Father’s Day Weekend is a racing tradition in the NASCAR Cup Series, with races taking place anywhere the sport takes drivers, with this year’s special going south of the border for an instant classic. 37 drivers knew what was at stake and nobody wanted to go back home without the hardware. The fans Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez and were in for a thriller of a Sunday, as this was the Cup Series’ first ever race in the country.
Stage 1
Shane van Gisbergen showed strength and speed all afternoon on Saturday, capturing the pole position. When the green flag flew, he started alongside Ryan Preece and the race was on from there. Ross Chastain jumped ahead of Preece, as the caution came out due to rain, which prompted teams to come down pit road immediately and put rain tires on. Chastain beat his Trackhouse Racing teammate, off pit road, but Austin Cindric and Chris Buescher restarted on the traditional slick tires and didn’t get up to speed as Chastain on the restart.
On Lap 7, the caution came out, as Kyle Busch lost control of his #8 Lucas Oil Chevrolet, sliding into Justin Haley, collecting Kyle Larson, Zane Smith, A.J. Allmendinger and Chase Briscoe in the process. Busch and Larson had to take their cars to the garage, as did Smith. Busch’s day ended immediately, while the others were able to continue after extensive or minor repairs.
On the Lap 10 restart, Ty Gibbs went wheel-to-wheel with van Gisbergen, as the field got aggressive behind them. By Lap 12, the rain stopped and van Gisbergen took the lead from Gibbs, executing a 3.5-second lead, before green flag pit stops on Lap 17. Preece took the Stage 1 win, being one of the many drivers that stayed out, as, Ryan Blaney, Chastain, Michael McDowell and Todd Gilliland rounded out the top-five to end the first stage.
Stage 2
When Stage 2 began, the Spire Motorsports teammates, McDowell and Carson Hocevar led the front row. Going into the first turn, Saturday’s race winner, Daniel Suárez took the lead as his hometown crowd cheered their hometown hero on. Not long after, Gibbs reclaimed the lead on Lap 26. As green flag pit stops took place so drivers could trade their rain tires in for slicks, the caution came out for Ryan Truex spinning in Turn 10 on Lap 32. Truex, who was filling in for Denny Hamlin after the birth of his son, was having a rough weekend after qualifying 36th and could not seem to get the handle on the #11 Yahoo! Toyota.
When the race resumed, Gibbs and SVG went wheel-to-wheel on the restart, with van Gisbergen’s #88 Safety Culture Chevrolet chasing Gibbs’ #54 Monster Energy Toyota until Lap 44. This allowed the Trackhouse Racing driver to win Stage 2 and collect those valuable stage points, as he was followed by Christopher Bell, Alex Bowman, Blaney and McDowell to end the segment.
Final Stage
Prior to the green flag, SVG, Bell and Bowman stayed out instead of coming down pit road. The final stage began on lap 50, as light rain came down on Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. Bell charged forward, alongside van Gisbergen going into Turn 1, but SVG proved to be very strong, even as McDowell was sent into the Turn 2 grass. Gibbs fought his way through traffic, as Bell and van Gisbergen went wheel-to-wheel in the stadium section.
Shane van Gisbergen took the lead and didn’t look back, as everybody else behind him jockeyed for position. On Lap 63, van Gisbergen came to pit road for four fresh tires and a full tank of gas, which allowed Gibbs to momentarily take the lead. The caution came out with 35-to-go, due to Carson Hocevar spinning coming to the start/finish line.
The green flag waved on Lap 68, and once again, it was SVG ahead of the pack, as Ryan Truex crashed behind him in the pack. No caution for this incident, and with 28-to-go, Riley Herbst spun in the stadium section and almost collided with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. when spinning the car around.
Behind SVG, Alex Bowman, who was having a rough stretch of races, drove his way up to second and had a strong showing in Mexico City. As all of this was happening, Stenhouse Jr. spun in the stadium section and Hocevar slammed on the brakes, but no caution ensued.
Coming to white flag, SVG stayed on cruise control, winning his second-career NASCAR Cup Series race. This win locked him into the Playoffs, and possibly secured him the Rookie of the Year award, unless his fellow contender, Riley Herbst, wins a race before the Playoffs start at Darlington in September. After the race, Stenhouse Jr. confronted Hocevar for his on-track antics, after these two got into it at Nashville on June 1st.
Exiting Mexico City, William Byron leads the points +67 over Kyle Larson, as Christopher Bell is -80 behind Byron. With ten races remaining before the Playoffs start, the NASCAR Cup Series takes to Pocono Raceway for the Great American Getaway 400, which takes place at 2:00PM EST/11:00AM PST on Prime Video. We’ll have a pre-race preview here on everymanoneverycrew.com before the green flag drops on Sunday, stay tuned!
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