NASCAR won’t take any points races in its three national series outside North America in the near future, NASCAR COO Ben Kennedy says.
“Just logistically speaking, it’s much simpler for us to either go north of the (United States) border or south of the border and back, given that we don’t have many off weeks in this schedule,” Kennedy said while discussing the 2027 schedules for NASCAR’s Cup, O’Reilly Auto Parts, and Craftsman Truck series.
Kennedy said the Clash date offers more flexibility since it’s an exhibition event and normally occurs one to two weeks before the Daytona 500.
“I think that’s an opportunity if we ever wanted to go overseas or to other locations, like Brazil or Europe,” Kennedy says. “It remains to be seen where we’ll go in the future, but I think for now, we’ll probably be focusing on North America.”
NASCAR held an exhibition race at the Calder Park Thunderdome in Melbourne, Australia, in February 1988. Neil Bonnett won that race. Then, each November 1996-1998 after the Cup season’s conclusion, NASCAR held exhibition Cup races in Japan. The first two years were at the Suzuka Circuit with the third at the newly constructed Twin Ring Motegi oval. Rusty Wallace won the inaugural Japan race, while Mike Skinner visited victory lane in the next two events.
Yukio Yoshimi/ AFLO//Getty Images
Group portrait for the Thunder Special 100 at the Suzuka Circuit in Suzuka City, Japan in 1996.
NASCAR has hired former Ultimate Fighting Championship executive Adam Layton to be its senior vice president of international efforts. It already sanctions regional series in Europe, Canada, Mexico, and Brazil.
The NASCAR Canada Series was formerly known as the NASCAR Pinty’s Series. Between May and September, the series races on road courses and ovals in more than five Canadian provinces. It is televised in Canada on REV TV and TSN, and broadcast in French and English. United States residents can watch the races on the REV TV YouTube channel.
Daniel Suarez, who has secured a position in this year’s NASCAR Cup Series Chase, competed in the NASCAR Mexico Series before moving to the United States. It’s schedule consists of a dozen races annually in Mexico’s largest markets, including Mexico City, Monterrey, and Chihuahua.
The NASCAR Euro Series races at prominent historic circuits in the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium. It schedules at least 12 races annually.
NASCAR launched its Brasil Series in March 2023. This series usually includes two days of racing across eight weekends.
A North Carolina native, Deb Williams is an award-winning motorsports journalist who is in her fourth decade covering auto racing. In addition to covering the sport for United Press International, she has written motorsports articles for several newspapers, magazines and websites including espnW.com, USA Today, and The Charlotte Observer. Her awards include the American Motorsports Media Award of Excellence, two-time National Motorsports Press Association writer of the year, and two-time recipient of the Russ Catlin award. She also has won an award in the North Carolina Press Association’s sports feature category. During her career, Deb has been managing editor of GT Motorsports magazine and was with Winston Cup Scene and NASCAR Winston Cup Scene for 18 years, serving as the publication’s editor for 10 years. In 2024 she was inducted into the NMPA Hall of Fame.