MEXICO CITY
Saturday, June 14 — NASCAR Xfinity Series, 4:30 p.m. ET (CW)
Sunday, June 15 — NASCAR Cup Series, 3 p.m. ET (PRIME)
For the first time in NASCAR history, the Cup Series will be competing in an international points race as Mexico City plays host this weekend at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Before that, however, the NASCAR Xfinity Series will be in action as it returns to the course for the fifth time after conducting events at the facility from 2005-08.
INAUGURAL RACE SUCCESS
Ford has had its share of success in inaugural races recently, especially defending series champion Joey Logano. The three-time titleholder captured the first NASCAR Cup Series dirt race in 50 years when he won the Food City Dirt Race at Bristol Motor Speedway in 2021. He followed that up one year later with victories in the first Clash at the Coliseum inside the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and the Enjoy Illinois 300 at Worldwide Technology Raceway. Team Penske teammate Ryan Blaney is also part of the inaugural win club after taking the first race on the Charlotte Roval in 2018.
FORD ROAD COURSE WINS IN THE MODERN ERA (1972-Present)
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez will be the 10th road course the NASCAR Cup Series has competed on in the modern era, joining Riverside International Raceway (1958-88), Watkins Glen International (1957-Present), Sonoma Raceway (1989-Present), Charlotte Motor Speedway (2018-Present), Daytona International Speedway (2020-2021), Road America (2021-2022), Indianapolis Motor Speedway (2021-23), Circuit of The Americas (2021-Present) and the Chicago Street Race (2023-Present). Ford has produced a total of 20 combined wins at those facilities from 1972-Present. Mark Martin leads the way with four victories, including three straight years at Watkins Glen, while Ricky Rudd, Marcos Ambrose and Geoffrey Bodine have two each.
FORD DRIVING 4 A DIFFERENCE STANDINGS
Two more races remain in the Ford Driving 4 A Difference presented by the Gene Haas Foundation with Ford’s five NASCAR Xfinity Series drivers hoping to win as much as $20,000 for their charity of choice. The points each driver earns in races at Charlotte, Nashville, Mexico City, and Pocono will be added together with the winner being the one with the highest total. If a driver wins one of those events, their point total for that race is doubled.
Sam Mayer 82
Sheldon Creed 77
Ryan Sieg 48
Harrison Burton 41
Kyle Sieg 15
BRAD KESELOWSKI: “It is an interesting event. There are all kinds of different sentiments; positive, negative. I think it is good for the Cup Series in general to see the schedule variability that has really been driven over the last half-dozen years or so. An international race just fitting the bill for everything else we have been doing. I am just really curious to see the reception of our fans. I think the reception from our partners has been pretty strong which is always fun and great for the teams. But I am really curious about the reception from our fans both here and in Mexico. Will they turn out the way we think they will turn out? It is one of those things that when it is all said and done, I think I will be able to answer a lot better than I can now. We will just have to see how it all plays out.”
RYAN PREECE: “I think there are a lot of things that we’re all thinking about, but as a race car driver one of them is gonna be staying hydrated. How the elevation is going to affect us as far as being in the race car and breathing enough, so I’m not entirely sure but I am excited to go there because after talking with Daniel (Suarez), he obviously grew up over there and had a lot of great things to say. I’m looking at it as a glass half full. I’ve never been out of the country, so this is gonna be my first experience and I’m really hoping it’s a great one.”
CHRIS BUESCHER: “As drivers, we’ve gotten spoiled a little bit too much and get to kind of come and go as we please. If it gets within an hour or hour-and-a-half of practice you show up, but I think this is gonna be different. You’re just gonna try and maximize your time spent at the facility, if not on track studying what is on track and if not with your group trying to figure out what it is you need to be good there, or to be better if we’ve been on track yet. It’s definitely gonna be a different race weekend from all of those standpoints. I’m not one of the few drivers that have been down there to race in year’s past. I’ve heard stories from people on how it goes and the logistics of it and I’m getting ready to find out first hand.”
JOSH BERRY: “It is definitely a pretty cool layout. It is going to be interesting. I think there are some passing zones. There’s definitely going to be issues with track limits in the esses, right? It’s just tight. You can just tell. To me, it is probably just a little bit worse than COTA. It doesn’t feel like there is going to be grass on both sides so it is just a little bit different. Overall, I think it should probably be a good race. That is what we want to see.”
KESELOWSKI IN MEXICO
The only active Ford driver who raced in Mexico City during NASCAR’s four-year Xfinity Series run is Brad Keselowski. The Michigan native made his ninth career series start when the circuit ran at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2007, but he never got a chance to compete as an engine issue on the opening lap ended his day. The results were better one year later when he finished eighth while driving for Dale Earnhardt Jr.
FROM DRIVER TO PRESIDENT
The one person who has had the most experience driving the course at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is now making a lot of key decisions as president of Wood Brothers Racing. Jon Wood made 85 career starts in the NASCAR Xfinity Series from 2002-07 with three of those races taking place in Mexico City. Wood, who drove Tad Geschickter’s Ford for three seasons, had his best finish in 2007 (10th). Prior to that, he was 16th in the inaugural event in 2005 and 27th the following year.
FOUR FORDS IN PLAYOFF CONTENTION
There are still 12 races remaining in the NASCAR Xfinity Series regular season and four Ford drivers currently find themselves in the 12-driver field. Sam Mayer is the highest-ranked Mustang Dark Horse driver as he sits third in the overall point standings. Haas Factory Team teammate Sheldon Creed is sixth while Ryan Sieg is 10th and Harrison Burton 11th. Even though he’s 11th in the standings, Burton is squarely on the bubble and holds the final berth because Sammy Smith, who is below him in points, has one win. The field will be set after September’s race at World Wide Technology Raceway.
Nearly 60 Mustangs will take to the track this weekend around the world with Ford Performance. Two Mustang GT3’s are set to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the second year in a row, with 35+ Mustang Dark Horse R’s sharing the track for two sprint races of Mustang Challenge. Seventeen Mustang Dark Horses will race in NASCAR with 12 in the Cup Series and five in the Xfinity Series in Mexico City. Learn more at FordPerformance.com.
