Richmond Raceway will host just one Cup Series race weekend instead of its usual two during the 2025 season after NASCAR confirmed the introduction of Mexico City.

During the announcement, NASCAR executive Ben Kennedy revealed:

“We’re still committed to Richmond. It’s an important track, an important market certainly, as we think about where our NASCAR fans are today.

“We’ve seen some exciting story lines certainly coming out of that track over the past few years and excited to continue to be there next year, put on a great event for our fans, and put a lot of that energy and resources into that event.”

The inaugural NASCAR Cup Series race in Mexico is set for June 15, 2025, at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, a track with a rich history in motorsports.

Reflecting on the global vision for NASCAR, Kennedy added:

“This has been on our radar for a long time. We’ve been talking about the continued iteration of our schedule, right? You can go back a few years, went to new markets like Nashville and Austin, Texas.

“We went to the Coliseum for the Clash. … We went to our first street race in downtown Chicago, and this is going to be another first for us in a lot of ways. This is going to be certainly a monumental event for us, the first time we’re going south of the border.”

Kennedy added:

“It’s huge. When we talk as a leadership team about where we feel like our biggest growth opportunities as a sport is, international is always one of the first things that comes up.

“We brought the Craftsman Truck Series to Canada for a number of years, we’ve had the Xfinity Series in Mexico. This is a monumental moment for our sport in the sense that this is our first step of really taking the Cup Series internationally, and I think it could set us up for the future in potential new markets.

“I think we’ve been honest about our interest in taking our Cup Series abroad, whether that’s north of the border or south of the border, and then as we talk about some of our other races, there are opportunities for us to take the Cup Series even further than that.

“So, it’s going to be a big project for us. There’s a lot of questions that we have. I’m sure that the industry will have some questions as well, but excited to take this on, and to go to one of the biggest markets — not just in the country, but in the world — is going to be huge for our sport.”

NASCAR Cup Series: Current Standings

1. Tyler Reddick – 823 points
2. Kyle Larson – 806 points
3. Chase Elliott – 805 points
4. Ryan Blaney – 755 points
5. William Byron – 743 points
6. Christopher Bell – 737 points
7. Brad Keselowski – 718 points
8. Denny Hamlin – 712 points
9. Martin Truex Jr – 695 points
10. Ty Gibbs – 676 points
11. Chris Buescher – 658 points
12. Alex Bowman – 648 points
13. Bubba Wallace – 637 points
14. Ross Chastain – 631 points
15. Joey Logano – 586 points
16. Kyle Busch – 552 points
17. Daniel Suárez – 527 points
18. Chase Briscoe – 514 points
19. Austin Cindric – 486 points
20. Todd Gilliland – 480 points
21. Carson Hocevar – 467 points
22. Michael McDowell – 459 points
23. Josh Berry – 448 points
24. Noah Gragson – 426 points
25. Ricky Stenhouse Jr – 404 points
26. Erik Jones – 381 points
27. Ryan Preece – 368 points
28. Daniel Hemric – 365 points
29. Austin Dillon – 360 points
30. Justin Haley – 356 points
31. John H. Nemechek – 343 points
32. Corey LaJoie – 335 points
33. Zane Smith – 316 points
34. Harrison Burton – 306 points
35. Kaz Grala – 166 points
36. Cody Ware – 98 points
37. Joey Hand – 43 points
38. Jimmie Johnson – 39 points
39. Derek Kraus – 32 points
40. David Ragan – 17 points
41. Kamui Kobayashi – 8 points
42. Will Brown – 6 points
43. Cam Waters – 2 points

NEW MEXICO (KRQE) – The United States Supreme Court appointed a new judge in July to oversee the ongoing dispute between New Mexico, Texas, and Colorado over water use in the Rio Grande. Judge David Brooks Smith will be handling the case replacing Judge Michael J. Mellow as the special master. This is the third special master for the case.

Rio Rancho looking to straighten out civil and criminal penalties within city limits

The special master acts as a trial judge. Judge Smith will now decide on issues within the case and then prepare reports to inform the Supreme Court’s ultimate decision.

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For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to KRQE NEWS 13 – Breaking News, Albuquerque News, New Mexico News, Weather, and Videos.

New coach Brent Brennan is seeking his first win as Arizona Wildcats head coach when they host the New Mexico Lobos on Saturday.

The Wildcats are facing a Lobos team they used to be rivals with in the Western Athletic Conference nearly half a century ago.

The Lobos are coming off a deflating loss to FCS No. 4 Montana State, 35-31, this past Saturday. What made it worse was New Mexico should have won the game, as they blew a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter.

That loss should make New Mexico a little hungrier than the typical opening opponent, and it also means the Wildcats have to be on alert in a game where they should be heavily favored.

Here are three keys to success for Arizona as they face the Lobos on Saturday.

Arizona’s depth chart at running back was, well, interesting.

Four players were listed at the top with the dreaded “or” on the chart. That list included Jacory Croskey-Merritt, Quail Conley, Kedrick Reescano and Rayshon Luke.

The question is which of these backs — and it’s unlikely to be just one — can replace the production of Jonah Coleman, who transferred to Washington with former coach Jedd Fisch. Coleman rushed for 871 yards and five touchdowns a season ago.

In fact, none of the Wildcats’ top three backs from a season ago are back.

This is opportunity for these four runners to prove their credentials against a defense that allowed 362 net rushing yards last week. With that opportunity is a chance to establish the run against an opponent the Wildcats should beat and start to sort out the running back rotation.

New Mexico didn’t have a great offensive game against Montana State last week, and the run defense left a lot to be desired. But one thing the Lobos did do well was create turnovers.

Against the Bobcats, New Mexico forced two fumbles and returned them for touchdowns. It helped the Lobos build a 17-point lead going into the fourth quarter, though New Mexico wasn’t able to hold onto the lead.

But, if Arizona gives up a turnover or two early in this one, all that does is give New Mexico hope they can win the game.

Protecting the ball allows the Wildcats to avoid that issue.

The Lobos rushed for 152 yards on 28 carries last week, averaging 5.4 yards per carry. But New Mexico only scored once on the ground.

Arizona’s easiest path to win this game is to stop the run the way it did a season ago.

The Wildcats gave up an average of 118.2 yards per game, which was No. 25 in the country. This early in the season, relying on a hard-nosed game plan that limits the run is an easy way to lengthen the game for their offense.