Pit Stops : Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

• Friday, June 13th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Suárez Leads Homecoming Hopes as NASCAR Cup Series Debuts in Mexico City

Amid much anticipation from fans and NASCAR teams alike, the NASCAR Cup Series has arrived in Mexico City for the series’ first points-paying international race in seven decades, Sunday’s aptly-named Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

The industry has long been preparing for this inaugural visit to the renowned 2.42-mile, 15-turn road course in the middle of bustling Mexico City. And perhaps no one is more eager for NASCAR’s Mexican arrival than Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, who has made multiple visits to his home country in support of the event, excited to show the world-class facility NASCAR’s brand of Cup racing.

“I’m super excited, regardless of what happens on Sunday,” said the Monterrey, Mexico-native Suarez, who has competed – and won three times – on the track’s oval-configuration while racing in the NASCAR Mexico Series, which will also be competing this weekend.

“I’m super excited for the event. I’m super excited to live in the moment because the first time is going to only happen once. I’m really trying to be as present as possible; enjoy the moment and try to execute the best possible weekend that we can. We know that we are capable of winning the race, but that’s not the goal. The goal is the execution of the entire weekend, and hopefully the win is the result of the execution part.”

Suarez, who scored his first NASCAR Cup Series win on a road course at Sonoma, Calif. in 2022, has been a vital supporter of this initiative. For months, the popular driver has starred in the NASCAR commercials promoting the Mexican race – the script depicting him trying to teach fellow racers how to speak in Spanish.

“At first, I thought man, I don’t know if this is going to work out, like, I don’t think this is going to be funny,” Suarez said smiling. “And honestly, it turned out amazing. I give a lot of credit to NASCAR for trying all these different things. I think people are liking it. Drivers are embracing it. And, obviously, I’m having fun with it. I’m the one teaching the language, so for the first time, I feel like I’m in my zone, so that’s good.”

Suarez is certainly among the group of drivers hoping a new venue may produce different results on the season. The driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet is ranked 28th in the championship with 11 regular season races remaining to set the 16-driver Playoff field.

Others traditionally considered road course aces similarly see this as a big opportunity to punch a Playoff ticket. Hendrick Motorsports driver Chase Elliott and Alex Bowman, Kaulig Racing’s A.J. Allmendinger, Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell and Suarez’ Trackhouse teammate Shane Van Gisbergen are all some of the most talented road racers in the sport and all are still looking to earn a victory this season. Many still well below the 16th place Playoff cutoff line.

Interestingly, six of the 14 regular season races in the Next Gen Era have been won by drivers ranked 16th or worse in the standings at the time of their victory.

“Everyone expects us to perform on road courses,” said the New Zealand-native Van Gisbergen, who made the ultimate NASCAR debut winning at the Chicago street race two years ago in his very first start.

“Not that we have been hanging out for it (road courses), but the ovals have been a big learning process the last couple of months. It will be nice for sure to have a bit of a break and races on the types of courses I’m used to which means turning right.”

Hendrick Motorsports has won at eight different road courses – the most in NASCAR history. And four of the remaining 11 races will be on road courses.

Hendrick’s William Byron continues to lead the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings – up by 41 points on his teammate Kyle Larson heading to south of the border – and both are also considered favorites this weekend. Hendrick drivers – Byron (two), Larson (two) and Bowman (one) – have won five of the last eight road course races. If Elliott wins this weekend he would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer for second most road course wins all-time (eight).

Last week’s race winner, Denny Hamlin claimed his first career Xfinity Series win at the Mexico road course in 2006. He, Richard Childress Racing’s Kyle Busch (who won the 2008 Xfinity Series race) and Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing’s Brad Keselowski are the only drivers to have raced at the circuit – competing in the Xfinity Series there.

RFK’s Chris Buescher, who finished runner-up to Hamlin last week at Michigan, boasts the best road course average finish (8.7) in the Next Gen cars.

Busch Light Pole Qualifying is set for Saturday at noon ET (Amazon Prime, MRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

• Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Viva Mexico 250
• Busch Pole Award Pole Winner: Shane Van Gisbergen
• Age: 36
• Team : No 88 - Safety Culture Chevrolet
• Owner: Justin Marks
• Crew Chief: Stephen Doran
• Shane Van Gisbergen won the Pole Award for the Viva Mexico 250 with a lap of 92776 seconds, 93904 mph
• This is his second pole in 30 NASCAR Cup Series races
• This is his first pole and second top-10 start in 2025
• This is his first pole in one races at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Ryan Preece (second) posted his third top-10 start of 2025 and his first in one race at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Ross Chastain (third) posted his first top-10 start at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez It is his fourth in 16 races this season
• Shane Van Gisbergen (first) was the fastest qualifying rookie

• Sunday, June 15th, 2025
• NASCAR Wire Service - Holly Cain

Van Gisbergen Delivers Masterclass in Mexico, Caps Victory with Rugby Kick to Roaring Crowd

An overcast ski and early afternoon drizzle could not dampen the enthusiasm or energy of the huge crowd at Mexico City’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez Sunday for the first points-paying NASCAR Cup Series race outside the United States in half a century.

And they were not disappointed.

