The NASCAR schedule for next season hasn’t been announced yet, but the sport will not be returning to Mexico City in 2026. While driver Denny Hamlin wasn’t at the race that weekend, he is quite supportive and understanding of NASCAR’s decision not to return to Mexico.

On Monday’s episode of Actions Detrimental, Hamlin responded to the news last week that there won’t be a NASCAR race in Mexico next season. He immediately highlighted that NASCAR’s decision was likely money-driven rather than a direct response to the issues teams had with the logistics of racing in Mexico.

“No tacos for me, bummer. Usually this stuff all comes down to money, let’s be honest. Maybe someone’s bid isn’t what it needed to be or they didn’t sell as many tickets and so the return from that wasn’t enough. It’s always money…It (attendane) certainly sounded like it wasn’t what they expected…Decisions are always made by money and more than likely this is a money thing.”

Denny Hamlin on the NASCAR Mexico City race being ditched for 2026

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  • Denny Hamlin stats: 719 points, 4 wins, 12 top 10s, 11 top 5s, 1 pole, 3 DNFs, 555 laps led, 14.955 average starting position, 13.045 average finishing position

Hamlin missed the Mexico City race due to the birth of his son, so he didn’t get first-hand experience. While some drivers and media members liked quite a few elements of the trip to Mexico City, others had many issues with the venue.

The driver of the No. 11 car for Joe Gibbs Racing and co-owner of 23XI Racing also shed light on the logistical issues the NASCAR race in Mexico City had. Beyond how difficult it was for the truck drivers and crew to get there, repairing cars was much harder than usual. Furthermore, the trip also took a toll on many around the garage with illnesses that lasted into the following week.

“I can tell you from the team standpoint, we are like wiping our forehead. Mexico was very, very challenging logistically. Very, very tough on our race teams to repair cars a week to 10 days in advance. Just a tremendous task. Not only the task of that, but the task it had on everyone’s stomach when they got back home. There were a lot of sick people, lots. I know of five to six that were in really, really bad shape.”

Denny Hamlin on the logistical issues and stomach problems teams had with the Mexico City race

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The issues Hamlin mentioned aren’t the only reasons NASCAR won’t return there next season. As Jeff Gluck of The Athletic shared on Sunday night’s episode of The Teardown, Mexico is a co-host of the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Because of that, there were added scheduling complications for both parties.

Ultimately, NASCAR decided to take Mexico City off the docket for next season, and it’s effectively being replaced by a race at Naval Base Coronado. However, there have already been indications that the NASCAR race on San Diego’s naval base next season might be a one-time thing.

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NFL, MLB & college football writer for Sportsnaut. Graduated from San Diego State University with BA in Journalism, 2019. … More about Matt Johnson