NASCAR was forced to make sweeping schedule changes for its race weekend at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, after not one but two planes carrying team personnel were grounded Thursday in Charlotte, North Carolina. Mechanical issues prevented several NASCAR Cup Series and NASCAR Xfinity Series teams from making it to Mexico on time, setting off a rapid reshuffling of the Friday and Saturday schedule.
The delays affected practice and qualifying sessions across multiple series. While Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race remains locked for its original 3 p.m. ET start time on Amazon Prime Video, the rest of the weekend schedule required quick adjustments to accommodate missing personnel and disrupted logistics.
Friday Takes the Hit: Practice Canceled, Sessions Shifted
Friday’s schedule saw the most disruption as a result of the travel chaos. Originally slated for a standard day of preparation, the NASCAR Xfinity Series lost its entire Friday practice session. That time will be made up with a single 50-minute practice early Saturday morning. The NASCAR Cup Series was also impacted, but rather than cutting sessions, officials moved both practice slots later in the day. Cup teams will now practice at 4:05 p.m. ET and again at 5:30 p.m. ET on Friday.
Meanwhile, the NASCAR Mexico Series race originally scheduled for Friday afternoon was moved up to 1:30 p.m. ET, allowing the reshuffled Cup practices to take place in the evening.
The source of the disruption came from two separate aircraft issues. One chartered plane reportedly experienced a loud boom while attempting to take off, forcing it to abort and return. NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Ryan Ellis posted on social media, describing the aborted takeoff with the message: “plane made a small boom, we are headed back.”
Fellow NASCAR Xfinity Series driver Austin Green reported his plane suffered an engine failure while speeding down the runway, writing, “the engine blew up going down the runway to Mexico City.” Some teams scrambled to rebook commercial flights, with members of the Haas Factory Team rerouting through Atlanta, while Green himself rebooked out of Raleigh.
Saturday Realigns: Practice, Qualifying, and a Packed Schedule
With many teams only arriving late Friday or early Saturday, NASCAR officials took further steps to protect the competitive integrity of the weekend. Saturday morning now opens with a 50-minute NASCAR Xfinity Series practice session at 11:05 a.m. ET, followed by qualifying at 12:10 p.m. ET.
The NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session has been moved to 2:05 p.m. ET, giving teams slightly more preparation time after their rescheduled Friday practices. The NASCAR Xfinity Series race keeps its original time of 4:30 p.m. ET, while the NASCAR Mexico Series runs its second event of the weekend at 7 p.m. ET.
While the shifting schedule creates a tighter Saturday for all series, NASCAR made an effort to maintain track time for all competitors, despite the compressed preparation window.
Notably, while practice time was lost for the NASCAR Xfinity Series, NASCAR Cup Series teams retain their full practice allocation thanks to the late-Friday adjustment.
Sunday Stays Steady, But One Big Name Will Miss Out
Despite the turbulence earlier in the weekend, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race will proceed as planned. The green flag is scheduled for 3:23 p.m. ET on Amazon Prime Video, part of the new broadcast partnership that has placed several marquee races behind the streaming platform this season.
However, one major absence looms over the weekend. Denny Hamlin will not race in Mexico, choosing instead to remain home following the birth of his son. As a result, Denny Hamlin will require a playoff waiver to remain eligible for the NASCAR Cup Series Playoffs.
While team flights were affected, NASCAR’s transport operations managed to avoid further chaos. All 132 haulers and team vehicles successfully made the journey from Michigan International Speedway to Mexico City without issue—a major logistical feat for the sanctioning body and teams alike.
News in Brief: NASCAR Mexico Weekend Thrown Off Track
What began as a chaotic Thursday turned into a test of NASCAR’s adaptability. With two chartered aircraft grounded due to mechanical problems, the series acted quickly to overhaul the Mexico City weekend schedule. By delaying practices, shifting qualifying, and making selective schedule changes across three series, NASCAR kept the event viable without sacrificing competition or safety.
Though fans and teams alike faced a hectic few days, Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series race will go on as planned. And while a few practice laps may be lost, the bigger victory is that the race weekend remains intact—proof that even when the runway goes wrong, the race can still go right.
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