Nick Sanchez Scores New Ride for 2026
What’s Happening? Nick Sanchez will drive AM Racing’s No. 25 car in 2026, filling one of the final open seats in…
For the first time since 2008, the NASCAR Xfinity Series heads south of the border to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City for the 15th race of their 2025 season. This marks the second road race of the 2025 season, meaning that all eyes were on pole sitter Connor Zilisch. Zilisch is undisputedly the best road race in the Xfinity Series and he was looking to get his second win of the season. He got it done at COTA. He was looking to repeat south of the border.
Another key storyline to watch today was Daniel Suarez. Suarez doesn’t race the Xfinity Series very often, but he felt the need to dip down as he returns to his home country to take on the legendary course. He was certainly the hometown hero of sorts–a very popular driver amongst fans in the stands. Meanwhile, some of the drivers who aren’t the strongest road racers, like Justin Allgaier and Brandon Jones, were just hoping for a quiet, uneventful day. So, let’s get to it. Here are three key takeaways from the Xfinity Series race in Mexico City!
Undeniably, the class of the field today were Connor Zilisch and Ty Gibbs. Gibbs dominated the first stage while Zilisch took the lead and never looked back to start the second. They had the best two cars, hands down. However, a chaotic restart to begin the final stage saw Zilisch around and Gibbs with heavy damage. Mexican-born Daniel Saurez inherited the lead. But their race wasn’t over. Angry, Zilisch and Gibbs started plowing through the field. He was able to make his way back up to 8th with 7 laps to go. Then, the 2 car of Jesse Love spun, triggering an ill-timed caution for that 9 crew.
The race restarted and Suarez got another great restart. However, he was unable to shake Taylor Gray. At the end of the day, though Gray’s car was a little too loose and Daniel Suarez was a little too good! The driver of the number 9 JRM Chevrolet held off the 54 of Taylor Gray to win in his home country! He started the race last but ended it in first!
2025 has been a tough year for the driver of the 99 Trackhouse Racing Chevy, Daniel Suarez. He did manage a runner-up finish at Las Vegas and a pair of top 10s at Talladega and Texas, respectively. But other than those brief flashes, Daniel Suarez has consistently run in the middle of the pack. Going into tomorrow’s Cup Series race, he’s sitting 28th in points. Needless to say, on the Cup side of things, he’s in a must-win situation to make the Playoffs. To make things even more stressful, he only signed a one-year deal with Trackhouse and that deal is up at the end of this year. With Connor Zilisch waiting in the wings, Suarez needs to start performing in order to keep his ride. He even admitted that the contract negotiations have been a distraction for him this year.
With all of that in mind, the races in Mexico City were certainly circled on his calendar. In fact, he was so looking forward to this weekend that he struck a deal with JR Motorsports so that he could perform double duty, driving their number 9 entry in today’s Xfinity Series race. And despite having to start today’s race in the back, Suarez had a lot of confidence heading into the weekend. And why wouldn’t he? It’s his home track. The fanbase is behind him. He’s beaming with pride. And that number 9 car has been fast in the past for his Trackhouse teammate, Ross Chastain. Things were looking up.
At the drop of the green flag, Suarez started to carve his way through the field. By the time he decided to short pit in an attempt to flip the stage, he had worked his way up to the 16th position. Pitting, he had some issues. Dean Thompson got into his pit stall at an angle, blocking Suarez on exit. Suarez needed to back up in order to get around the number 26 of Thompson. He finished the first stage in 30th. But to restart the race, he was back up to 7th to begin the second stage.
After a fantastic restart, Daniel Suarez launched himself from 7th all the way around Ty Gibbs and into the 3rd position. The crowd went crazy! In position to contend, Suarez set his sights on Christopher Bell and leader, Connor Zilisch.
Daniel Suarez found himself in the top 5 on the restart to start the final stage. Another great restart put Suarez in position to battle three-wide heading into the first turn. He got to the inside of Ty Gibbs. On the other side of the 19 car was Connor Zilisch, who wheel hopped the corner. Out of control, Zilisch spun in front of the field, taking out his JRM teammates Sammy Smith and Carson Kvapil. Ty Gibbs didn’t escape either, having made contact with several cars as a part of a chain reaction. The caution came out and Daniel Suarez was through to the lead in Mexico City!
Despite having a few road course victories, the defending Xfinity Series Champion is rarely in contention to win these kinds of races. Still, he qualified in the top 10 and was running 7th when things went awry. Justin Allgaier brought his number 7 Brandt Chevy down pit road, claiming that he had lost first and second gears. In the pits, his team checked his transmission and discovered that the left rear axle was broken. After the diagnosis, the JRM team took the car into the garage for repairs. He returned to the track to run the final two stages. He was in 38th and running 15 laps down.
