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NASCAR insider reveals major point of frustration for Mexico City fans during race weekend

Brian Jones Profile Picby: Brian Jones06/16/25brianjones_93
NASCAR Mexico City (3)
Chris Graythen/Getty Images

A NASCAR insider revealed the one thing that frustrated Mexico City fans during the race weekend. On The Teardown podcast, Jeff Gluck of The Athletic said the fans at Mexico City didn’t like the merchandise options.

“The one thing I will say that the Mexican fans were not happy about, and I totally agree with them was the merch,” Gluck said. “They thought the merch sucked. They’re like ‘We came, we don’t have merch here and we came with money to buy merch, and the merch options were so disappointing and so limited.’

“They’re like, ‘Man, NASCAR, we would have paid so much. We would have shelled out money. And we didn’t have the opportunity because the selection was so limited.’ They looked at the stuff, they’re like, ‘Ah.’ They wanted to buy their favorite driver stuff. Now, the merch haulers didn’t come down here. But the sort of generic merch they had and then just a few driver jerseys, they didn’t want that or it didn’t really appeal to them as much. That’s another thing NASCAR for next year, maybe bring some more merch.”

Will NASCAR return to Mexico City next year?

Travel issues could have prevented the haulers from making the trip to Mexico City as that was something drivers and other NASCAR members dealt with over the weekend. But despite the lack of merch, the fans seemed to be happy with the weekend at Mexico City.

“Today wasn’t just a race. It was a historic moment for our sport,” Ben Kennedy, NASCAR’s executive vice president, chief venue & racing innovation officer, told reporters after the race on Sunday. “The logistical planning wasn’t perfect. We learned a lot of things. One of the coolest parts about this weekend is seeing the reaction from the fans. … The energy and the passion of the fans here is unmatched.”

When asked if NASCAR would return to Mexico City, Kennedy said, “We’re very hopeful to be back here in the future.” This was the first NASCAR Cup Series international points race in the modern era. Shane van Gisbergen won the race and clinched a spot in the playoffs in his first year as a full-time driver in the Cup Series.