It was SVG’s time to shine south of the border.
Shane van Gisbergen overcame travel issues, illness, and a tough road course to win the Viva Mexico 250 in the NASCAR Cup Series’ first-ever visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on Sunday (June 15). Van Gisbergen dominated the field, leading 60 of 100 laps and taking the checkered flag by 16.567 seconds, the largest margin of victory since 2009.
With the unknowns of racing at Mexico City and a brief visit from Mother Nature, there were no shortage of pit road plot twists, especially towards the end.
Late Caution Breaks Up Final Pit Cycle
Coming into the final stage, it was guaranteed that every driver needed to pit one last time to make it to the end of the race. At 55 laps, the length of the final stage ran longer than the projected fuel window of 37-41 laps.
On lap 60, the pit window to get to the checkered flag opened up, and it was Christopher Bell who came to the service of his crew first on that same lap. He was followed closely by Alex Bowman on lap 61 and van Gisbergen on lap 62, among several others.
A couple of laps later, the green flag pit cycle was interrupted when Carson Hocevar spun out in the middle of the stadium section of the course, bringing out the race’s sixth and final caution on lap 64.
For those pitted before, it was an opportunity to stay out under caution and leap frog others back to the front. For those who waited, it was a fatal blow to their chances at the win.
The final restart came with 32 laps to go as van Gisbergen took the lead and pulled far away as the race went green to the end.
Of the top 10 finishers, seven of them made their final pit stop before the final yellow flag came unfurled. The lone exceptions were Chase Elliott in third (more on his day later), Michael McDowell in fifth and William Byron in ninth.
That brings us to the unquestioned biggest loser of the broken pit cycle, and that would be Ty Gibbs. Outside of SVG’s No. 88 Chevrolet, Gibbs’ No. 54 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota was arguably the best car in the field all afternoon, leading 27 of 100 laps.
Gibbs found himself out front after van Gisbergen pitted, with a chance to potentially leap to the top with a good pit stop. But that all came undone with Hocevar’s spin as Gibbs ultimately settled for 11th.
Pit Road Miscues
For the most part, the pit road police were on vacation in Mexico, with no speeding penalties and only two notable pit road violations.
- Chase Briscoe earned the free pass under the third caution of the day to mark the end of stage one. Briscoe lost that privilege when he pitted twice for fuel under that caution, which he was not allowed to do as the free pass. It all worked out in the end for Briscoe, as he got (and kept) the free pass under the next caution and then wound up on the right side of the final pit cycle to pilot the No. 19 JGR Toyota to a seventh-place finish.
- After winning stage one, it appeared as though Ryan Preece was heading for a good finish. That all came undone during his final pit stop when the No. 60 crew had too many men over the wall. Preece went to the rear for the final restart, though he did semi-recover for 15th.
Pit Crew of the Race: No. 9 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet
Other than Kyle Larson getting wiped out in the early lap six wreck, Hendrick Motorsports had a banner day in La Ciudad de Mexico, placing its other three cars in the top 10.
It was Elliott who led the charge, taking the checkered flag in third to make the podium. Starting the race in 12th, Elliott got a big boost from his pit crew, pitting under the last caution and coming off second behind Gibbs, gaining several spots.
This put Elliott in 11th for the final restart, and from there, he flashed the talent that at one point made him king of the road courses in the Cup Series, racking up seven road course wins from 2018 to 2021.
“I felt like we were in a really good spot,” Elliott said. “I was super excited about having tires and getting ourselves in front of the [No.] 54. To be honest, I thought that was going to be the race for the win there initially. I think we just pressed so hard to try to get through traffic that when it got single file, I just didn’t have a lot of pace left.”
A lot has been made about how Elliott seems to be a few steps behind teammates Larson and Byron when it comes to speed. Perhaps this podium performance will make a turning point in the 2025 campaign for the Cup Series’ reigning most popular driver.
Look Ahead to Next Week
The NASCAR Cup Series returns stateside next Sunday, June 22 for the running of the The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM at Pocono Raceway. Coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET, and it will be the last of five races this season on Amazon Prime Video.
The Tricky Triangle tends to be one of those tracks where fuel mileage is a factor as teams can sometimes pit for strategy without going a lap down at the 2.5-mile track. Could we see another nail-biting fuel mileage finish like Matt Kenseth’s victory there in 2015?
Andrew Stoddard joined Frontstretch in May of 2022 as an iRacing contributor. He is a graduate of Hampden-Sydney College, the University of Richmond, and VCU. He works as an athletic communications specialist at Eastern Mennonite University in Harrisonburg, Va.