The time has come for Cup Series drivers to take on a new road course as they head to Mexico City. According to oddsmakers, some familiar names will lead the way this weekend while battling for the win.
FanDuel Sportsbook, in particular, lists Shane van Gisbergen as the favorite to win at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. He enters the weekend at +340. This puts him ahead of Christopher Bell (+650), Kyle Larson (+850), Tyler Reddick (+900), and William Byron (+900).
These names are not a surprise considering the respective past success on road courses. SVG has three Supercars championships and dozens of wins on street and road courses. In NASCAR, he has a Cup Series win at Chicago, an Xfinity win at Chicago, an Xfinity win at Sonoma, and an Xfinity win at Portland.
Larson has six road course wins in Cup Series competition and two in Xfinity. Bell has three in Cup, including Circuit of the Americas this season, and one in Xfinity. Reddick has three Cup road course wins. William Byron has two Cup road course wins.
Two other proven road course winners are just behind this group. Chase Elliott enters the weekend at +1,100 with seven Cup road course wins. AJ Allmendinger enters the weekend at +1,400 with three Cup road course wins and 11 Xfinity road course wins.
Some of the drivers have limited experience at this Mexico City road course, albeit with an asterisk. Those who competed there in the past did so on a different configuration. They also controlled different cars. Denny Hamlin (+4,000) and Kyle Busch (+1,600) raced and won in Mexico City in old Xfinity Series cars.
Allmendinger raced at the road course while competing in CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams). He finished third and second in his two open-wheel starts at the 2.786-mile configuration of Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
"It's kind of crazy to think about it's been 20 years since I've raced in Mexico City," Allmendinger said in a release from Kaulig Racing. "The racetrack is beautiful, and the atmosphere is going to be absolutely insane. It'll be a packed house and the fans are always fantastic there.
"I'm looking forward to going out there and getting on the racetrack. Obviously, we know this is a good opportunity to have a really good result if we execute like I know we can. It's going to be a fun weekend."
Michael McDowell (+1,700) likely has the most unique racing experience at Mexico City among Cup Series competitors. He completed a doubleheader in 2005 in two different vehicles. He and co-driver Memo Gidley started on the pole and won an IMSA race while driving for Finlay Motorsports. One day later, McDowell finished 11th in the same CART race in which Allmendinger finished second.