This disappointing outing comes just two weeks after Allgaier dominated and won the Xfinity Series race at Nashville. All in all, this has been a great season for the defending champions of the sport. So far, the number 7 team has 3 wins and 10 top 5s over 14 races run. He’s also leading the points, 92 to the good over Austin Hill. So, in the grand scheme of things, this was a minor hiccup as Allgaier sets out to make like his boss and become a back-to-back Champion of the Xfinity Series.
From the drop of the green flag, it was a dog fight out front between Ty Gibbs and Connor Zilisch. Going into the first corner, Zilisch briefly cleared Gibbs. But then Gibbs came back and punted the 88 out of the way. Zilisch fell back to fourth before working his way back up to second and breathing down Gibbs’ neck. Gibbs led the rest of the stage with the 88 nipping at his heels. That was until green flag pit stops.
Rejoining the track to end the first stage, Connor Zilisch clipped the nose of the 19 of Gibbs, retaking the lead. After the race restarted, Zilisch cycled back to the lead with Gibbs right behind him. They ran the stage out, choosing to shot pit again. The dog fight continued.
It was a slobber knocker of a drag race off pit road between Gibbs and Zilisch. Door-to-door, the two dominating cars hashed it out for the race lead. Zilisch ultimately prevailed and cycled back to the lead to start the final stage.
Chaos erupted out front as Connor Zilisch clipped the corner. He spun around, collecting many cars in the process. Ty Gibbs, meanwhile, battled hometown hero, Daniel Suarez for the race lead. Suarez cleared Gibbs and Carson Kvapil and he got together. The 19 car received significant damage in a massive crash. Seemingly, their day was over. But was it really?
How about that, race fans! Daniel Suarez did it! He started last and ended the race in first, capturing his 4th Xfinity Series race, in his home country. The crowd was awesome, Suarez was beaming with pride, and it was just an all-around feel-good story. What did you think of that race, Daily Downforce readers? Do you think he can sweep the weekend? Who are your favorites for tomorrow’s Cup race? Let us know what you’re thinking! And be sure to tune back in here at DailyDownforce.com tomorrow at 3 for our coverage of the Cup race in Mexico City!
Three races into the season, the new Chase format has already intensified the competition for a foothold in the NASCAR standings. As a system that rewards both race winners and those who maintain consistent results, it keeps the postseason race open for a wide range of contenders, while cycling out those drivers who can’t get their wheels under them during the season.
In the NASCAR Cup Series, Tyler Reddick has established himself as the early points leader with a dominant lead. After securing three consecutive victories, he enters Phoenix Raceway as the clear favorite to make the Chase, while the rest of the field looks to break his momentum.
However, the start of the season has been difficult for several drivers. Despite their previous accomplishments, these competitors are currently struggling to maintain their standing in the early stages of the race to the Chase.
Christopher Bell
Last season, Christopher Bell kicked off his campaign with a dominant stretch of three wins stretching from Atlanta to Phoenix, propelling him into a clear spot for the postseason.
The early stages of his 2026 campaign, however, have made it difficult for him to secure even top-five or top-ten finishes. Bell currently sits 24th in the standings with 59 points. The speed has been there, yet in-race incidents have dug him into a points hole.
At Daytona International Speedway, Bell ran inside the top ten with fewer than ten laps remaining before the race turned on its head. Contact from behind sent his car into trouble, leaving him to limp away with a 35th-place finish, far from where he had been running.
The following race at EchoPark Speedway brought more of the same. During an overtime restart, Bell lined up on the front row when contact from Carson Hocevar pushed the No. 20 Toyota into the outside wall, turning what looked like a chance at a trip to victory lane into another lost afternoon, ending his day 21st.
Bell finally managed to stop the downward slide at COTA. When a late caution flew, he took a gamble on fresh tires and charged from 16th to third, climbing through the field with solid pace. The run placed Bell on the proverbial podium and brought home 34 points, pushing him up by seven positions in the points standings table.
Connor Zilisch
Connor Zilisch showed speed and talent this past weekend at COTA. Starting 25th, he climbed through the pack and crossed the line in 14th despite a day marred by incidents with other drivers. At one point, he even climbed from the back 30s to fourth before trouble struck again.
While numbers do not tell the whole story, for now, results from the opening racing of the season have left Zilisch with ground to make up. Zilisch collected five points at Daytona, nine at Atlanta, and 23 at COTA. The tally has left him with 37 points, placing him in 32nd in the standings, among the bottom group in the standings.
Zilisch closed last season at Phoenix (albeit in the O’Reilly Series) with a third-place finish, hinting that the one-mile oval in the deserts of Arizona, this weekend, could offer him a chance to improve his ranking.