As he did at another NASCAR’s “inaugural race” – on the streets of Chicago two years ago in his series debut – New Zealander Shane Van Gisbergen, 36, prevailed again. This time, driving the No. 88 Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing, he claimed a huge 16.567-second victory over Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell in the Viva Mexico 250 – the largest margin of victory of the season.

The three-time Australian Supercars champion Van Gisbergen – in his first fulltime season at the NASCAR Cup Series level – won pole position and led 60 of the race’s 100 laps, including the final 32, easily pulling away from the field to claim his first ever berth in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs with the win. He extended his margin of victory by nearly a second in each of the final five laps.

“What a week, I’ve really enjoyed myself here, but felt like rubbish this morning,’’ said Van Gisbergen, who’s victory was only his second top-10 finish of the season.

“Our car was amazing,’’ he added. “The 54 [Ty Gibbs] was close but that last stint, what a pleasure, just ripping lap after lap and watching them get smaller in the mirror.’’

As thrilled as the crowd may have been to watch Van Gisbergen’s masterwork, there was no doubt they were there to cheer on his Trackhouse teammate, Mexico-native Daniel Suárez, who was celebrated as a hero after his win in Saturday’s NASCAR Xfinity Series race.

The grandstands chanted “Dan-iel Dan-iel” and held up signs of support. And Suárez was emotional standing by his car on the starting grid as a local children’s choir sang the Mexican National Anthem before the race. Ultimately, he ended up 19th – leading briefly early and finishing with a pass on the final lap.

On the race’s cool-down lap, Suárez pulled his car alongside Van Gisbergen’s parked car to offer congratulations on the big win.

“I feel like today, I gave my best, but it just wasn’t good enough,’’ Suárez said. “I wish I was in the mix a little more fighting up front, but it just wasn’t in the cards today. I’m happy with the performance, I don’t feel like I left anything on the table, just wasn’t meant to be.”

As for the event in Mexico City – something Suárez has worked so hard to promote, he was ecstatic calling the whole experience.

“It couldn’t have been any better,’’ a proud Suárez said. “I’ve been here since Tuesday just working, doing promotion for sponsors, for the race itself, for fans. Every single thing that we did exceeded my expectations. The fans were amazing. Yesterday you could hear them for their passions. It is an experience I for sure won’t forget for a very very long time.’’

In the end, it was the New Zealand national anthem played on the stadium speaker as NASCAR did a unique post-race celebration having the top-three finishing drivers – Van Gisbergen, Bell and Hendrick Motorsports’ Chase Elliott – stand on podiums and hoist trophies.

The victory was particularly rewarding for Van Gisbergen, considering the amount of adversity he faced this week in Mexico. He was sick to his stomach Sunday morning and his crew showed up a day later than the other teams after some travel challenges.

In the end, however, Van Gisbergen had to tell his crew chief to stop telling him to “slow down” in those closing laps. “I was just trying to stay in a rhythm,’’ he said.

Van Gisbergen said he texted with his friend and fellow Red Bull-sponsored racer, reigning Formula One champion Max Verstappen, a five-time Mexico City F1 race winner, who gave him a few tips on the braking zones and racing lines.

And the Kiwi did all that, capping off the day with his unique victory celebration – punting a rugby ball into the cheering grandstand crowd that certainly got their money’s worth.

Not only did Van Gisbergen prevail in some tough circumstances, Bell’s work was also impressive, considering he finished runner-up after starting 31st. Elliott rolled into the top-five with about 25 laps remaining and steadily moved forward. Hendrick Motorsports’ Alex Bowman finished fourth and Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell was fifth.

John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, championship points leader William Byron and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-five.

Also notable on Sunday, there was a brief post-race confrontation on pit road stemming from an incident two weeks ago at Nashville between Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and Carson Hocevar.

The former Daytona 500 winner Stenhouse leaned into Hocevar’s car and had words with the 22-year old, ultimately telling reporters that he promised to settle the score in the near future. It was unclear what happened Sunday to precipitate the confrontation. Stenhouse finished 27th and Hocevar was 34th.

Championship front-runner Kyle Larson was collected in an eight-car accident only seven laps into the race and finished 36th – 38 laps down. That cost him dearly in the regular season standings and now he trails his Hendrick Motorsports teammate William Byron by 67 points with 10 races remaining to settle the Playoff field of 16.

• Drivers Entered: 37
• Laps Scheduled: 100
• Margin of Victory: 16.567 Seconds
• Time of Race: 3 Hours 14 Minutes 4 Seconds
• Average Speed: 74.820
• Cautions: 6 for 16 laps
• Lead Changes: 14
• Green Flag Passes: 2,649 (31.5 passes per green flag lap)

• Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Viva Mexico 250
• Race Winner: Shane Van Gisbergen
• Age: 36
• Team : No 88 - Safety Culture Chevrolet
• Owner: Justin Marks
• Crew Chief: Stephen Doran
• Shane Van Gisbergen won the Viva Mexico 250, his second victory in 30 Cup Series races
• This is his first victory and second top-10 finish in 2025
• This is his first victory and first top-10 finish in one race at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Christopher Bell (second) posted his first top-10 finish in one race at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez It is his 11th top-10 finish in 2025
• Chase Elliott (third) posted his first top-10 finish in one races at Aut?dromo Hermanos Rodr?guez
• Shane Van Gisbergen (first) was the highest finishing rookie
• William Byron leads the point standings by 67 points over Kyle Larson