NASCAR is finalizing a deal to host a Cup Series race in Mexico City in 2025, according to sources briefed on the decision but not authorized to speak publicly. This will mark the first time in 67 years that the company’s flagship race will be held outside the United States.

According to these sources, the deal could be announced as early as Tuesday in Mexico City at a press conference expected to be attended by NASCAR Vice President Ben Kennedy and Mexican driver Daniel Suárez.

The race will take place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, a world-class race track that also hosts Formula 1 every year. The race is scheduled for June 15. There will also be an Xfinity Series race on June 14.

A race in Mexico City would be NASCAR’s first international points-based Cup race since 1958, when the premier series was held at Canadian Exhibition Stadium in Toronto, Ontario.

“It’s not official until it’s official,” Suárez, a native of Monterrey, Mexico, said Aug. 10. “Honestly, it would be like a dream for me. I’ve been in the Cup Series for several years and racing in my home country would be like a dream. Since I moved away from my country in 2011, it’s been a dream to come back as a Cup Series driver.”

“And if that’s true, that would be fantastic. And winning that race would be as great for me as winning a championship.”

Adding an international points race to the Cup calendar has long been a goal of NASCAR. In recent years, NASCAR has held talks with the promoters of the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez as well as representatives of other venues in Mexico and Canada about expanding beyond the United States, but has not been able to close a deal.

An international race would be a continuation of NASCAR’s efforts to bring its Cup Series to new markets in major metropolitan areas, led by Kennedy, the great-grandson of NASCAR founder Bill France Sr. and nephew of NASCAR CEO Jim France. Under Kennedy’s stewardship of the planning, NASCAR has added races in 2022 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum and in 2023 in downtown Chicago, both of which were considered unusual ideas at the time.

“The opportunity to continue to expand internationally is a huge growth opportunity for the sport,” Kennedy said on Aug. 17. “As we think about our future, one opportunity for us is to bring NASCAR racing to new people and new places. We’ve been able to prove that by going to LA and Chicago and having three-quarters of the people who come to those events for the first time are people who have never been to a NASCAR race. And if we have the opportunity to expand internationally, there will probably be some people coming from the U.S. There will be a lot of people who have never been to a NASCAR race.”

NASCAR and motorsports in general have grown significantly in popularity in Mexico over the past few decades. The second-tier NASCAR series raced at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez from 2005 to 2008, and Formula One has raced there twice, including since 2015, to great acclaim.

Mexican Formula 1 driver Sergio Pérez celebrates his third place at his 2021 home Grand Prix. F1 returned to Mexico City in 2015. (Lars Baron / Getty Images)

“I think it’s a great thing for the sport,” said Martin Truex Jr., who won the first Xfinity race in Mexico City. “I remember the fans there, it was crazy. They were everywhere. And loud, I could hear them in the car when I won the race. I could hear the air horns and the music and whatever they were doing, and it was loud. It was crazy how many people were there.”

The addition of Mexico City to the 36-point race schedule is expected to come at the cost of losing one of the two dates for Richmond Raceway, according to a preliminary 2025 schedule that has been The athlete and confirmed by multiple industry sources.

Richmond has hosted two NASCAR Premier Series races annually since 1959 and was once considered a stronghold because the two races there regularly attracted sold-out crowds.

However, the Virginia short track has struggled to consistently deliver high-level racing in recent years, and attendance has not been as high as it once was. This decline has repeatedly led to speculation that NASCAR would reduce the frequency of its visits to the track.

“I kind of understand NASCAR’s decision because if the fans came here and we sold out every race, then there would be two races,” Denny Hamlin – a Chesterfield, Virginia, native who has won five times at his home track – said Aug. 10. “They’re going to do things that the fans want to be a part of.

“The crazy thing is that it’s always one of our top five markets that watches us on TV but doesn’t come to the race track. There are a lot of racing fans here, but in the past it’s always been a challenge to get to the race track.”

NASCAR’s signing of a deal with Mexico City opens the door for the sanctioning body to announce the full Cup schedule for 2025, an announcement that could come as early as this week, according to industry sources.

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(Top photo of Kyle Busch celebrating his victory in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series race in Mexico City: Jason Smith / Getty Images)