Records and facts

This is the first time that the NASCAR Cup Series will visit the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The now-NASCAR Xfinity Series has raced there on four different occasions (2005-2008), but they were on two different configurations, neither of which will be run this weekend.

Those races were won by four different drivers. The first two years had a chicane after pit out on the frontstretch. Those races were won by Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin. 2007 and 2008 saw the chicane removed and the full frontstretch used. Those races were won by Juan Pablo Montoya and Kyle Busch.

Track Facts
Track / Race Length:  2.42-mile road course, 100 laps (242 miles)
Banking: Varies
Frontstretch: 3,927 ft., flat
Grandstand Seating:  71,000
Pit Road Speed:  35 mph
Pace Car Speed:  45 mph
Opened: 1959 (first Cup race in 2025)

Website: https://ahr.mx/ 
Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/autodromohr 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/autodromohr

Pre-Race Sessions:

Practice No. 1: Friday, June 13, 4:05 - 5 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video

Practice No. 2: Friday, June 13, 5:30 - 5:55 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video

Qualifying: Saturday, June 14, 2:05 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video

Say What?!

"It’s kind of crazy to think about it's been 20 years since I've raced in Mexico City. The racetrack is beautiful, and the atmosphere is going to be absolutely insane. It’'ll be a packed house and the fans are always fantastic there. I’m looking forward to going out there and getting on the racetrack. Obviously, we know this is a good opportunity to have a really good result if we execute like I know we can. It's going to be a fun weekend. The weather could be interesting and throw curveballs, but we'll have to be ready for that and look to have a solid weekend." - AJ Allmendinger

"Anytime you have gone somewhere, had success, and experienced the racetrack, the culture, altitude adjustment, and all the things that we have to do going into this weekend, it gives you a little bit of extra confidence. It was a long time ago. It was 2005 when I was back in Mexico City for that double-header weekend where I ran IMSA in the Rolex prototypes. We sat on the pole and won the race on Saturday, then woke up the Sunday morning to run the IndyCar race. It is a little different than the double header that we are used to on the NASCAR side. I went from the prototype to the open wheel car, but I had a lot of fun. It was a great atmosphere. Fans are intense, engaged, and absolutely love motorsports. I think NASCAR is going to be embraced and it is going to be a huge event. I am looking forward to it. I know there is a lot of logistical challenges and stuff like that, but to me, it is a great opportunity to put our sport in a spotlight and go put on a good show at a great facility with very passionate fans." - Michael McDowell

"My honest answer is I haven’t done anything to prepare for that. I have spent time down in Mexico. I’ve been down there and I don’t think it’s going to be a huge deal. I could be completely proven wrong, but just prepared as normal as I would for the other 37 weekends. I feel like I kind of get myself, I don’t want to say spun out, but sometimes when it’s a new race weekend like this I feel like a lot of people try to not overprepare, but do things differently and it just has never worked for me. So, I’m approaching it as if it’s any other race weekend. It’s an awesome road course and we’re just outside of the country. There are still points that are gonna be given and it’s still gonna be road racing and it’s still a Cup race, so a big effort going at it. It’s been a little different from a film standpoint of not really knowing what to watch. An F1 car, watching that doesn’t really do it for me (laughing), but I’ve watched old highlights where Denny or someone won the race, and then obviously I’ve done numerous laps on our Ford sim, so that’s probably been the most helpful thing. It’s just gonna be attacking the race weekend. I fortunately have a good amount of road course experience and showing up to new racetracks was something that I just grew up doing, so I’m excited for it. I love the Cup car on a road course and I know how electric the fanbase is gonna be down in Mexico City, so I’m really looking forward to that." - Zane Smith

"Mexico is going to be interesting. I mean, it’s going to definitely be a lot of work to just get down there. We’ve raced out of the country before in Canada years ago in the Truck Series, and it was okay. It wasn’t a bad experience in any way, and it was honestly pretty easy. It’s a little bit different now here with the travel, but the track I think is good. It’s pretty unique. There’s some really high speed stuff, and then the really slow stuff in that stadium section is like 30 mph. So, there’s going to probably be some chaos down there. Overall, it’s hard to put judgment on it because I haven’t raced it before, so I don’t want to say good or bad. We’re racing at a new venue, out of the country. I think the crowd is going to be huge from talking to a handful of people. I don’t know, it’s a little bit hard. Just get there, do it once and see how it goes. To be honest, the travel’s a little overwhelming. I’m not a guy that is super excited about that part of it, but the race itself, I’m really looking forward to." - Erik Jones

Phil Allaway is the Newsletter Manager for Frontstretch.  He can be reached via at phil.allaway@frontstretch.com. Photo is courtesy of F. Pierce Williams of Autostock.