The Trackhouse Racing driver dominated the event for his second Cup Series victory.
MEXICO CITY, Mexico β Shane Van Gisbergen is making a habit of winning inaugural road course races in iconic cities.
Van Gisbergen dominated Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. It’s the second win of his career — he won the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race at the Chicago Street Course in 2023. Van Gisbergen dealt with an illness and had his weekend delayed by aircraft issues in Charlotte.
“I felt pretty rubbish today… that wasn’t fun,” Van Gisbergen said. “Our car was amazing… what a pleasure to rip lap after lap and watch [the competitors] get smaller in the mirror.”
Christopher Bell finished in second, over 16 seconds behind Van Gisbergen. Chase Elliott, Alex Bowman, and Michael McDowell rounded out the top five.
The only other driver who challenged Van Gisbergen throughout the event was Ty Gibbs, who was trapped deep in the field after a caution flag fell during the last pit cycle. Gibbs finished 11th.
Van Gisbergen started on the pole and rarely left the lead throughout the 100-lap race.Β
Rain forced a caution after the first lap as most teams opted to switch to wet-weather tires. The next caution came on lap eight when Kyle Busch spun around and collected Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe, and Justin Haley.
Ryan Preece won the first stage by staying off pit road as the leaders opted to get tires before the stage break.
The most crucial moment of the race came around lap 63. Van Gisbergen hit pit road for his final pit stop of the day while others, including Gibbs, stayed on the track. A spin by Carson Hocevar on lap 65 brought out a caution, dooming the day for Gibbs and others, and allowing Van Gisbergen to regain the lead.
Sunday’s race was the first ever for the NASCAR Cup Series in Mexico. The series has not raced outside of the United States in a points-paying event since 1958 in Toronto, Canada. The NASCAR Xfinity Series raced at the 2.42-mile Mexico City track from 2005 to 2008 before returning on Saturday. Daniel SuΓ‘rez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, won Saturday’s race and finished 19th on Sunday after being shuffled back by strategy.
After traveling to new territory, the NASCAR Cup Series heads to a place it’s raced at over 90 times next weekend at Pocono Raceway. Ryan Blaney is the defending winner.