PREVIEW: An all-star cast of road course specialists set to do battle in Mexico City
by Brock Beard / LASTCAR.info Editor-in-Chief
IMAGE: Kris Wright, @KrisOnNASCAR
Saturday, June 14, 2025 (Green Flag 4:41 P.M. ET, CW)
XFINITY Race 15 of 33
The Chilango 150 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
2008 Last-Place Finisher: Kertus Davis
ENTRY LIST
There are 39 drivers entered for 38 spots, but all will qualify due to NASCAR permitting provisional spots for international competition.
PAINT SCHEME: #5-Our Motorsports
One of the most eye-catching paint schemes set for this weekend will be that driven by Kris Wright, a black and gold-trimmed #5 Chevrolet honoring Mario Andretti’s iconic John Player Special he drove for Lotus in the 1970s.
DRIVER CHANGE: #9-JR Motorsports
Appropriately, Daniel Suarez is the only driver scheduled for a triple-header this weekend in Mexico City, competing in both the NASCAR Mexico Series, the Cup Series, and this XFINITY Series event. He takes the wheel of JR Motorsports’ part-time #9 entry which last time out in Nashville finished 5th in the hands of his Trackhouse teammate Ross Chastain. This will be Suarez’ first XFINITY start since last summer at Chicago, where he took 27th for DGM Racing.
DRIVER CHANGE: #14-SS-Green Light Racing
Road course expert Josh Bilicki carries sponsorship from Seguros El Rey on Bobby Dotter’s car this week, marking his ninth series start, his first since a 28th in Texas, and his first of this year not driving for Mario Gosselin. Bilicki takes the place of Logan Bearden, who finished 23rd in Nashville.
MISSING: #17-Hendrick Motorsports
The Hendrick team has not entered their XFINITY car this week following Corey Day’s 11th-place showing last time out in Nashville.
DRIVER CHANGE: #19-Joe Gibbs Racing
Fresh off his first top-five finish in the last six Cup races, Ty Gibbs will pull double-duty this weekend for Joe Gibbs Racing. This week, he drives the “all-star” #19 entry in place of 6th-place Nashville finisher Aric Almirola. When the XFINITY Series last raced in Mexico City in 2008, Gibbs was just five years old.
DRIVER CHANGE: #24-Sam Hunt Racing
Also pulling double-duty is Gibbs’ JGR teammate Christopher Bell, who takes the place of 19th-place Nashville finisher Jeffrey Earnhardt in Sam Hunt’s part-time #24 entry. Bell, whose primary sponsor for both races is Mobil 1, will make only his second XFINITY start of the year and his first since Darlington, where he won the pole and finished 25th.
DRIVER CHANGE: #32-Jordan Anderson Racing
Austin Green looks to turn around a frustrating series of runs on the ovals in his return to the road courses, taking the place of Nashville DNQ Katherin Legge, who will instead run Sunday’s Cup race (see below). After finishing no worse than 15th in his first five series starts on the road courses, Green has finished no better than 26th in his six starts since, including three DNFs.
DRIVER CHANGE: #35-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
As of this writing, the Joey Gase team is currently re-wrapping a plain white car for Ruben Rovelo, who will run double-duty with this weekend’s NASCAR Mexico Series event. With 175 career starts in the Mexico Series, Rovelo has 26 wins dating back to 2008 and claimed his first series championship in 2020. After the preliminary entry list had no driver listed for this car, Rovelo will drive in place of Glen Reen, the other Nashville DNQ, in what will be his series debut.
DRIVER CHANGE: #45-Alpha Prime Racing
Another rising star of “squiggly season” is Brad Perez, who rejoins sponsor Sendero Provisions Company on Alpha Prime’s #45 Chevrolet. This will mark Perez’ fourth series start of the year and first since Charlotte, where mechanical gremlins and a flat tire left him 35th of 38 starters. This week, he takes the place of Mason Massey, who finished 24th in Nashville.
DRIVER CHANGE: #53-Joey Gase Motorsports with Scott Osteen
Welcome back to Sage Karam, whose only XFINITY start this year was at COTA, where he finished 34th in this same second Joey Gase entry due to transmission trouble. Karam looks for a better run with NFPA as sponsor, taking the place of 28th-place Nashville finisher Mason Maggio. This will be the 33rd series start for Karam.
DRIVER CHANGE: #91-DGM Racing x JIM
With the Truck Series off this week, Andrew Perez de Lara will make his series debut in his hometown, following 15 career starts so far in the trucks, most recently his second top-ten finish of the year with a 9th in Michigan. Perez de Lara takes the place of 22nd-place Nashville finisher Myatt Snider in the #91, which this week carries longtime national sponsor Telcel.
DRIVER CHANGE: #07-SS-Green Light Racing
Completing an impressive lineup of road course specialists this week is Alex Labbe, always a threat to break into the Top 10 when the XFINITY Series turns left and right. Taking the place of 27th-place Nashville finisher Nick Leitz in the flagship #07 entry for Bobby Dotter, Labbe will make only his third series start of the year, the first since power steering issues stopped him short of halfway at Bristol. Prior to that, he ran 14th in the most recent road course race at COTA.
CUP INVADERS: #9-Daniel Suarez, #19-Ty Gibbs, #24-Christopher Bell
Sunday, June 15, 2025 (Green Flag 3:23 P.M. ET, PRIME)
CUP Race 16 of 36
Viva Mexico 250 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Inaugural Event
ENTRY LIST
There are 37 drivers entered for 40 spots, so all will qualify.
DRIVER CHANGE: #11-Joe Gibbs Racing
Congratulations to the Hamlin family on the birth of their third child and first son. As rumored for much of the week, Hamlin will stay with his family this weekend and return to action next week in Pocono. This brings to the driver’s seat Ryan Truex, JGR’s standby driver, who has maintained a part-time presence in the XFINITY Series, but hasn’t even attempted a Cup Series race since 2019, when he failed to qualify Tommy Baldwin’s car into the Daytona 500. The younger Truex has just 26 Cup starts on his resume, his last start coming September 14, 2014 at Chicagoland, where he finished next-to-last after brake trouble.
TEAM UPDATE: #48-Hendrick Motorsports
As of this writing, Alex Bowman has confirmed he will race this Sunday despite back pain suffered in his brutal head-on crash at Michigan last Sunday. Regardless, the Hendrick team has tabbed XFINITY Series regular Anthony Alfredo to stand by as relief driver.
RETURNING: #78-Live Fast Motorsports
The lone “open” team making the trip is Katherine Legge, who joins the 36 drivers and teams that made the long drive south from Michigan after the conclusion of track activities last Sunday. The Live Fast team hasn’t entered a race since Talladega, where overheating trouble put B.J. McLeod behind the wall in the middle stages. Legge, who struggled in her Cup debut at Phoenix earlier this year, has since competed in another four XFINITY Series races, gaining valuable experience despite two DNQs and no finishes better than 32nd. The road course should play into Legge’s strengths as a longtime sports car competitor who has raced on similar tracks across the United States.
Friday, June 20, 2025
TRUCKS Race 14 of 25
MillerTech Battery 200 at Pocono
2024 Last-Place Finisher: Spencer Boyd
The Truck Series returns next week in Pocono.
TODAY IN LASTCAR HISTORY (June 13, 2009): Stanton Barrett picked up the 3rd last-place finish of his NASCAR XFINITY Series career in the Meijer300 Presented by Ritz at Kentucky Speedway when his #79 Circle K Thirst Buster Chevrolet lost the engine after 1 lap.
