Rubén García Jr. ends his year-long winless streak with a return to Victory Lane in the 2026 NASCAR Mexico opener at Potosino.
Four-time NASCAR Mexico champion Rubén García Jr. returns to the top in the 2026 Mexico season opener at Super Óvalo Potosino.
García Jr. led the most laps and held off Rodrigo Rejón in the final restart to win the Potosino 200, which was shortened to 174 laps due to hitting the 2 hour time limit.
This marked García Jr.’s first win in close to a year, having last won in the previous edition of the Potosino 200.
“When you’re a driver in this category, you reach this level, and you race for Team GP, you’re expected to win every year,” said García Jr. on his return to Victory Lane.
“That winless streak made us take a hard look at ourselves, and I’m very proud of everyone on our team.”
“We worked very hard in the preseason, and there were some moments in this race where we fell behind, but we simply reset, and every time we had the opportunity to overtake, we took it,” he said.
ARCA part-timer Eloy Sebastián Falcón completed the overall podium positions. Fellow ARCA graduate Max Gutiérrez just missed out on the top-3, but he sits second in the standings behind Team GP teammate García Jr. after he gained bonus points for winning the halfway break stage.
Rubén Rovelo completed the top-5 positions ahead of reigning champion Alex de Alba, who made more pits than his rivals to try to take advantage of an alternate strategy.
Rodrigo’s brother Julio Rejón started his weekend on pole position, but his performance came crashing down in lap 4 due to a rear-left puncture that damaged his No. 55 GGG Racing Team Chevrolet.
Xavi Razo took advantage of Julio’s issues, but he also had his hopes dashed due to engine issues in his Motorcraft sponsored No. 7 Tame Racing Ford.
Among the top class contenders, Abraham Calderón and José Luis Ramírez also retired due to issues in their Escuderia Telmex and Ramirez Racing machines.
In the second tier Challenge division, Víctor Barrales Jr. grabbed the victory after he held off rookie sensation Mateo Girón in the final restart.
Barrales Jr. ran quietly towards the back in the initial parts of the race, but his No. 39 Anvi Motorsport Camaro came alive towards the end.
“It was definitely a very complicated race, especially towards the end, where traffic was a major factor,” Baralles Jr. said. “It’s a great way to start the season with a win, and I want to thank the team for giving me an excellent car and for all the work done throughout the weekend.”
Girón had his work cut out at Potosino, as he was forced to wheel his No. 05 Grupo Andrade up through the field three times.
Girón first had to make a recovery drive when his Alessandros Racing team chose to pit him late in the second caution, sending him to the rear of the field. He then got spun twice, but both times he kept his head cool and charged his way through the pack.
NASCAR Drive for Diversity graduate Regina Sirvent completed the podium with Santos Zanella Jr. taking home the Challenge Stage win after he ran a zero stop strategy in the first half of the race.
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