The NASCAR Cup Series held its first points-paying race at an international venue in Mexico City last year. It was seen as a major step towards expanding the stock car racing’s boundaries beyond the United States of America and attracting an overseas audience. But what are the roots of this belief that NASCAR has to go overseas to protect its future? Jeff Burton explained in a recent interview with Kenny Wallace.
The veteran driver thinks that the governance sees it as a way to grow the sport. While he admitted that he doesn’t know if it is the right thing to do, he is extremely enthusiastic about taking things to Canada. Stock car racing has extremely passionate fans in the region, and it could do wonders for NASCAR’s TV ratings and viewership to go north of the border.
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He added, “I just think it’s just the conversation about growing the sport, you know what I mean? How can we grow the sport? And those are decisions that you know Ben Kennedy, he’ll be heavy into those discussions about what is the right thing to do, if anything. And again, if you don’t ever do anything, you are going to fail.”
Staying stagnant is what will kill any sport. It needs to change according to the changing audience interest to keep itself relevant. Burton strongly believes the same. The question is not if change is needed, but rather, when and what change is needed. Despite the success of the event in Mexico City, NASCAR will not be returning there or to any other international venue in 2026.
Which international venue should NASCAR visit next?
The most likely and easiest international destination that NASCAR could go to is Montreal, Canada. It makes the most sense from a logistics standpoint as well. And just like Mexico City, the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve hosted the now O’Reilly Auto Parts Series in the late 2000s. So, it isn’t entirely new to the stock car racing world.
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The Autódromo José Carlos Pace in São Paulo, Brazil, is another touted destination. It is one of the most iconic tracks on the Formula 1 calendar and would work well for NASCAR as well. The high-speed curves and dramatic elevation changes would make for an interesting watch.
With the sport’s affair with Japan rekindled recently in the form of an exhibition run by 23XI Racing and Jimmie Johnson, it could be time to revisit yet another venue NASCAR was synonymous with in the past. With the governing body now finally listening to the fans, for example, with the recent format change, it is more than likely that Canada features on the nationwide series’ calendar in 2027.
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