250 is a total of 100 laps and 241 miles.

Where can I watch the Viva Mexico 250? What channel will it be on?

The race will be broadcast live on Amazon Prime Video.

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How can I stream or watch the race without cable?

The Viva Mexico 250 can be streamed on Amazon Prime Video.

What is the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez Schedule?

Friday, June 13th

• NASCAR Mexico Series – Practice & Qualifying – 11 a.m. ET
• NASCAR Cup Series – Practice 1 – 1:05 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series – Practice 1 – 2:05 p.m. ET (CW App)
• NASCAR Cup Series – Practice 2 – 3 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series – Practice 2 – 3:30 p.m. ET (CW App)
• NASCAR Mexico Series – Ricardo Rodriguez 120 (NASCAR Mexico Series)

Saturday, June 14th

• NASCAR Xfinity Series – Qualifying – 10:30 a.m. ET (CW App)
• NASCAR Cup Series – Qualifying – 12 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime)
• NASCAR Mexico Series – Pedro Rodriguez 100 (NASCAR Mexico Series)
• NASCAR Xfinity Series – The Chilango 150 – 10:30 a.m. ET (CW App)

Sunday, June 15th

• NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250 – 3 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime / MAX)

Who is driving in the race?

There are 37 drivers entered into the Viva Mexico 250. Qualifying starts on Saturday, 6/14. 

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