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 (3 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
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).
-NASCAR WIRE