Telcel-Motorola 200
Encyclopedia : T : TE : TEL : Telcel-Motorola 200
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| Venue | Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez |
| Corporate sponsor | Telcel, Motorola, Banamex |
| First race | 2005 |
| Distance | 201.44 miles (324.32 km) |
| Number of laps | 80 |
| Previous names | None |
The Telcel Motorola México 200 is a NASCAR Busch Series stock car race first held in 2005 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico.
Much attention was directed towards this race, as it was the first NASCAR points-paying national event held outside the United States since 1959. The only other recent international races for NASCAR had been those at the Twin Ring Motegi egg-shaped oval (1998 and in 1999) and at the Suzuka Circuit East Course(1996 & 1997), both in Japan, but the 1996-1998 races were non-points-paying exhibition races. The 1999 Coca-Cola 500 at Motegi was a full points-paying race for NASCAR's West Series. In 1952, NASCAR sanctioned races on the Canadian side of Niagra Falls, and on July 17, 1958, NASCAR ran a 100-lap race in Exhibition Place's third-mile oval in Toronto, Ontario (a race which Richard Petty made his debut).
The Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez track is a very popular track for open-wheel racing such as Formula One and Champ Car; however, the course needed some work to make it suitable for stock cars. The most notable difference was a chicane on the pit straight, and also the addition of a link to eliminate Curva Hector Rebaque, instead adding a long, curve between the track's short circuit curve and Ese del Lago. This move was made because of the heavy braking of the heavier cars. Unlike the Champ Car race, however, the cars do not use the chicane at Peraltada.
Tickets sales were good, and fans packed the track after the announcement that several local drivers would drive NASCAR entries normally driven by other drivers. Among them was open-wheel champion Adrian Fernandez, Jorge Goeters, Mara Reyes (a female driver), Carlos Contreras, and Michel Jourdain, Jr. who had just moved to NASCAR from Indy cars.
Jorge Goeters won the pole position for the event, with a lap average speed of 103.366 mph. Goetters led the NASCAR field for the first twenty-four laps, but Martin Truex, Jr., then moved into the lead for several laps. The home crowd roared loudly when he was displaced by Mexico native Adrian Fernandez, who led for several laps before giving up the lead to the eventual winner, Martin Truex Jr. Fernandez finished tenth, Goeters finished thirty-eighth after engine failure. Reyes finished thirty-fifth, Contreras thirty-sixth, and Jourdain thirty-seventh.
Past winners
- 2005 Martin Truex, Jr.
- 2006 Denny Hamlin
| Previous race: Stater Brothers 300 | Current NASCAR Races | Next race: Sam's Town 300 |
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