Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 had a little bit of everything for the fans packing the grandstands at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as the NASCAR Cup Series hosted its first event outside the United States since 1958 and the first-ever in Mexico.
The event featured a sprinkle of wet-weather racing, a lot of on-track action and strategy, some beating and banging, and then to finish off the 100-lap contest, Shane Van Gisbergen performed a smackdown of epic proportions.
Van Gisbergen managed to secure his second NASCAR Cup Series pole on Saturday and was widely considered to be the favorite for the victory in his No. 88 Safety Culture Chevrolet for Trackhouse Racing.
The Auckland, New Zealand-native made good of those odds when the checkered flag was displayed, collecting his second win in the NASCAR Cup Series, but it wasn’t from a challenge from 22-year-old driver Ty Gibbs, who in the first half of the race kept Van Gisbergen honest.
However, it was strategy that separated Gibbs and Van Gisbergen in the second half of the event, with the No. 88 team and crew chief Stephan Doran electing to keep track position, while Gibbs came down pit road for fresh tires, in anticipation of drivers flipping the stage at the end of Stage 2.
From that point forward, aside from a momentary battle with Christopher Bell, Van Gisbergen was able to jet away to win the Viva Mexico 250, pulling out to a monumental margin of victory measured at 16.567 seconds. It’s the largest Margin of Victory (MOV) on a road course in the NASCAR Cup Series since Riverside in 1979, 46 years ago.
That performance is even more impressive when you consider that Van Gisbergen fell ill about 90 minutes before the start of the race on Sunday and was battling that illness all throughout the three-plus hour event at high altitude.
RACE RESULTS: 2025 NASCAR Cup Series Viva Mexico 250
“What a week. I’ve really enjoyed myself here. I felt pretty rubbish today, leaking out both holes. It wasn’t fun,” Van Gisbergen said after the race. “Our car was amazing. I think [Ty Gibbs] was close, but that last stint, man, what a pleasure just ripping lap after lap and watching them get smaller and smaller in the mirror. Unreal.”
Van Gisbergen led a race-high 60 of 100 laps on the afternoon, and as the laps wound down, the three-time Supercars champion was being told to slow down his pace, to which he promptly asked Stephen Doran to stop asking him to slow down.
“It’s certainly up there. I’ve been privileged to have some great ones in my time,” Van Gisbergen added when asked if this was the best car he’s ever had. “When I go slow, I just lose concentration, so I was trying to stay in a rhythm and routine, and Josh [Williams] and Stephen [Doran] are doing such a great job keeping me calm and focused, and man, that was epic.”
More than 16 seconds behind the race-winner, Shane Van Gisbergen, Christopher Bell finished in the runner-up position. The driver of the No. 20 was able to get in front of SVG at one point in the event, but was eventually shuffled back into second place.
Chase Elliott seemed to hint at a return to road course supremacy with a third-place run in Mexico City, while Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman finished fourth, after not knowing if he would even compete in the event at one point this week.
Michael McDowell pushed through in the final laps of the race to secure a top-five finish for the No. 71 Spire Motorsports team. Just behind him, John Hunter Nemechek earned a solid sixth-place result for LEGACY MOTOR CLUB.
Chase Briscoe recovered from being a lap off the pace from his involvement in a Lap 6 accident to finish in seventh, while Cole Custer earned Haas Factory Team their first top-10 in eighth. William Byron and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10.
Ty Gibbs, the only true adversary to Shane Van Gisbergen on Sunday, faded late in the race after using his rear tires up, and finished 11th. Gibbs led 27 laps, the second-most on the afternoon, but heads to Pocono still looking for his first NASCAR Cup Series victory.
Serving as the interim driver for Denny Hamlin, who is at home with his newborn son and fiancée Jordan Fish, Ryan Truex managed to record a solid 23rd-place finish, despite being turned around on the racetrack at least three times.
Kyle Larson, who sustained major damage in an early accident where Kyle Busch crashed into Turn 1 in wet conditions, set the Xfinity Fastest Lap in his No. 5 Valvoline Chevrolet on the 34th of 58 laps he turned around the 2.42-mile road course Sunday, before finishing 36th.
Leaving Mexico City, William Byron was able to extend his regular-season points lead to 67 markers over second-place in standings Kyle Larson. Christopher Bell moves into third, with Chase Elliott fourth, and Denny Hamlin fifth.
The NASCAR Cup Series will head to Pocono Raceway for next weekend’s event – the final of five on Prime Video. Coverage of the event will be on Sunday, June 22 at 2:00 PM ET.
