NASCAR likely headed back to Mexico City in 2009

By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor

Monday, April 21, 2008

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MEXICO CITY – NASCAR and local officials believe the fourth Nationwide Series trip to Mexico City has been successful and they’re looking forward to a fifth.

While negotiations will continue on a sanction agreement for 2009 with promoter/track operator OCESA, there are no red flags that would keep the Nationwide Series from coming to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next season.

“This is the fourth year here, and each trip we come down, logistically, it becomes easier,” NASCAR Vice President of Operations Steve O’Donnell said Friday at the track. “Our hope and goal is to put on another great race here. As we always do, we’ll meet with the group from OCESA within the next two weeks and begin discussions for ’09.

“The goal always long-term was to build stock-car racing in Mexico. … We anticipate coming back and we’ll discuss it with them like we always do.”

OCESA’s Federico Alaman said Sunday he also anticipates a return for 2009.

“We’re very happy,” said Alaman, the director of sports events for OCESA. “NASCAR is happy. We look to have ’09 here in the Nationwide again. … What we’ve seen is consistency in ticket sales and also the fans know a lot more about the sport. The word of mouth this is going to generate will build a solid fan base.”

The one potential issue that could keep the Nationwide Series from coming back is what would happen to the historic track if the Nationwide race is the only main event it plays host to each season. The track annually has had a Champ Car event, but with the demise of that series and unification with the Indy Racing League, that race for 2008 has been canceled and whether it fits in the IRL future is questionable. But Alaman said that while OCESA would like to have another international event, it will not be an issue and the track is used for various other activities with private events and practices.

NASCAR has looked at having a race at Monterrey, but Alaman said replacing Mexico City with Monterrey doesn’t fit into OCESA’s plans.

“We’ve looked at Monterrey, but when you look at where is the biggest audience, it is Mexico City,” O’Donnell said. “It’s a beautiful facility in Monterrey, but when you look at it, it’s kind of one-fourth the audience that you’re playing to.

“You never rule anything out, but I think in talking to OCESA originally, that’s why we ended up in Mexico City. They’d like to put it in
front of the most eyeballs. This is the biggest media market for them. They’ve put on successful events in Monterrey with Champ Car, but for us, we fell like this is the best area for us to look at.”

With 47 cars vying for 36 starting spots in the NASCAR Corona Series – NASCAR’s touring series in Mexico – O’Donnell and NASCAR international director Robbie Weiss say that shows the success of the event in strengthening the sport south of the border. Weiss said there are three new race tracks being opened this year and the first race of the 2008 Corona Series season sold out.

Weiss said that the first race of the season in the Corona Series was a sellout and had to turn away 5,000 fans.

The popularity of that season is in part to having the Nationwide Series event in Mexico City rather than somewhere else, Alaman said. OCESA is the promoter for the NASCAR Corona Series.

“The people relate the NASCAR international event with the NASCAR national events in Mexico and that makes sense for our [business] strategy of growth,” Alaman said.

Team owner Chip Ganassi said the event needs to continue.

“Anytime that you can put these brands in front of 25 million people, you’ve got to do it,” Ganassi said.

For NASCAR to truly grow in Mexico, there needs to be a Mexican driver, said national hero Adrian Fernandez, who has competed in the Nationwide Series event each year.

“The key to success of NASCAR in Mexico [is] not just when we have this race but when we have Mexican drivers running consistently in the Nationwide races and the Cup races,” Fernandez said. “It’s good to have this race in Mexico, but we need to [cement] the situation with some Mexican drivers that have talent. … Not having a permanent Mexican driver in NASCAR is a problem.”