NASCAR: NASCAR takes a little detour to Mexico this weekend

When Robert Yates Racing decided to enter its Busch car, Elliott Sadler drew the short stick, getting the nod when veteran and former Cup champion Dale Jarrett turned down the opportunity.

"Oh well, there goes the off weekend," Sadler said.

Joining Sadler for the 80-lap Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 at the 2.518-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course will be fellow Cup stars Rusty Wallace, Kevin Harvick, Jamie McMurray, Carl Edwards, Robby Gordon and NASCAR road-racing ace Boris Said. Not to mention NASCAR's top Busch Series drivers, like champion Martin Truex Jr. and veterans like Jason Keller, Kenny Wallace and David Green.

They will be joined by several Mexican drivers, including open-wheel star Adrian Fernandez, who is driving a Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet, and former CART star Michel Jourdain, who has a full-time Busch Series ride this year with ppc Racing.

Like Sadler, none of the American drivers know what to expect. They don't know much about the race track and they don't know much about the city of almost 20 million.


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Kevin Harvick




Rusty Wallace




Robby Gordon




Thats not Jimmy Johnson, thats Mexican driver and former CART star Adrian Fernandez.

I wonder how many people will show up for the race. I heard there was an IRL race there a couple years back, and 400,000 showed up.

Originally posted by Gibbs Baby!!!
I wonder how many people will show up for the race. I heard there was an IRL race there a couple years back, and 400,000 showed up.

Mexican promotion company Ocesa and local sponsors are gambling that Mexicans will show the same enthusiasm for stock cars that they have for the Champ Car series, which drew more than 400,000 to its three-day race weekend here in 2003.

Ocesa's race event director, Federico Alaman, said 45,000 tickets already had been sold by Thursday and predicted that 80,000 will watch the race.

"We really think that there is a lot of fan base out there," he said," noting that more than 20 million people live in the greater Mexico City area. "I think this is going to be like the starting of a totally new racing world in Mexico."

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NASCAR trying to expand the horizons even more.

I guess its something they don't get to see every day and there could be huge numbers show up. It's not so much the fan base its a day out and as i said something they dont really get to see live...

Baseball did the same type of thing with the Expos in Puerto Rico and the fans really came out to see those games.

It was the same when the European soccer teams came to the states the last two years, the stadiums were heaving..

I think it would be the same if a US Baseball, NFL or Basketball team came over here. Especially the Basketball as that has quite a huge following over here...

One of the big fears many had about coming to Mexico City for a Busch Series race was getting so many transporters across the border and safely to the track.

Many worried the haulers would be stopped by criminals, and some thought the drivers were in danger of kidnapping.

And at the least, hauler drivers would have myriad problems getting across the U.S.-Mexican border, perhaps getting held up for hours upon end.

But, alas, the truth was something less exciting. The Busch Series haulers all made it to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and for the most part, all made it intact.

Only three haulers had any problems from the U.S.-Mexican border to Mexico City, but all three still made it safely to the track.

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NASCAR's first surprise-filled journey south of the border finished a lot like those back home, with regulars Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards at the front of the pack.

Truex used a planned early pit stop -- and took advantage of a lucky yellow flag that shut the door on two pursuers -- to hang onto the lead over the final 28 laps of the first points-paying NASCAR race outside the United States in a half century.

Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick finished just over six seconds back, second in a third consecutive Busch Series race after slipping past Carl Edwards on the 78th lap of the 80-lap Telcel-Motorola 200.

Adrian Fernandez and Boris Said, running in the top five, were caught in the approach to pit road and were penalized for pitting too quickly after the caution period started. They started at the back of pack, dashing their chances to win.

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