By Lonnie Hugh Skinner

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Next Race: The Chilango 150

The Place: Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Track Length: 2.42 Mile Asphalt Paved Road Course

The Date: Saturday, June 14

The Time: 4:30 p.m. ET

The Purse: $2,151,939

TV: CW, 4 p.m. ET

Radio: MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR (Channel 90)

Distance: 157.3 miles (65 Laps); Stage 1 (Ends on Lap 20),

Stage 2 (Ends on Lap 40), Final Stage (Ends on Lap 65)

NASCAR Xfinity Series

Mexico City Storylines and Insights:

·       This weekend will mark the fifth running of a NASCAR Xfinity Series race at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez all-time, and the first since the series last competed there in 2008. NASCAR didn’t race at Mexico City between 2009-2024.

·       6,264 days between races is the second-longest gap all-time, the longest was 7,728 at Rockingham which ended earlier this season.

·       Mexico City is the second of seven road course races this season.

·       NASCAR added an International Provisional at Mexico City, so all 39 cars can race, but the 39th qualifier will not be eligible for prize money, points or Playoff benefits.

·       Mexico City is at an elevation of 7,315 ft, more than 5,300 feet higher than any other NASCAR track.

·       Five drivers celebrated birthdays between Nashville and Mexico City: Josh Bilicki (June 3), Sammy Smith (June 4), Justin Allgaier (June 6), Nick Sanchez (June 10) and Thomas Annunziata (June 14 – race day).

·       There are 12 races left in the regular season and six Playoffs spots remain open.

·       The first four drivers below the cutoff are all rookies.

·       Justin Allgaier won at Nashville, his third win of the season.

·       Nashville was the 28th career win for Justin Allgaier, he is ninth on the all-time wins list and one away from tying Matt Kenseth.

·       This is the fifth time Justin Allgaier won 3+ races in a season, all in the last eight years.

·       Justin Allgaier is eight top 10s away from 300 in his career, he would be the first driver with 300 top-10 finishes.

·       Justin Allgaier leads all drivers with 10 top-five finishes and 638 laps led in 2025.

·       Justin Allgaier’s 10 top-five finishes in 2025 are his most ever after 14 races in a season.

·       Justin Allgaier has won Fastest Lap Award five times this season, no other driver has more than two.

·       JR Motorsports placed all five cars in the top-10 at Nashville.

·       JR Motorsports is six wins away from 100, only three other teams won at least 100 NXS races (Joe Gibbs Racing-217, Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing-138, Richard Childress Racing-100).

·       Daniel Suarez (#9 JRM), Ty Gibbs (#19 JGR) and Christopher Bell (#24 SHR) will be in the field this weekend.

·       Daniel Suarez is from Monterrey, Mexico and won three times at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in NASCAR Mexico Series.

·       Daniel Suarez won the 2016 Xfinity Series championship, making him the first international driver to win a NASCAR national touring series championship.

·       Ty Gibbs won the 2022 Xfinity Series championship and four of his 12 career NXS wins have come on road courses, his most on any track type.

·       Truck Series rookie and 2024 ARCA champion Andres Perez will be making Xfinity Series debut in DGM #91.

·       Daniel Suarez, Ruben Rovelo & Andres Perez are the only drivers in the field with experience at Mexico City.

·       Four different drivers won the four races at Mexico City from 2005-2008: Martin Truex Jr., Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch.

·       Denny Hamlin and Juan Pablo Montoya earned their first career Xfinity Series win at Mexico City.

·       Drivers who led the most laps won three of four Mexico City races.

·       Sam Mayer and Ty Gibbs lead active drivers with four career road course wins.

·       Nine of the last 11 road course races were won by just three drivers: Sam Mayer, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch.

·       JR Motorsports and Kaulig Racing won the last six road course races, with JRM winning the last three.

·       Ten of the last 18 road course races were won from pole.

·       Sam Mayer is the only driver to finish top-15 in 12 of 14 races this season.

·       Five races this year ended with a last lap pass. Three of the last four races this season had a pass for the win in the final two laps.

