NASCAR Cup Series will race at Formula 1’s Mexico City circuit in 2025

Elizabeth Blackstock 27 Aug 2024 8:00 PM

NASCAR is heading to Mexico City to race on a modified version of Formula 1's Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez.

NASCAR has announced it will host its first international points race since 1958 in Mexico City next summer.

The Cup and Xfinity Series will compete on a modified version of Formula 1’s Mexico track, the Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez, during the June 15 weekend in 2025.

NASCAR goes international with Mexico City

After several years of rumors pertaining to the introduction of an international race, NASCAR has finally inked a deal to bring its Cup and Xfinity series to Mexico City for an event at Formula 1’s Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.

This will be the first points-paying NASCAR race to take place outside of the United States since 1958, when the Cup Series contested an event in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. During the mid- to late-1990s, the Cup Series hosted several exhibition races in Japan as well. the Truck Series also competed at Mosport in 2019, and the Xfinity Series also raced at Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez between 2005 and 2008.

“This is a historic moment for our sport, and specifically for the NASCAR Cup Series, in being able to expand our footprint to Mexico,” NASCAR’s Executive Vice President & Chief Venue & Racing Innovation Officer Ben Kennedy said in a press release.

“We’ve been bold about our intentions to grow on a global scale, and there isn’t a better place to take the next step in that journey than at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course in Mexico City.”

Also on the schedule that weekend will be a NASCAR Mexico race. After all, it only makes sense that NASCAR would bring out one of its regional series to compete on the same schedule as the American series.

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Ben Kennedy elaborated on the course layout, which will be “very similar to” but “a little bit shorter than” the Formula 1 course. According to AP reporter Jenna Fryer, NASCAR will skip Turns 5 and 6; in addition, it will turn right instead of left at Turn 4.

However, the rest of the track layout sounds as if it will be the same as the one that is used by F1 every year.

Though NASCAR is generally considered an American sport, there are regional NASCAR series in Brazil, Mexico, Canada, and Europe that have all drawn dedicated slates of drivers and fans.

But the NASCAR Cup Series itself has also been hard at work to increase its international appeal. The series overall designed its most recent Next-Gen Car with international GT3 regulations in mind; that way, it would be easier for drivers from around the world to get behind the wheel and instantly feel comfortable.

Team-specific activations like Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91, too, are designed to appeal to international drivers; Trackhouse has fielded the likes of Kimi Raikkonen in its one-off machinery. It also used PROJECT91 to give Supercars legend Shane van Gisbergen his first shot a Cup Series racing at 2023’s Chicago street race. When van Gisbergen won, it encouraged him to move to America to commit to Xfinity in 2024.

It only makes sense that NASCAR’s next step is bringing its racing product to international audiences — and Mexico City is a perfect fit.