NASCAR Busch Series back in Mexico
Throw the name Adrian Fernandez at the average American race fan, and the response might sound something like this: “Isn’t he that open wheel guy? From Mexico, right?”
In his home country of Mexico (he’s from Mexico City, in fact), Fernandez is a national hero. His name is being celebrated this week with the same fervor that Mexican fans have displayed the past two times NASCAR’s Busch Series visited the capital city.
Since its 200
5 debut south of the border - the first Busch race held outside the United States - the Telcel-Motorola 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course has evolved into an elite international event. At least on the stock-car level.
Fernandez, a successful CART driver turned IRL team owner, is only one of the many international road racers competing Sunday.
He joins fellow Mexicans Carlos Contreras, Jorge Goeters and Michel Jourdain Jr., Californians Scott Pruett and Boris Said, Canadian Ron Fellows, Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya and Tasmania’s Marcos Ambrose - the latter two having made the transition to NASCAR full-time.
And then there’s the usual contingent of NASCAR stars, the Busch Series regulars and a lot, not a little, of Nextel Cup experience scattered about.
Said has raced and won all over the world, in Asia, Europe and the U.S. The sport has brought the excitement of NASCAR racing to Mexico, and guys like Said get something in return.
Because the Busch Series has been so successful in Mexico, it’s expanding north of the border, too. In August, NASCAR’s second-tier division will run on Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - a picturesque course that hosts Champ Car and Formula One events each year.
If that doesn’t give you enough to go on, then we don’t know what will. Get all your NASCAR betting lines and NASCAR racing odds at the Bodog Sportsbook.