·       Seven of the 14 races this season went to overtime.

·       Three crew chiefs got their first NXS win in 2025: Adam Wall at Bristol, Sam McAulay at Darlington and Chad Haney at Atlanta.

·       Chevrolet led 2,061 of 2,636 laps this season.

·       Chevrolet has won 12 of the first 14 races, the most all time by a manufacturer through 14 races in series history.

NASCAR & Mexico City, Etc.

Historical & Significant Events at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez:

·       The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a racetrack located within the large Ciudad Deportiva Magdalena Mixiuhca sports complex in the southeastern part of Mexico City, near the city center and just a couple of kilometers from the airport.

·       The track was designed in 1955 by engineer Oscar Fernández Gómez Daza as his thesis project, due to the lack of a racetrack in Mexico City at the time.

·       Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was built in 1959 and is owned by the Government of Mexico City.

·       Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is the fastest circuit in Formula 1, as Felipe Massa reached 364 km/h during the 2015 Mexican Grand Prix.

·       The track was named in 1973 in honor of brothers Ricardo and Pedro Rodríguez, considered the best Mexican Formula 1 drivers of the 1960s.

·       Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is known for its very bumpy surface, primarily because Mexico City is located in a geologically active region.

·       The track sits at an elevation of 2,285 meters (7,500 feet), which causes a significant loss of engine power and makes breathing difficult for drivers.

·       The Formula 1 Mexican Grand Prix was held at this track from 1962 to 1970.

·       For safety reasons—following an accident in which a spectator died—the race was discontinued in this category until 1986. After the circuit was upgraded with improved safety measures, it was raced again from 1986 to 1992. In 2015, it rejoined the Formula 1 calendar.

·       The racetrack has also hosted prestigious international motorsport events such as the World Endurance Championship, Formula E, Champ Car, NASCAR Xfinity Series, A1 Grand Prix, and the IMSA WeatherTech Championship.

·       It also hosts rounds of NASCAR Mexico Series, Super Turismos, Copa TC2000 México, GT Pro Series, Super Copa Telcel, Racing Bike México, Night Drags, and the traditional 24 Hours of Endurance.

·       At the end of the track, there is a very fast corner (the Peraltada) leading into the main straight toward the finish line, very similar to the Monza circuit.

·       After the last Mexican Grand Prix in 1992, a large event venue (Foro Sol) was built inside that corner.

·       When the Champ Car World Series began using the track in 2002, the Peraltada was partially bypassed with a series of tight corners that pass through the Foro Sol, rejoining the Peraltada halfway through.

·       The circuit is operated under concession by the Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento, S.A. de C.V. (CIE), through OCESA, one of CIE’s subsidiaries.

·       In 2005 the NASCAR Xfinity series raced for the first time in Mexico City. To accommodate the heavy stock cars, a temporary chicane was constructed on the main straight and a new ‘stadium’ curve added in place of the Lake esses. For the 2007 event, the slightly clumsy chicane on the start/finish straight was removed. The series raced there from 2005-2008.

·       In 2015 in order to host a Formula 1 Grand Prix once again, the racetrack had to be rebuilt almost in its entirety, with the construction of a new race control building, a VIP area, a hospital, the construction of new stands and a complete repave of the track, all this so that the FIA (International Motoring Federation) considered it suitable in terms of safety and logistics.

·       The NASCAR Mexico series has run the oval layout which measures just under one mile in length and incorporates the Peraltada curve outside the Foro Sol and the Curva Plana.

·       Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez has multiple track layouts, the Grand Prix Circuit Formula 1 uses is a 2.67 mile 17 turn course. NASCAR will use the National Circuit which includes the Foro Sol, this layout is 15 turns and 2.42 miles long. The Recta Pricipale straight runs from turn 15 to turn one and is 3,937 feet (1,200 meters) long.

·       This weekend marks the first time the NASCAR Cup Series has raced in a point-paying international event in the modern era (1972-2025), and also the first time the series has competed at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

COURTESY NASCAR COMMUNICATIONS