NASCAR makes another bold move by adding Mexico City to 2025 Cup Series calendar

The smoke from the fireworks following NASCAR’s first ever race in the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum had barely even cleared before Ben Kennedy was being asked what other big ideas he had for a stale and predictable Cup Series schedule.

Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR’s founder and now the racing series’ executive vice president and chief venue and racing innovations officer, didn’t miss a beat.

He wanted to take NASCAR international.

Kennedy will fulfill that vision three years after he made his intentions known when the Cup Series races in Mexico City in 2025 for the first points-paying international race in modern history.

The June 15 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez — one of the most popular stops on the Formula 1 calendar — will be the first time since 1958 and only third time in 77 years that NASCAR’s top series will run an event that counts in the championship outside the United States.

NASCAR’s two previous points-paying international races were in Canada, while the Cup Series also has held exhibitions in both Japan and Australia.

“Our biggest opportunity to grow as a sport is international,” Kennedy said. “The U.S. is always going to be our mainstay and our next opportunity was to expand internationally. We said we’ve wanted to do this for a long time, but also needed to make sure it was the right time, the right partners and the right location.

“Mexico City checked every box. To be in one of the biggest cities globally — over 20 million people that live in the city — is a massive opportunity for us to bring the sport.”

The race announced yesterday [Macau time] at the storied Mexico City permanent road course is a multi-year deal and will replace the spring race on the short track at Richmond International Raceway. The Mexico City weekend will include the second-tier Xfinity Series and the very popular NASCAR Mexico series.

Mexican driver Daniel Suarez, who raced in the NASCAR Mexico race that was part of the Clash at the Coliseum event in February, was a featured part of the announcement. When the website for the race went live, it featured a video narrated by Suarez, who was the star attraction at a news conference that drew several hundred media outlets.

“It’s been unbelievable. There are a lot of people excited here in Mexico today, it’s already a day we’re going to remember for a very long time,” Suarez said. “This, for me, is like a dream. A real dream come true. Exactly 10 years ago I was here racing NASCAR Mexico in 2014 and I won a race here before quitting NASCAR Mexico and moving full-time to NASCAR Xfinity Series in 2015.

“I remember thinking how cool it would be to come back and race here in the Cup Series one day. I am just super excited to be part of this journey.”

Kennedy has been making bold moves with NASCAR’s schedule since he was tasked with the assignment. He was part of NASCAR leadership that agreed to transform Bristol Motor Speedway into a temporary dirt track, he put a temporary short track inside the L.A. Coliseum, and created NASCAR’s first-ever street race in downtown Chicago. JENNA FRYER, Auto Racing Writer, MDT/AP