Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez

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.