NASCAR visits Mexico City: What to know about the race, schedule, track layout

¡Bienvenidos a México!

The Cup Series is heading south of the border for the first ever race in Mexico for NASCAR's top series.

Held at the iconic Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, the world's best stock car drivers will compete at a track that has been a staple on the Formula One calendar since 1962.

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So, what's in store for Mexico City? What's the TV and streaming schedule for the weekend? And who could contend for the win on Sunday? Here’s everything you need to know for Viva México 250:

When is the NASCAR race in Mexico City?

The Viva México 250 is set for Sunday, June 15 at 3 p.m. ET.

Before the race, there will be practice on Friday and qualifying on Saturday. There will be two practice sessions for all drivers, first for 50 minutes and then for 25 minutes. The following day, the 37 drivers will be split into two groups for qualifying. Each group will have 20 minutes to set a fast lap, with the starting lineup determined by combining the two groups using each driver's fastest lap.

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NASCAR TV, streaming schedule this weekend for Mexico City

This weekend marks the fourth of five races streaming exclusively on Amazon Prime Video. Adam Alexander (play-by-play), Dale Earnhardt Jr. (analyst) and Steve Letarte (analyst) will be on the call, with Danielle Trotta, Carl Edwards and Corey LaJoie providing pre- and post-race coverage.

Here’s the full schedule for Mexico City:

Friday, June 13 (Amazon Prime Video)

• First practice: 4 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video
• Second practice: 5:30 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video

Saturday, June 14 (Amazon Prime Video)

• Qualifying: 2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video

Sunday, June 15 (Amazon Prime Video)

• NASCAR Live: 2 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video
• Viva México 250 (100 laps, 242.9 miles): 3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime Video

NASCAR Mexico City track layout

The Cup Series will use a similar track layout to the one that F1 uses for its grand prix -- with one slight difference.

The NASCAR circuit will be 2.49 miles, compared to 2.67 miles for F1. The change comes at turn four, where drivers will make a sweeping right-hander and eliminate two corners that F1 uses.

Here's a map of what the track looks like:

NASCAR entry list for Mexico City

Thirty-seven drivers will race in Mexico City – the 35 full-timers, plus one "open" entry and one fill-in.

Katherine Legge, a 44-year-old British driver, will make her second career start for Live Fast Motorsports. Elsewhere, Ryan Truex will take over the No. 11 for Denny Hamlin after last week's race winner became a father on Thursday and didn't travel to Mexico. Since there are fewer than 40 cars entered, all 37 teams will make the race.

Here’s the full entry list for Mexico:

NASCAR picks, predictions, favorites for Mexico City

Usually, it's easy to point out who could contend on any given weekend. Most NASCAR tracks have years of data, history and trends to study. Well, not this week.

No drivers have raced on this track in the current Cup car. So, how do we narrow down the contenders? Let's take a look at the best road course races and go from there.

It all starts with Shane van Gisbergen, the New Zealander who won his Cup debut at the Chicago Street Race two years ago. He's now a full-time NASCAR driver, and it's been a rocky rookie season outside of the one road race in Austin, Texas -- where he led 23 laps and finished sixth. Expect a strong showing for SVG, who desperately needs a win to make the playoffs.

Elsewhere, recent road course winners Christopher Bell (Austin 2025), Kyle Larson (Charlotte 2024) and Chris Buescher (Watkins Glen 2024) are three drivers to watch. Bell has the only road win this season after two runner-up finishes last year. Larson is a six-time road winner, including twice last season. Buescher only has one road win, but he's finished top-11 in 15 of his last 17 starts.

Chase Elliott (7 wins), Tyler Reddick (3 wins) and AJ Allmendinger (3 wins) have historical success at road courses, though neither has won much lately. They'll always be contenders, and perhaps a trip to a new track could be just what they need.

If you're looking for a longshot, look no further than Daniel Suárez. The only Mexican driver in the field will surely want to show out for his home crowd, and he's performed well at road courses before. His first career win came at Sonoma in 2022.

History of NASCAR international races

There's been just two international races in Cup Series history -- held in Canada way back in the 1950s.

The first was at Stamford Park dirt track in Niagara Falls in 1952. Then, they went to Exhibition Stadium in Toronto in 1958, where future seven-time champion Richard Petty made his debut.

Since then, there have been no points-paying Cup races held outside the U.S. There have, however, been several exhibition events across the globe.

In 1988, drivers went down under to Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne, Australia for an exhibition won by Neil Bonnett. Nearly a decade later, NASCAR went to Japan for three straight years from 1996-98. The first two races in Japan were at Suzuka Circuitland, then the series concluded at Twin Ring Motegi Superspeedway in 1998.