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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Shane van Gisbergen Dominating Viva Mexico 250 At Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Updated –
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NASCAR Cup Series Fans Respond To Shane van Gisbergen Dominating Viva Mexico 250 At Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez

Moments after concluding a dominating, season-altering effort at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez, NASCAR Cup Series driver Shane van Gisbergen, with burnout smoke still in the air, watched Daniel Suarez’s No. 99 Chevrolet pull up to join the celebration.

Trackhouse Racing teammates stole stock-car racing’s international spotlight over the weekend. Van Gisbergen captured the Viva Mexico 250 on Sunday despite feeling ill. Suarez, a Monterrey, Mexico, native, visited Victory Lane following Saturday’s Xfinity Series race after crashing during qualifying and starting last. Suarez, who placed P19 Sunday, is in the final year of his contract. Did he provide his agent with negotiating leverage?

A three-time Supercars champion, New Zealand’s van Gisbergen struggled during the first of his rookie Cup campaign. His struggles ended in the Cup Series’ first international points race since 1960, outdistancing runner-up Christopher Bell by 16.567 seconds and 20.635 seconds better than third-place finisher Chase Elliott.

Van Gisbergen’s team overcame several obstacles this weekend. On Thursday, travel issues forced team members to travel to Mexico City on different flights. On different days. The No. 88 Chevrolet also overcame early tire issues and became the fifth driver to win his first two Cup events during the inaugural events. He also won the 2023 Chicago Street Race.

Sunday’s 16-plus second win marked the largest margin of victory since Kurt Busch’s 2009 win at Texas.

X (Twitter) users responded to Sunday’s international lineup …

Recalling the Cup Series’ last international showcase 27 years ago …

Going green in Mexico City …

Despite feeling ill, van Gisbergen cleared Ryan Preece, who started on the outside of the front row, along Turn 1. Meanwhile, Carson Hocevar, who again will tangle with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., missed Turn 2 to bring out the first caution as rain started to fall. NASCAR officials called for teams to utilize wet tires …

Kyle Busch, who won a 2008 Xfinity Series race in Mexico City, headed for the garage area after a Lap 8 incident. The machines of Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, Chase Briscoe and Zane Smith also needed repairs …

Van Gisbergen and Ty Gibbs appeared to have the two strongest machines. Well, it appeared Gibbs would at least challenge the No. 88 Chevrolet, which he did – for a while. Van Gisbergen has led in seven of his eight Cup road-course starts …

Stage 1 winner Ryan Blaney held off Preece over the last few turns …

Stage 2 winner van Gisbergen was just beginning to pull away. By Lap 60, he led Bell by 4.06 seconds. The lead continued to grow …

Alex Bowman, whose injured back forced him to miss a mid-week simulator session and made it hard for him to climb into the No. 48 Chevrolet seat, battled Bell for P2 with 25 laps remaining. They touched along Turn 2, but continued racing nearly two seconds behind van Gisbergen. That would be the closest they would come to the eventual winner …

With a victory margin of nearly 17 seconds, van Gisbergen became the 10th driver to win this season. He entered Sunday ranked No. 33 in the drivers’ standings. He can now make playoff plans …

Once again, after-race drama caught up with Hocevar. Ricky Stenhouse Jr. told him he’s looking forward to picking a fight after they return to the US. To be continued …

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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