On June 15, 2025, NASCAR makes history as the Cup Series holds the Viva México 250 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City—the first points-paying Cup race outside the United States since 1958. With the Michigan Speedway acting as the stepping stone to the mega event, the anticipation and hype around it is already ramping up. However, before the drivers can acclimatize to the high altitude and tackle the sharp turns on June 15th, there’s a big hurdle they need to overcome, and that is logistics.
NASCAR’s vice president of racing operations, Tom Bryant, an Army Ranger turned logistics specialist, has been overseeing a yearlong planning effort to move the Cup haulers more than 1,700 miles from Michigan International Speedway (MIS) to Mexico City in fewer than 72 hours. Typically, haulers roll straight from one event to the next, but for the June 8 race at MIS and the June 15 Viva México 250, teams must finish on Sunday, cross the U.S.-Mexico border at Laredo, TX, on Tuesday. And then be ready to unload at Hermanos Rodríguez by Thursday afternoon. That compressed schedule leaves almost no room for error, especially when border inspections, customs manifests, and weather can derail plans.
The logistical nightmare starts with the Xfinity Series garage, which is going to leave North Carolina on Saturday and then reach Laredo, Texas by Sunday morning. But, with the Cup Series expected to race on Sunday at Michigan International Speedway, they are going to be under a time crunch. It takes about a 40-hour drive from Michigan to Mexico City, so if there is a weather delay, it can severely affect the entire timeline of the Cup cars reaching Mexico.
On the June 4 episode of NASCAR’s “Hauler Talk,” Tom Bryant laid out the minute-by-minute plan that must succeed to keep the Mexico City event on track: “Sunday night in Michigan, the Cup Series teams will swap out their race cars that morning before the garage opens. They’ll go ahead and get their Mexico cars in, take them off the secondary hauler and load them into the main hauler that is going to Mexico… But then, after the green flag, those drivers will immediately begin getting that hauler ready to pull out, as soon as the race is over .”
Bryant explained that NASCAR enlisted Rock-It Cargo, an international logistics company that oversaw Taylor Swift’s recent Eras Tour concert in Mexico City. They have the experience of handling up to 200 haulers at a time. They have worked with Formula 1 and are going to lead the operations for next year’s World Cup event. However, timing is of the essence here, and Bryant explained that they cannot afford any slip-ups.
New episode of Hauler Talk has dropped, with special guest Tom Bryant (#NASCAR VP of Racing Ops), who details the logistical hurdles that need to be cleared in order to race in Mexico City. pic.twitter.com/kD7Yjnrxzl
— NASCAR Communications (@NASCAR_Comms) June 4, 2025
“Also, we’re really praying for really good weather in Michigan. That’s critical for us, and I kinda say it half-jokingly, but there’s just not a lot of extra time… Literally every hour from Sunday morning until about noon Tuesday is planned, and there are events tied to it, and by gosh, it better happen on time.” That quote encapsulates the pressure: there’s no cushion if Monday’s crossing stalls or Tuesday’s customs inspections run long. Weather is another wild card; a June thunderstorm in Laredo could strand trucks just miles from the border. The Cup haulers have to reach Mexico City by Thursday, any delay would impact the on-track activities lined up for the weekend.
On the flip side, hometown hero Daniel Suarez is feeling the jitters of the contract talks ahead of his homecoming weekend.
Suarez is feeling the nerves ahead of the big race in Mexico
The Trackhouse Racing driver knows how to block the outside noise whenever there are speculations and rumors about his future with the team. He has a streak of signing one-year deals after that win in Sonoma back in 2022, and then another deal ahead of the 2023 Daytona 500, and his current contract came after last year’s win at Atlanta. This time around, the feeling is different, and now that he is going to race in front of his friends and family in his backyard, the weight on his shoulders seems heavier than ever before.
The driver clearly stated that this contract situation is a distraction for him, but he is accustomed to being in such scenarios before. “It’s definitely a distraction, but I’m trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and to just do my thing on the track. And already the Mexico race is something that I’ve been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I’m not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself.”
Ranked 28th in the standings with two top 10s and a top 5 result, Suarez is optimistic about turning the corner for good in Mexico. Why wouldn’t he be? Very few of his current competitors have the experience of racing at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. “We have to do the little things right, and I believe that we are capable of doing that. We just have to continue to move forward. We win next week, and all these conversations are going to be out the window. A few weeks ago, Ross in a post-race interview, he was b——- about the cars and everything that we need to do better. Then he wins a race, and everything is amazing now. So winning fixes everything.”
A win would not just secure Daniel Suarez’s spot in the playoffs, but also extend his stay with the #99 Chevy team. And being a local hero, he is among the favorites to win the Cup race on June 15th.
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