“What a week. I’ve really enjoyed myself here, but felt like rubbish this morning.” Shane Van Gisbergen’s words immediately after the Viva Mexico 250 race sum up his gigantic troubles. They began in Charlotte, North Carolina where two chartered planes meant to carry Trackhouse Racing into Mexico City encountered mechanical issues. However, the ensuing health issue cast a darker cloud over the logistical problems.
For most of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season, SVG has dodged the spotlight. Poor finishes, multiple DNFs, and faulty pit calls marred his races. However, his fate tipped in the right side this weekend, but not before giving SVG a nightmare.
Shane Van Gisbergen was on the edge of disaster
Well, this disaster was not like the usual wrecks that NASCAR drivers face. After his team faced logistical problems that led to the series rescheduling its events, Shane Van Gisbergen’s body failed. The sickness descended on Saturday afternoon and evening, due to which he had to miss out on several pre-race events. During the first stage of the Mexico City race, he felt queasy on the 15-turn, 2.42-mile Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. But soon after medication kicked in, SVG revived his god-level road course racing skills. Just as he had conquered NASCAR’s inaugural Chicago Street Race, the Kiwi speedster dominated 60 of 100 laps in the Cup Series’ debut Mexico race and broke his winless streak.
But the nightmarish symptoms that he had to tackle with, left a mark after the race. Shane Van Gisbergen reflected on how his preparation for the Mexico event fell through. He said, “I don’t know, I mean, I tried to treat it like when I go to Asia. Drink a bottle of water, be careful when you shower, and brush your teeth with bottled water. Yesterday, after qualifying, it went really downhill. Couldn’t keep anything in, everything just went straight through me. I missed a lot of stuff pre-race, which is a shame, so I apologize to people for missing that.” Even after the disastrous conditions, what mattered was the will to persevere.
Shane van Gisbergen isn’t sure how he got sick in Mexico despite the precautions he took. Dealt with stomach pressure early in the race before feeling better.
SVG said afterwards he felt well enough to celebrate with Red Bulls + adult beverages. And yes, his firesuit’s clean. pic.twitter.com/nTj1A7sB3G
— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) June 16, 2025
Half of Shane Van Gisbergen’s No. 88 Chevy crew did not arrive until Saturday. He texted his friend and 4-time F1 champion Max Verstappen for tips to tackle the track. In the end, it all fell together, as SVG said: “They gave me a couple of whatever it was, and it took a while in the race for me to feel better. I felt really queasy, you know, my mind was clear, but my body had so much pressure in my stomach. But yeah, crazy weekend. Everyone dug deep, banded together. There were engineers arriving yesterday right before qualifying and the night before mechanics — it was a skeleton crew really on Friday. Credit to everyone who banded together and came up with a plan. And it ended up amazing.”
Besides SVG’s resounding victory, Trackhouse Racing had more reasons to celebrate. Another driver oozed gold at the Mexico City track.
Gleaning the positive aspects
As aforementioned, Trackhouse Racing ran into several logistical issues for the Mexico race. But the team hit the jackpot this weekend. Two of its drivers swept both Xfinity and Cup races. Daniel Suarez, the poster boy for NASCAR’s visit to Mexico, picked up the first victory for the Chilangoland 150 race. Just like his teammate, he defied tremendous odds to win the Xfinity race. From damaging his car in qualifying to starting from the back of the grid with a backup car, Suarez dealt with a lot. He pushed back rivals like Austin Hill, Taylor Gray, and Connor Zilisch to win in the end. During the Cup Series race, though, Suarez ran out of luck as he fell from a 10th-place starting spot to 19th.
Despite this change in fate, Daniel Suarez was proud of the weekend anyway. He said post-race, “I feel like today, I gave my best, but it just wasn’t good enough. I wish I was in the mix a little more fighting up front, but it just wasn’t in the cards today. I’m happy with the performance. I don’t feel like I left anything on the table, just wasn’t meant to be. It couldn’t have been any better. I’ve been here since Tuesday just working, doing promotion for sponsors, for the race itself, for fans. Every single thing that we did exceeded my expectations. The fans were amazing. Yesterday you could hear them for their passions. It is an experience I for sure won’t forget for a very, very long time.”
Clearly, the reasons for celebrations are big in the Trackhouse Racing fold. With Shane Van Gisbergen and his teammate sweeping the Mexico weekend, the sky is the limit for the team.
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