How NASCAR Is Quietly Executing a 2,100-Mile Road Trip From Michigan to Mexico City Without a Glitch

When you need to invade another country — sort of — you call in a U.S. Army logistics expert. Add a retired SWAT leader and former cop with nearly 30 years of experience in security, planning, and moving “troops” fast. That’s how NASCAR shifted hundreds from last Sunday’s Cup race at Michigan to this weekend’s inaugural event in Mexico City at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.

The plan has been in the works since February and has been constantly revised and retuned. The Army guy is NASCAR vice president of racing operations Tom Bryant, who served for 21 years including multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, along with retired Daytona Beach (Florida) Police Deputy Chief Steve Beres, who serves underneath Bryant as NASCAR’s managing director of racing operations.

Together, they have shepherded a very quick and efficient road trip that began at 7:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, immediately after the Michigan race, with a 2,100-mile drive to the heart of Mexico City for this Sunday’s race.

“We’re responsible for everything,” Bryant told NASCAR.com. “It’s people. It’s equipment. It’s all the logistics to support all that. It’s security. It’s a ton of contingency planning because, hey, we are going to be way far away from our home base here, right?

“We’re not at North Wilkesboro, where we can run back down to Charlotte and grab pieces and parts. That’s not possible. So every aspect of the event weekend has to be planned for, coordinated, resourced and ready to go.”

Bryant then went into a type of military-speak, further explaining how this week’s trip from Michigan to Mexico City and then to Charlotte — roughly 4,000 miles in total — will be done in military style, as well.

“My approach to this, from a racing-ops standpoint, is this is an operation,” Bryant said. “It’s not an event. It’s not a race. It’s an operation.

“I’ve used a lot of the elements of the military decision-making process and the military planning process to put all this stuff together. It works really well. It’s proven and I just had to change a few words and back off some acronyms.”

Many alternate plans are in place if needed

In a way, this “operation” should be called “Operation PACE.” “We use the PACE method of planning, meaning we have the Primary plan, an Alternate plan, a Contingency plan and an Emergency plan,” Bryant said. 

He added, “So we’ve got three backups to the primary plan for everything we’re doing. The reality is I believe that most of the things we’ve planned will go off roughly how we’ve planned them.

“But there are going to be unforeseen incidents and things that occur that are going to force us to adjust. But we try to think through all of what those things could possibly be well in advance and plan for how we’re going to react to that so when it comes time to execute, we’re just performing.”

Arguably the biggest part of the trip is when everyone crosses the border into Mexico. Heavily armed soldiers and Mexican federal police are providing escorts of more than 130 team haulers so that the convoy will not be interrupted by Mexican drug cartels or potential kidnappers. These guys are serious, for sure.

“It’s been a stressful project because of all the unknowns and just putting a little stuff together,” Beres said. “We have 137 trucks going across, 284 drivers, and having to keep track of almost 2,400 different documents has been a challenge.

“It’s really been something that I don’t think NASCAR has ever taken on, but it’s been fun, and it’s going to be really exciting to see the final product.

“Everything on-truck has to be documented in a manifest, and then it has to be documented both on a temporary form and a consumable form and a race-car form. Everything has to be separate. We can only bring in stuff that’s coming back out.

“In other words, a pit box — we list that on one section of the manifest, and it comes out on that same section. A consumable — if I have a Sharpie marker or roll of tape, that has to be listed separately on different documents.

“It’s a very tedious and a very time-consuming process. And then dealing with every single team with their questions, trying to figure out what they can and can’t take and just working on it day in and day out, sometimes till midnight, every single day.”

Security is paramount for both travel and what everyone brings to Mexico City

NASCAR has to make sure that all team members toe the line when it comes to safety and what they bring into Mexico. The last thing they want to have happen is what happened to Cup driver Kyle Busch in 2023. Upon landing at Cancun International Airport, Busch’s luggage was examined and a handgun was found. Busch claimed he had inadvertently forgotten to leave it before he left the U.S.

Mexican gun laws are extremely strict, and Busch faced three and a half years in prison and a $1,000 fine. After negotiations between both countries, Busch was given conditional punishment, that included him issuing an apology and stating he had been unaware of Mexico’s strict gun laws.

Numerous NASCAR team members have concealed carry licenses and carry a firearm with them while on the road (in states that have reciprocity with North Carolina). So if any of those team members come into Mexico with a weapon, even if unintentional like Busch, they could be in big trouble. That’s why Beres has instructed all team members to leave their guns at home to avoid risking arrest and possible prison time.

Cup teams began preparing for their long journey early Sunday morning, well before the green flag fell at Michigan International Speedway (and Xfinity teams left one day early from Michigan after their race last Saturday and began heading to Mexico).

Cars and equipment specifically for the Mexico race were swapped from reserve haulers to primary ones going to Mexico. So, when the race was over and everyone was loaded up, the green flag fell for them as well and they began their long journey, kicking off with a 24-hour drive from MIS to Laredo, Texas, on the border.

Remember, police officer in Spanish is oficial de policía

After several hours of rest in Laredo, the second phase from Laredo to Mexico City lasted for roughly another 24 hours until the truck convoy’s arrival at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City early Wednesday.

And if a truck unfortunately breaks down, there are even a couple of tow trucks that can tug the entire trailer all the way to Mexico City for repairs and to unload the hauler’s contents.

In addition to the actual driving and transporting of over 200 haulers in total — including both Cup and Xfinity haulers — teams will be heavily guarded from border to Mexico City and then back to the border by thousands of Mexican soldiers and federal police.

Once everyone arrives in Mexico City, they will be placed in a so-called “bubble”, where every member of the NASCAR traveling party, from crew members to drivers to PR reps to reporters, will be essentially locked down in one area and will, in most cases, be prevented from venturing outside of the bubble. But the bubble is big enough that it will allow NASCAR folks to have access to some sightseeing, NASCAR-favorite restaurants, well-protected parties and nightlife.

Other concerns have recently arisen

An added wrinkle to the trip materialized late last week when several cities — primarily Los Angeles — experienced riots by individuals protesting the arrests of immigrants and illegal aliens by federal law enforcement officers seeking those who are wanted on warrants or who are in the country illegally and have a prior criminal record in their countries of origin.

Mexican officials are preparing for possible demonstrations against the U.S. in Mexico City and the potential of interference with the convoys both in their return to the U.S., as well as along the way to Charlotte.

But even with all that concern, everyone in NASCAR hopes for an incident-free weekend, a great turnout by Mexican fans and the promise of an even greater event next year and in 2027.

“Knowing that we’re delivering NASCAR racing to this entirely new fan base in Mexico City and knowing that all the people back in the states who are fans are going to be watching this, that’s really cool,” Bryant said.

“It really is a historic event. And at some point — I think probably after we’re done and we get that last vehicle back across the border — I’ll be able to take a breath and say, ‘Wow, that was cool.’ ”