Mexico City Friday Notebook

By Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

MEXICO CITY – Great food, a warm welcome and a lot of curious diehard racing fans greeted NASCAR teams and personnel arriving in Mexico City this week for Sunday’s Viva Mexico 250 NASCAR Cup Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez (3 p.m. ET, Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

Trackhouse Racing’s Daniel Suarez, a Mexican native, gave media members a list of his go-to restaurants. And race team members were commonplace strolling around the Angel of Independence monument on a downtown circle checking out local restaurants.

The NASCAR drivers all seemed eager about the sport’s first international points-paying race in half a century.

“So my favorite thing about Mexico — it’s been 20 years since I’ve raced here, but it’s the fans,’’ said Spire Motorsports’ Michael McDowell, who competed at the Mexico City venue four previous times while sports car racing. “I just know how Sunday is going to be. It’s incredible energy and incredible atmosphere.

“It feels like a festival and a concert and a race all happening at one time. Like I said, it was 20 years ago when I was here. But at the time, Luis Diaz and Mario Dominguez were racing, and those guys were heroes. Like every time they went into a corner, you heard the crowd cheer. And wherever they walked, the crowd went nuts.

“And I’m just like, I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like for Daniel (Suarez) on Sunday … I really can’t. It’s going to be wild. But just the energy that the fans have here is electric.”

Friday marked opening practice for the NASCAR Cup Series – a 50-minute and 25-minute session – the first led none too surprisingly by McDowell and the second with Front Row Motorsports’ David Gilliand on top of the chart.

Gilliland’s speed of 93.18 mph in the No. 34 FRM Ford was fastest on the day, followed by Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain (93.041 mph) in the No. 1 Chevrolet. Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs was third fastest in both practices with a quick lap of 92.864 in the second session. Tyler Reddick turned the most laps (35) in the combined practices.

The series will hold Busch Light Pole Qualifying Saturday at 2:05 p.m. ET (Amazon Prime, MRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

THE COUNTRYMAN

The at-track big screen candid photos included shots of Mexican native Daniel Suarez in the grandstands posing with fans. He could barely walk in the paddock without being stopped for an autograph and the fans watching Friday’s practice sessions were loudly cheering their hometown hero at every turn.

Suarez, who has tirelessly and enthusiastically done so much advance work to promote the Mexico City NASCAR race, said Friday he is humbled and amazed by the reception.

“The entire weekend has exceeded every single expectation I have had,’’ said Suarez, driver of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet. “For that, I want to say thank you. … Finally I am able to drive a car and not just talk about it and hopefully, I will have fun and continue to enjoy this moment. We are making history right now, not just NASCAR, not just me but the entire country of Mexico.

“This is something very special and shows that when these two countries work together, the sky’s the limit.’’

TRUEX TIME TO SHINE

Joe Gibbs Racing announced this week that Ryan Truex will drive the No. 11 JGR Toyota at Mexico City for Denny Hamlin, who remained at home in Charlotte, N.C. after the birth of his son. Truex was smiles and optimism as he spoke with reporters Friday in advance of the opening practice session – well-aware what a big opportunity this race presented.

The timing actually works out well, he conceded, considering the majority of the NASCAR Cup Series drivers have never raced at the 2.42-mile Mexico City road course. So the more typical disadvantages he would face in a one-race opportunity are mitigated for his first start in the series in 11 years.

Truex’s last NASCAR Cup Series race was in 2014 when he drove for BK Racing. In all he made 26 series starts in the 2013-14 seasons but none for a team legitimately competing for race victories at the time.

Since joining the JGR operation, however, Truex – the younger brother of NASCAR Cup Series champion Martin Truex Jr. – has proven himself competitive even in a part-time schedule – earning three NASCAR Xfinity Series trophies in the last two seasons. And as one of the team’s primary drivers on the simulator, Truex joked that he probably has run more miles on the Mexico City course than anyone else on the JGR team.

“It’s been a crazy few weeks – especially since Charlotte, I’ve been on standby,’’ Truex said. “I’m glad it is at a track where I can practice and have time and know what to do to. I found out on Wednesday night, so it has been kind of chaotic getting here and putting all of that together, but I’m just grateful for the experience and grateful to be here.

“Really just want to enjoy it. I don’t really have any set goals or expectations – I just want to enjoy the weekend. I’m driving a Cup car for Joe Gibbs at an international race – this is not something I ever dreamed of doing, just want to take it all in and have a good time.”

SVG A FAVORITE

Trackhouse Racing’s Shane Van Gisbergen, in his first fulltime season in the NASCAR Cup Series ranks, was quite optimistic about his chances this weekend at the series’ first ever race in Mexico City. After all, the 36-year old New Zealander and former Australian Super Cars champion won the inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023.

The driver of the No. 88 Trackhouse Chevrolet wouldn’t necessarily come out and declare himself the odds-on favorite for this weekend, but Van Gisbergen did smile when asked about his chances.

“I don’t know, that’s your guys’ jobs, but I do know that we will be competitive if we get everything right,’’ Van Gisbergen said. “It’s so hard to know what the car’s going to be like – it’s a different track, how it’s going to be affected by the altitude and the surface.  … It’s going to be interesting to feel what our cars are like in these conditions. But yeah, we should be up front. These are the types of tracks I’m good at, so we’ll see.”

Ironically, the Mexico City road course race comes right after Van Gisbergen has shown considerable progress on ovals – certainly a different style of racing  compared to the road courses where he established his career. He’s finished top-20 in three of the last four races, including a 14th at the 1.5-mile Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“You just feel the confidence in the team and even the pit crew guys,’’ he said of the progress. “Everyone’s just uplifted the last few weeks. Not that everyone was down, but it was a bit of a grind. The last few weeks, things have started to come a lot easier.

“Our pit stop averages are much quicker. Just all the simple things were getting a lot better and better. My restarts are finally in the positive, with it being well negative for the first half of the year. Every single area, we seem to be getting a lot better in, so it’s been fun.”

4-TIME CHAMP GORDON WEIGHS IN ON HORSEPOWER INCREASE

Four-time NASCAR Cup Series champ and current Hendrick Motorsports executive Jeff Gordon was recently asked on a Barstool Sports podcast about changes the sanctioning body is considering for the cars and he was ready with a well-considered answer.

He doesn’t think the answer is as simple as increasing horsepower and bolting on softer tires, however.

“Adding horsepower I think, at certain tracks like the mile tracks and half-mile tracks, I like – I think we’re too glued to the race track right now,’’ said Gordon, whose team drivers William Byron and Kyle Larson are ranked first and second in the championship standings. “So, adding power, I like. Adding as much power as I think maybe it takes would do two things: number one, cost, I hate bringing up cost but we’re talking about components that won’t last. Not just in the engine. So that’s one.

“And then the other is,’’ he continued. “it might make the cars harder to drive and the drivers like it more but that doesn’t mean that it’s going to be a better race. Then on the Goodyear side of things they’re trying really, really hard. I’ve learned a softer tire doesn’t necessarily mean more fall-off and that’s what we want.

“We don’t need a softer tire, we need a tire that has grip and then falls off where the driver and team have to manage the tire wear.’’