The Viva Mexico 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez was a seemingly successful race for NASCAR. The race was the first time NASCAR went to race outside of the United States for the first time since 1998. But despite the buzz created around the event, NASCAR legend Richard ‘The King’ Petty doesn’t think we would return to Mexico next year.
The NASCAR Mexico race was heavily marketed by the sport and the country’s home hero, Daniel Suarez. The race organizers flooded the city with billboards and banners leading up to the weekend.
Richard ‘The King’ Petty Doesn’t Think NASCAR Will Return to Mexico
A couple of days after the Viva Mexico 250, the Petty Family Racing YouTube channel released its latest podcast episode featuring “The King,” Richard Petty, himself. While he spoke extensively about the race and many other topics, he did have a concerning message for Mexican NASCAR fans.
“From the standpoint of going and trying to elevate NASCAR, they wanted to do something like this to say, ‘Okay, now we’re an international uh company.’ But you know basically, uh, from that standpoint, you know I don’t know if we’ll ever go back down there. You know what I mean? I don’t know what kind of deal they had,” Petty said.
When the deal with Mexico City was announced, NASCAR said the partnership would be a multi-year agreement. However, in a sport like NASCAR, anything can change. But, does it apply to contracts?
There was a lot beatin’ and bashin’ in Mexico. Get The King’s reaction to the race and answers to fan questions in the latest Petty Race Recap, only on the Petty Family Racing YouTube channel.
LINK: https://t.co/M1EG3Clf4K pic.twitter.com/V9XMqvoGLq
— Richard Petty (@therichardpetty) June 17, 2025
Although the Viva Mexico 250 was a success this year, many hurdles led into the weekend. Many teams and drivers faced logistical issues attempting to reach the circuit. Flights were cancelled, postponed, and even faced technical problems, forcing them to be grounded.
Another logistical hurdle was the monumental distance travelled by the NASCAR team haulers. After the race in Michigan, the haulers travelled a combined distance of 293,452 miles. While the haulers completed the trip, it was still a long trip amid a hectic schedule.
Given these hurdles, NASCAR could decide not to race again next year. This is why Petty doubts that the event will be repeated in 2026. However, NASCAR’s executive Vice President looks pretty confident about the situation.
NASCAR Official Gives Insight on Mexico City’s NASCAR Future
After the seemingly successful race in Mexico, NASCAR Executive Vice President Ben Kennedy went public to speak on the event’s success.
Here’s what he said about its future: “We’re very hopeful to be here long term. As we’re going through the planning of putting together the pieces of the 2026 schedule, there are a lot of dominoes that need to fall, and every domino affects another domino as we start to stitch a schedule together. Our hope is for this to be a mainstay on the NASCAR Cup Series schedule.”
“The challenge is we don’t have many off weeks,” Kennedy said. “We do have some options, and we are looking at those options. We just want to huddle internally.”
It was a great weekend in Mexico City. Thank you to the industry, our partners at OCESA, and our fans for your support. We’ve had many innovations over the past few years and proud of the sport for delivering the 1st international points event in over 65 years. ¡Gracias México!… pic.twitter.com/kXP8vdBGXN
— Ben Kennedy (@BenKennedy33) June 16, 2025
As NASCAR draws up the 2026 calendar, NASCAR acknowledges the hurdle. Given the sport’s tight schedule, finding a break before and after the Viva Mexico 250 will be challenging.
It will be interesting to see if and where NASCAR places Mexico City on the calendar for the 2026 season. Will we go outside the country for NASCAR Cup Racing again next year? Post your thoughts in the comments section below.
