Motorsports
When NASCAR Raced Abroad – The Daily Downforce
What’s Happening? This week, NASCAR returns to racing abroad as the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head south of the border into Mexico City. NASCAR has raced outside the United States in the past. In fact, the first time NASCAR left the States was all the way back in 1952 when the Grand […]

What’s Happening?
This week, NASCAR returns to racing abroad as the NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series head south of the border into Mexico City. NASCAR has raced outside the United States in the past. In fact, the first time NASCAR left the States was all the way back in 1952 when the Grand National division ran a temporary course in Ontario, Canada. Since then, NASCAR has held events abroad off and on across its many divisions. With NASCAR returning to Mexico City this weekend, and with talk about having next year’s Clash in Brazil, we here at The Daily Downforce thought it would be interesting to take a look at some of the instances when NASCAR raced outside of the country on an international stage.
So, buckle up! Here are some of the times NASCAR raced abroad.
Twin Ring Motegi (1998)
The site of Danica Patrick’s lone professional racing win, NASCAR once raced at the now-defunct Twin Ring Motegi in Motegi, Japan. Twin Ring Motegi is a motorsports park that includes a road course and, yes, the only oval racing circuit in Japan. The oval track is an egg-shaped speedway, similar to Darlington, with turns three and four being much tighter than turns one and two. NASCAR’s only race at the track happened on November 22, 1998. The race was the Coca-Cola 500 and was most notable for being the first race in which the father-son duo, Dale Earnhardt and Dale Earnhardt Jr. raced against one another. Both sponsored by Coca-Cola, Junior and Senior drove the number 1 and number 3 Coca-Cola Racing Family Chevrolets, respectively.
Jeremy Mayfield claimed the pole for the race and led the opening lap. Jeff Gordon took the lead from him on lap 2 and led until lap 28. In the laps that followed, Mayfield, Gordon, Sterling Marling, Jeff Burton, and Mike Skinner swapped the lead. Dale Earnhardt took the lead on Lap 103. It was a highly competitive race. However, at the end of the day, Mike Skinner in the RCR number 31 Lowe’s Chevy won the race. Dale Earnhardt Jr. went on to finish 6th in his very first Winston Cup Series start, besting his father, who crossed the line in 8th. The three-year deal to race in Japan concluded after this event and NASCAR did not return there for the 1999 season.
Twin Ring Motegi continued to be a fixture on the IndyCar schedule until 2011. For the 2011 running of the race, the race was moved over to the road course circuit as the oval had been damaged by the 2011 Tohoku earthquake. Following 2011, IndyCar never returned to Motegi.
NASCAR Thunder Special in Suzuka (1996-1997)
I started this list with the Twin Ring Motegi race because that track was a more typical/traditional oval circuit. It fit NASCAR best. But, as referenced in that entry, it was the last race as part of a three-year deal with the Government of Japan to hold one NASCAR race a year in the country. Prior to going to Motegi, the NASCAR Winston Cup Series had a two-year stint in Suzuka.
The Suzuka circuit in Japan has held many races over the course of its long and storied history. Perhaps most famously, it’s the site of the Japanese Grand Prix of Formula One. But it did host a pair of exhibition NASCAR Cup races in 1996 and 1997 on an abbreviated course. The first running of the event was held on November 24, 1996, and it saw Rusty Wallace take home the win. The series returned a year later with Mike Skinner taking the crown. This means that Mike Skinner won two of the three-year race deal between NASCAR and Japan. That’s just wild!
Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigez (2005-2008)
Autodromo Hermanos Rodrigez is the circuit NASCAR is returning to this weekend. That is to say that NASCAR has raced there before. Between 2005 and 2008, the Mexico City circuit was a regular fixture on the NASCAR Xfinity Series schedule. For the first three years, the race was run in early March during the Cup Series first off weekend of the year. During its first two years, the track used the chicane in its layout. The chicane was ditched for the final two runnings of the event.
Eventual 2005 and defending NASCAR Busch Series champion Martin Truex Jr. won the inaugural race at the track. To date, he was the only Xfinity Series regular to win the event as the Buschwhackers hoisted the trophy in subsequent years. Denny Hamlin won the 2006 running of the race while Juan Pablo Montoya won it in 2007. The last race until Saturday to run at the track was won by Kyle Busch in 2008.
Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2007-2012)
With the success of the races in Mexico City, the NASCAR Xfinity Series added yet another race abroad for the 2007 schedule, this time opting to cross the northern border into Montreal, Quebec, Canada at the infamous Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The NAPA Auto Parts 200 was run for six years between 2007 and 2012 and it was always a show. Gilles Villeneuve’s son, Jaques Villeneuve ran the race almost every year and was an absolute terror in the Team Penske number 22 Dodge. No driver wanted to see him in their rearview mirror because it only meant one thing: in the next corner, they were getting dumped.
A healthy mix of series regulars, Buschwhackers, and road course ringers went to victory lane during this span of races. Winning the first one in 2007 was Kevin Harvick in the number 21 Chevy for RCR. The following year, Ron Fellows won the race in the rain in the number 5 JR Motorsports GoDaddy.com Chevy. Current NASCAR on Prime broadcaster and NASCAR Hall-of-Famer Carl Edwards won the race in 2009. Boris Said captured his only NASCAR win in the race in 2010. SVG’s mentor, Marcos Ambrose, won the race in 2011. And finally, in 2012 future Xfinity Series Champion, Justin Allgaier won the final race at the track, driving for Turner Motorsports.
Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (2013-2019)
After the deal with Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended, NASCAR wanted to keep a presence in Canada. So, while the NASCAR Xfinity Series returned to racing exclusively in the States, the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series struck a 9-year deal to run at the less popular Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario, Canada. Chase Elliott won the first race at the track in 2013, driving the number 94 Aaron’s Chevy for Hendrick Motorsports. His buddy Ryan Blaney won it the following year in the Brad Keselowski Racing number 29 Ford. Erik Jones won the race in 2015 for Kyle Busch Motorsports.
Perhaps the most thrilling finish during this stint was the 2016 finish. The race came down between now-Cup Series drivers John Hunter Nemechek, driving for his father’s NEMCO Motorsports, and Cole Custer, driving the 00 for JR Motorsports. Coming to the line, JHN pinned Custer against the wall and held him there as he crossed the line first. Custer, furious, confronted Nemechek and the two brawled on the frontstretch. As a JRM fan, I never forgave JHN for this move. Other winners at the track include Austin Cindric, Justin Haley, and Brett Moffitt.
Though races in 2020 and 2021 were scheduled, they were cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In their place were additional races at Darlington Raceway. NASCAR never returned to the track at any capacity.
Conclusion
That does it for this one, Daily Downforce readers! What are your expectations for this weekend’s return to Mexico City? Do you expect a thrilling finish? What are your hopes for NASCAR racing abroad in the future? Let us know! And be sure to comment what you think on all of our social media pages (X, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.)