NASCAR Cup Series: Shane Van Gisbergen dominates in inaugural Mexico race

Gabriel Tsui
Jun 16
3 min read

Written by Gabriel Tsui

Credits: Sean Gardner, Getty Images via NASCAR

The race kicked off with Shane Van Gisbergen leading the field to green, but the race was immediately under caution for rainy conditions. All cars except Chris Buescher and Austin Cindric came into the pits to swap into all weather tires, and both cars struggled mightily as expected on the restart.

Ty Gibbs cleared the two slick tyres drivers for the lead, while Van Gisbergen, Ryan Preece, and Ross Chastain battled behind Gibbs for second place. Van Gisbergen cleared Chastain for second and a caution flew soon after as Kyle Busch locked up and crashed with Justin Haley and Kyle Larson, while Zane Smith, Chase Briscoe and AJ Allmendinger was also affected.

Gibbs led on the restart but Van Gisbergen stayed tight with the No.54, and completed the overtake in turn 4. Van Gisbergen pulled away in the lead as most lead-lap drivers come into the pits for slicks, the No.88 followed the popular option and went into the pits as well, handing Ryan Preece the stage win.

Stage One Results:

Ryan Preece, No.60
Ryan Blaney, No.12
Ross Chastain, No.1
Michael McDowell, No.71
Todd Gilliland, No.34
Erik Jones, No.43
Carson Hocevar, No.77
Bubba Wallace, No.23
Chase Elliott, No.9
Daniel Suárez, No.99

Michael McDowell led the way on the restart but gave away the lead to hometown hero Daniel Suarez for the lead. However, the No.99 was on the wet tires and lost the lead to Gibbs and Van Gisbergen heading into the stadium. Cindric, who pitted halfway through stage one made his way past Suarez for the third place a lap later.

3 laps into the stage, the cars on wets decided it was time to take off and pits for dry tires. A caution was flown on lap 32 for a spinning Ryan Truex as the No.11 narrowly avoided the No.71, as most drivers on wets jumped on the opportunity to pit.

Gibbs led the way on the restart as Van Gisbergen attempted another move for the lead, but Gibbs held on and shut the door to hold onto the lead. As the track dried off, Van Gisbergen continued to close down on Gibbs, but the No.54 pitted with two to go as the No.88 went on to take his first stage win of the season.

Stage Two Results:

Shane Van Gisbergen, No.88
Christopher Bell, No.20
Alex Bowman, No.48
Ryan Blaney, No.23
Michael McDowell, No.71
Austin Dillon, No.3
Chris Buescher, No.17
Riley Herbst, No.35
Carson Hocevar, No.77
Daniel Suárez, No.99

Van Gisbergen stayed out and led the way with Christopher Bell alongside him in the early parts of the final stage, while Gibbs slowly moved his way up to fourth place, only seven seconds behind the leader. Leading up to lap 60, both Van Gisbergen and Bell made their pit stop as Gibbs returned to the lead.

Immediately after, however, Carson Hocevar spun on the exit of the final turn and brought another caution. Most lead lap drivers pit as William Byron takes the lead while Van Gisbergen trails in fourth place, with tyres two laps older than Gibbs.

On the restart, Bell leads the way with Van Gisbergen alongside him. The No.88 made easy work of the No.20 and moved into the lead. A long green flag run followed with a few minor collisions, including Austin Dillon being spun around by none other than Joey Logano, a debt repaid from 2024 Richmond.

Van Gisbergen pulled away in the long green flag run as Alex Bowman and Bell battled for second place, while Gibbs was held in ninth place behind Chastain and Buescher.

The No.88 cruised to victory with a 17-second-margin to second place Bell, as he became the first driver since Marvin Potter in 1960 to get their first two wins at inaugural races.

Final results