NASCAR Chooses Mexico for First Modern Race Outside the U.S.

NASCAR will be taking its flagship product abroad for the first time in its modern history next year. 

As top American sports leagues like the NFL, NBA, NHL, and MLB continue to find success playing regular-season games outside the U.S., NASCAR will join the trend in 2025 by hosting a Cup Series race in Mexico City.

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.7-mile track in the nation’s capital, will welcome NASCAR on the weekend of June 14–15 for an Xfinity Series race that Saturday, followed by the premier Cup Series event Sunday. The Cup Series currently has one full-time Mexican driver, Daniel Suárez (above), who drives for Trackhouse Racing, the team co-owned by rapper Pitbull.

NASCAR has been ramping up its pursuit of international expansion in the past few years, and Mexico had been seen as one of the top options alongside Canada, which is the only other country to host points-paying Cup Series races—in 1952 and 1958. Montreal is the Canadian city that NASCAR has given the most consideration.

All Eyes on the Track

NASCAR’s complete 2025 schedule has not been announced. New media-rights deals totaling $7 billion start next season with incumbents Fox Sports and NBC Sports, as well as newcomers Amazon and TNT Sports. 

The Mexico news offers a bit more clarity as to who will air which races. The international affair will be one of Prime Video’s five exclusive race streams in the middle portion of the season. NASCAR’s debut $1 million in-season tournament will play out on TNT Sports broadcasts. 

Headed Across the Pond?

Should NASCAR find success in Mexico, and eventually Canada, racing on another continent remains a goal for the series. 

NASCAR COO Steve O’Donnell previously told Front Office Sports that exhibitions like the preseason Busch Light Clash—which will move out of the Los Angeles Coliseum and to Winston-Salem, N.C., next year—could be candidates to run in Europe.

Meanwhile, at the Daytona 500 in February, there were representatives from seven countries who are interested in hosting a race or at least starting to have a relationship with NASCAR.