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You’ll Never Guess Who Made His Cup Debut the Last Time NASCAR Held an International Points-Paying Race

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Kyle Dalton | Last updated Jun 15, 2025 3:00 PM ET

NASCAR is an American sport — born and bred. While it started in the south, the sport has spread out across the country, including races up north in New Hampshire and Michigan all the way out west to California — and plenty of spots in between.

On Sunday in Mexico City, the Cup Series will be racing on the famed road course at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. It’s an historic event in the sport’s history because it’s the first international points-paying race since 1958 when Cup drivers raced in Toronto.

That race was significant for two reasons: 1) it was outside of the US borders and 2) it was the Cup debut of none other than Richard Petty.

That’s right. The King wasn’t even considered a prince at the time.

In that first race in Canada, he started seventh and finished 17th out of 19 cars with a crash ending his day early and only allowing him to complete 55 of the scheduled 100 laps.

Petty went on and raced eight more times in 1958, his best finish a ninth place at Myrtle Beach.

It was the following year that the-then 21-year-old driver showed promise. In 21 races, he recorded six top fives and nine top 10s. The following season he finally broke through and won his first race at Charlotte. He went on to win a couple more times that season.

Over the course of the next 32 seasons, Petty added an unbelievable 197 more wins in his career, including banner years in 1967 and 1971 when he won 27 and 21 races, respectively. All of it resulted in seven championships and the well-deserved title as The King.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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