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Elliott Earns Podium Finish in Mexico City

Chase Elliott NASCAR Mexico City 2025 Hendrick 9
  • Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team qualified 12th for Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City.
  • The 29-year-old drove to a ninth-place finish in stage one and followed that up with a 23rd-place finish in the second stage after short pitting.
  • After a caution in the final stage, Elliott powered from 12th to third to earn a podium result in the 100-lap race on the Mexico City road course.
  • Elliott improved to fourth in the Cup Series points standings, 104 markers behind leader and teammate William Byron.

Over the weekend, the NASCAR Cup Series made the trek to Mexico City for its inaugural race on the 2.42-mile road course of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Chase Elliott and the No. 9 LLumar team qualified 12th for the 100-lap race. It was sprinkling during pace laps on Sunday afternoon, but the field was still able to take the green flag. Before they could complete a lap, a heavier rain began to fall, bringing out the caution. Crew chief Alan Gustafson called Elliott in for rain tires and fuel. Upon exiting his stall, Elliott had to slow for calamity ahead of him, causing him to lose some positions. The 29-year-old driver restarted 17th and was up to 12th before a multi-car incident slowed the race on lap seven. He lined up 12th for the restart and advanced to ninth to end the first stage.

Chase Elliott NASCAR Mexico City 2025 Hendrick 9

With the rain subsiding during stage one, the LLumar crew made the call to switch back to slick tires during the stage break. Elliott started stage two in 25th on lap 24 due to some cars short pitting the first stage, but he made quick work of the cars ahead of him. He was up to 11th when a caution came out on lap 31. Staying out, he restarted 10th and was up to seventh before pitting under the green ahead of the end of the stage. He got back out on the track in 25th and advanced to a 23rd-place finish in stage two.

Staying out under the stage-ending caution, Elliott took the green flag for the final stage from the 17th position on lap 49. After dropping back to 21st, he found his rhythm and started advancing through the field. Elliott reached the top 15 by lap 34 and broke into the top 10 on lap 59. He powered his way to fifth before cars started making green-flag pit stops. The leader made his way to pit road on lap 64, putting Elliott in the fourth position. Before Elliott was able to make his scheduled green-flag stop, a stalled vehicle brought out the yellow flag on lap 66. Under the caution, Elliott brought his No. 9 LLumar Chevrolet to the attention of his crew for four fresh tires and fuel. He restarted 12th on lap 69 and methodically worked his way forward from there. He reached third on lap 91, where he remained to finish the 100-lap race.

Chase Elliott NASCAR Mexico City 2025 Hendrick 9

“The restart was [chaotic], for sure. And yeah, I felt like we were in a really good spot,” Elliott said after earning the podium finish. “I was super excited about having tires and getting ourselves to — we got in front of the No. 54 and I thought, to be honest, that was going to be the race for the win there initially. We got clear of the No. 1 and the No. 42, I think, and started settling in, and I didn’t have anything left. I was kind of cooked after that. I think we just pressed so hard to try to get through traffic that when it got singled out, I didn’t have a lot of pace left. I felt like I gained on him there for a little while, but it was pretty tough to get to that point. We pressed on.

“Really proud of our No. 9 LLumar Chevy group for sticking with it. We were kind of up and down all day and finally got going there a few runs from the end. Alan (Gustafson, crew chief) made us a good call to get us on tires. Finally had a restart go halfway decent and got a decent top-three finish out of it.”

With the podium result, Elliott advanced to fourth in the driver points standings, 104 markers behind the leader, teammate William Byron.

Start / Finish: 12 / 3
Points Standing / Total: 4th / 500 pts. (-104)

Next Race: Sunday, June 22, Pocono Raceway
How to Watch or Listen: 2:00 p.m. ET on Prime, MRN or SiriusXM

NAPA: @NAPARacing
Chase Elliott: @ChaseElliott
Hendrick Motorsports: @TeamHendrick
No. 9 Team: @Hendrick9Team

Hendrick Motorsports View All

Founded by Rick Hendrick in 1984, Hendrick Motorsports is the winningest team in NASCAR Cup Series history. At the sport’s premier level, the organization holds the all-time records in every major statistical category, including championships (14), points-paying race victories (312) and laps led (more than 82,000). It has earned at least one race win in a record 40 different seasons, including an active streak of 39 in a row (1986-2024). Headquartered in Concord, North Carolina, the team fields four full-time entries in the NASCAR Cup Series, including the No. 9 NAPA Auto Parts Chevrolet driven by 2020 champion Chase Elliott.

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