The NASCAR Cup Series held its first official race in Latin America in 2025 when the top division of stock cars visited Mexico City at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a competition that was not renewed for 2026 and is also not being considered for 2027.
However, Mexican-born driver Daniel Suárez does not rule out the possibility that the NASCAR Cup could visit Mexico again. Ahead of this Saturday’s race on the Bristol oval, the Spire Motorsports driver spoke with Motorsport.com about the logistical complications and commercial interests surrounding a race of this kind, which will be the first obstacles to resolve in order to repeat the experience.
Despite the enthusiasm of the fans and the series, Suárez explained that organising a Cup Series race outside the United States involves complex dynamics with local promoters, especially in Mexico, where the circuit in the capital operates as a venue for other types of events.
“It is very difficult to put on a NASCAR event or any kind of race at these venues because I learned a lot with NASCAR coming to Mexico. The way it works is that they have these places, they put on all these concerts and events, and they make a lot of money from that. But when it comes to racing, you need many weeks to prepare the race, and those are weeks when they can’t have other kinds of events,” Daniel Suárez told Motorsport.com.
Ryan Truex, Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota
Photo by: Sean Gardner / Getty Images
The Monterrey native emphasised that, although there is willingness on both sides, the calendars have to align and lessons must be learned from the first experience:
“It takes a lot of planning to be able to put on an event like this and a lot of people involved. That’s why I think there are different interest. NASCAR wants to come back and Mexico, as a country, they want NASCAR to return. They just have to connect the dots to make it possible and also learn from everything that happened last year, because there are many things that we as an industry could maybe have done a little better.”
Asked whether venues closer to the border, such as his native Monterrey, could lessen the logistical burden given their proximity to the United States border, Suárez acknowledged and reiterated that the capital remains the ideal setting:
“It could be. Where I’m from in Monterrey, Mexico is only a couple of hours from Texas. Champ Car used to race there; in fact, that was the first race I attended. But that saves us, or saves the teams, maybe nine or ten hours of travel, so it’s not much. I would say the main thing is the logistics, the promotion and everything we have to do around the event to make it a success. Personally, I think Mexico City is the heart of Mexico, that’s where the great circuit like the Hermanos Rodríguez is, which has a strong name, and that’s where it should be.”
Translated from Spanish
Watch: Watch: ‘Suárez’ documentary spotlights Mexico City homecoming
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