MEXICO CITY (June 15, 2025) – An overcast sky 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.
“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.
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.
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.
Not only did Van Gisbergen prevail in some tough circumstances, Bell’s work was also impressive, considering he finished runner-up after starting 31st.
John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, championship points leader William Byron and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-five.
The series returns stateside for The Great American Getaway 400 (2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) at Pocono Raceway, June 22.