Shane Van Gisbergen Powers to Win in Mexico City; 2nd Career Cup Win

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He may have been 33rd in the NASCAR Cup Series point standings heading into Sunday's Viva Mexico 250 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, but Shane van Gisbergen showed exactly why Trackhouse Racing entrusted him to go full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing as he scored an emphatic victory over Christopher Bell.

RACE RESULTS: Viva Mexico 250 at Mexico City

Not even a bout of sickness on raceday morning could stop van Gisbergen from stomping the field.

"What a week. I've really enjoyed myself here. I felt pretty rubbish today, leaking out both holes," van Gisbergen quipped. "That wasn't fun. Thank you to SafetyCulture, Trackhouse, Chevy, and ECR engines. Our car was amazing. I think the 54 was close, but that last stint, man, what a pleasure just ripping lap after lap and watching them get smaller in the mirror. Unreal."

Just like that, van Gisbergen went from an afterthought in the NASCAR Cup Series Playoff picture to completely upending the Playoff Grid in a matter of just over three hours. That's the beauty of the "win and you're in" Playoff format for drivers who have had rough seasons, as van Gisbergen had been experiencing prior to Sunday's race.

The driver of the No. 88 Safety Culture Chevrolet led a race-high 60 laps in the inaugural NASCAR Cup Series event in Mexico City, and would go on to win Stage 2 as Ty Gibbs chose to come to pit road while the two were engaged in a duel for the race lead with three laps left in the second Stage of the race.

While Gibbs looked like he was going to be a thorn in the side of the New Zealander all race long, Van Gisbergen would separate himself on a green flag pit sequence in the race's final Stage, which would be interrupted by a spin by Carson Hocevar on Lap 65, which would bring out the final caution of the race.

Van Gisbergen had already made his final pit stop, while Gibbs had not. As a result, van Gisbergen would vault into the race lead on the following restart, while Gibbs would be mired back in 11th after he was forced to pit road under the Lap 65 caution.

Over the final 32 laps of the race, Van Gisbergen would not relent, and he cruised to a win by a massive margin of 16.567 seconds over Christopher Bell. After the dominant performance in the race's final Stage, van Gisbergen explained that the No. 88 car he drove on Sunday afternoon was undoubtedly one of the best cars he's ever had the pleasure to drive.

The car was so good, crew chief Stephen Doran was trying to tell his driver to slow down over the closing laps, a request the driver respectfully declined.

"It's certainly up there. I've been privileged to have some great ones in my time," van Gisbergen said of his race car. "But when I go slow, I just lose concentration, so I was trying to stay in a rhythm and a routine, and Josh and Stephen are doing such a great job keeping me calm and focused, and man, that was epic.

Bell, who rallied from the 31st starting spot to secure the runner-up finish, felt like he had a great car in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series race and Sunday's NASCAR Cup Series race, but he was never able to look like anything better than the third best driver. He feels he needs to personally improve behind the wheel in the upcoming road course events.

"Both days, in the Xfinity car, I was the third-place car, and today I felt like I was the third-place car. I think more than anything, it was just me," Bell explained. "I need to do a little more homework and figure out where I can be better to keep up with these guys."

Bell continued, "The Joe Gibbs Racing Group brought an amazing Mobil 1 Camry, and I can't really say that it was my car that was lacking. It was on me this weekend."

Chase Elliott got around Alex Bowman, his Hendrick Motorsports teammate, in the closing laps, and in doing so finished the race in the third position. Bowman would hold on to finish fourth.

Michael McDowell scored the second-most points of any driver in the field (45 points) as he recorded a fifth-place finish, which marked the first top-five finish of the season for the driver of the No. 71 Spire Motorsports Chevrolet.

John Hunter Nemechek, Chase Briscoe, Cole Custer, William Byron, and Chris Buescher rounded out the top-10 finishers.

Gibbs never could work his way through the field over the final 32 laps, and would finish 11th.

Daniel Suarez, who scored an emotional last-to-first win in front of his home country crowd in Saturday's NASCAR Xfinity Series event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, would finish 19th in Sunday's race behind the wheel of the No. 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevrolet.

Ryan Truex, who was racing in place of Denny Hamlin in the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, suffered several incidents through an eventful race. However, he was able to battle back to a respectible 23rd-place finish.

Hamlin did not travel to Mexico City with his team following the birth of his third child on Wednesday. NASCAR granted a Playoff Waiver to Hamlin prior to the start of the race weekend.

Ricky Stenhouse Jr. would confront Carson Hocevar on pit road after Stenhouse was on the receiving end of another on-track incident with Hocevar late in Sunday's race. Hocevar, who was a lap down at the time, got into the stadium portion of the 2.42-mile road course too hot, and got into the back of Stenhouse.

Stenhouse, who finished 27th, threatened to beat up Hocevar once they returned to the states.

"I'm going to beat your ass. You're a lapped car, you have nothing to do. Why'd you run right into me for the second time," Stenhouse shouted into Hocevar's window on pit road after the race.

As Hocevar attempted to offer up an explanation, he was cut off by Stenhouse.

"I don't give a damn, I will beat your ass," an enraged Stenhouse exclaimed. "I will when we get back to the States."

This is what Ricky Stenhouse Jr. told Carson Hocevar after the race from Hocevar's onboard.

Hocevar tried to explain that he locked his brakes up but Stenhouse wasn't having it. pic.twitter.com/TlpHyQL42n

— Steven Taranto (@STaranto92) June 15, 2025

Stenhouse would finish 27th after being spun by Hocevar in the final Stage. Stenhouse now sits 21st in the NASCAR Cup Series championship standings and is one point behind Hocevar.

Kyle Busch finished dead last (37th) in Sunday's race after an incident in Turn 1 on Lap 7 of the 100-lap event. After switching to wet-weather tires as rain began to fall on the race track, Busch miscalculated how fast he could drive into Turn 1 and went spinning. As Busch spun into Turn 1, he collided with Justin Haley, AJ Allmendinger, Kyle Larson, and Chase Briscoe.

We have trouble!

Multiple cars are involved! pic.twitter.com/ETMmptWak2

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) June 15, 2025

Busch would retire from the race after suffering his damage, and Larson would finish 42 laps off the pace in 36th.

With the 36th-place finish, Larson lost more ground to William Byron in the race for the NASCAR Cup Series regular season championship battle. Byron, who finished ninth, now holds a 67-point lead over Larson heading into next weekend's event at Pocono Raceway.

Next up for the NASCAR Cup Series is The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway, which is scheduled for Sunday, June 22. That race is the final race of the season that will be streamed on Prime Video. Prime Video's coverage will kick off at 2:00 PM ET next Sunday.