Chase Briscoe
Chase Briscoe entered 2026 after his best Cup season so far in his young career. His first season with Joe Gibbs Racing ended with a third-place finish in the standings. However, the early stretch of the 2026 season has delivered mixed returns.
Briscoe finished runner-up at Atlanta, but the other two races have slipped through his fingers after looking strong. Briscoe came home in 36th in the Daytona 500, and after starting from third at COTA, he had high expectations.
But his weekend came undone on Lap 63 of the 95-lap race when the No. 19 Toyota lost its transaxle. Briscoe said the car shifted into neutral before smoke began to rise, leaving him with a 37th-place result.
The run was his second DNF in the first three races of the 2026 season. As a result, Briscoe slid from 15th to 27th in the standings with 46 points, trailing Reddick by 140 as the series heads further west.
Beyond the Cup Series, who is facing early points trouble in NASCAR’s lower National Series?
Harrison Burton
Harrison Burton moved to Sam Hunt Racing’s No. 24 and Toyota for the 2026 season. Through the first three races, Burton has recorded two DNFs. He currently sits 34th in the standings with 18 points, a significant decline from the two top-10 finishes he held at this point last year while driving for AM Racing.
Nick Sanchez
Nick Sanchez joined AM Racing this season after closing last year with an 11th-place finish in the standings after scoring his first win in the series at Atlanta. He hoped to ride that momentum into the new season. The start, though, has come with swings in fortune.
Sanchez bagged a third-place finish at Atlanta. But a DNF at Daytona and a 25th-place run at COTA have slowed his climb. After three races, Sanchez finds himself 19th in the standings with 53 points.
What’s Happening? Nick Sanchez will drive AM Racing’s No. 25 car in 2026, filling one of the final open seats in…
Jeremy Clements
Jeremy Clements has long cut out a role as a driver who can surprise race fans and steal a ticket into the NASCAR postseason, though, without the win-and-in format, the driver/owner will have to work much harder to do so in 2026.
Last season, Clements closed the year in 21st place in the standings and began this campaign by scoring a top-10 finish at Daytona. Since then, however, a 32nd-place finish at Daytona, a DNF at Atlanta Motor Speedway, and another P32 result at Circuit of the Americas have left him in P30 with 25 points, placing him well below the cut line.
Grant Enfinger
Grant Enfinger entered the 2026 season after a run in 2024 that carried him to the Championship Four. And last year, despite not reaching victory lane, he sat seventh in the standings by the end of the season.
At this point last year, Enfinger had already placed inside the top five at Daytona International Speedway and at Las Vegas. This year, three races into 2026, Enfinger has finished outside the top 20 in each race and currently stands 23rd in the standings with 41 points.
Daniel Hemric
Daniel Hemric is 19th in the standings with 46 points. After starting the season with a 26th-place finish at Daytona and a 34th-place finish at Atlanta, Hemric secured his first top-10 finish of the year at St. Petersburg. He continues to seek his second career series win following his victory at Martinsville last year.
Mini Tyrrell
Mini Tyrrell arrived in the Truck Series as a rookie after closing last season in the CARS Late Model Stock Car Tour with a fifth-place finish and three wins.
Driving the No. 14 Ram for Kaulig Racing, Tyrrell opened the 2026 season with results of 19th at Daytona and Atlanta. His run at St. Petersburg, however, ended with a 28th finish, which dropped him to 20th in the standings with just 45 points.
What’s Happening? One major storyline to follow during the 2025 and 2026 NASCAR seasons is the ongoing saga of Dodge and…
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Alex Bowman will not compete in Sunday’s Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway after being diagnosed with vertigo earlier this week. The Hendrick Motorsports driver stepped out of the car during the race at Circuit of the Americas due to illness, and after further medical evaluation, the team decided he should sit out this weekend. In his place, reserve driver Anthony Alfredo will drive the No. 48.
The situation also opens the door for a substitute appearance by Alfredo while the No. 48 team focuses on owner points and waits for Bowman to be medically cleared. Beyond the immediate lineup change, the update has sparked broader discussion about Bowman’s early-season struggles and how quickly he might return to the car.
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Alex Bowman will miss this weekend’s NASCAR Cup Series race at Phoenix Raceway. Hendrick Motorsports confirmed the news after Bowman was diagnosed with vertigo following medical evaluations earlier in the week. With Bowman sidelined, Anthony Alfredo will step in to drive the No. 48 car as the team prepares for Sunday’s event.
The video breaks down the latest update from Hendrick Motorsports, what it means for the No. 48 team this weekend, and how the situation could shape the early part of the season.
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