NASCAR executive explains the ‘very difficult’ part of going global that has driven the ‘focus on North America’

Ben Kennedy, NASCAR's Executive Vice President and Chief Venue and Racing Innovations officer, shared the reason why the sport finds it 'difficult' to travel overseas for races. Mr. Kennedy revealed that the huge inventory, travel, and logistics keep the sport focused only on North America.

NASCAR, the world's most popular and premium form of stock car racing, is solely based in the United States. However, for the first time in the modern era, the sport will travel to Mexico and host a point-paying race. The Viva Mexico 250 will take place at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, in Mexico City, Mexico.

This will be the first time since 1958 that NASCAR will travel abroad. However, it is difficult for the sport to move further away given the immense pressure of logistics and travel in a short period. Speaking about it, here's what Mr. Kennedy said:

"The amount of inventory that we carry through our Cup Series schedule makes it very difficult for us to travel from the United States overseas, pack our stuff up, and then be back the next weekend, seeing that we have 38 [races]”.

Following this, Mr. Kennedy revealed their target market.

"We want to focus on North America. We’ve had a few conversations in Mexico. We’ve also talked to folks north of the border as well at a few different locations and we’d still love to have an event up in Canada at some point." (Via Blackbook Motorsport)

Other popular racing series, such as Formula 1, travel around the globe and host races. They also face various logistical challenges, however, the number of races makes the difference between it and NASCAR.

While F1 has 24 races a year, NASCAR has 38. This gives the stock car racing competition a very short buffer time to travel across countries and continents.

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NASCAR made a big change ahead of Mexico City race

Ahead of the upcoming race weekend in Mexico, the sanctioning body made a big change to its Xfinity Series lineup. As per reports, the governing body allowed 40 cars to compete at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, instead of the usual 38.

An overview of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track hosting an F1 race on October 27, 2024 in Mexico City, Mexico - Source: Getty

This has come amid a move to push the sport's growth at the international level. Renowned journalist Matt Weaver shared the change on social media. He wrote:

NASCAR has added two extra starting positions to the Mexico City Xfinity race. Teams that make the field using these spots will not receive purse money, points, or win perks.

The Viva Mexico 250, the 100-lap, 241-mile Cup Series race, will take place on Sunday, June 15 at 3 PM ET, while the Chilango 150, the Xfinity Series race, will take place a day prior, at 4:30 PM ET.