"Pilotos, empiezan sus motores." (Drivers, start your engines.)
Banking/Turns: --
Distance: 2.786 miles
Shape: Road course
Sat., March 5: Busch qualifying on SPEED, 1 p.m. ET
Sun., March 6: Mexico 200 on FOX, 3 p.m. ET
Posted on 03/04/2005 8:13:41 AM PST by WestCoastGal
Thanks for the ping, WCG. It's a cool-looking car. Won't be hard to spot that on the racetrack. BTW, although these first 26 races don't mean squat as far as the championship goes, I sure hope Junior's team steps it up, and that the Hendrick organization figures out what's up with their engines. I read somewhere that they don't think it's a defect in the metal or a part from a supplier, but that the design of a particular part (not named) may be the problem.
From BGN Racing.............
9:45 PM EST: Practice has begun in Mexico City. The session is set for three hours.
10:35 PM EST: 50 minutes in and Jorge Goeters has the fastest time turned in at 101.262 mph. Michel Jourdain follows in second. Carl Edwards, Adrien Fernandez and Paul Menard are the remaining top five.
Several cars have gotten off course.
11:45 AMEST: Edwards is the quickest, Adrien Fernandez, Michel Jourdain, Ron Fellows and Jorge Goeters follow.
Jamie McMurray and David Stremme wrecked their machines. The 14 will more than likely pull out a back-up.
The 42 on the other hand, their back-up car is not a road course car.
It was my first encounter with the legendary Hersel McGriff winner of the 1950 Mex Rd race. I met him at a car show in Fresno that year...
Once in Mexico, the haulers were split into convoys of 10 to 15 trucks apiece, each with an escort from the federales. The federal police would lead the convoy, blue lights blazing, until the next federale crew took over.
Davis said the No. 2 Richard Childress Racing hauler suffered a flat tire, but the Goodyear hauler was in the next convoy. While waiting for a new tire, the police stayed with the No. 2 hauler.
Tom Brown isn't a big fan of Mexico's road system. Credit: Turner Sports Interactive
The No. 14 FitzBradshaw team also had a failure when the truck's serpentine belt broke. But that was eventually repaired, too, with no incident.
The trip from the border to Mexico City lasted about 17 hours. Davis said drivers had to be careful because most Mexican roads did not have shoulders. Instead, there was a 2- to 3-foot dropoff.
Tom Brown, driver of Ganassi's No. 41 hauler, said American roads are much better.
"The roads are a little rough," Brown said. "They need to work on their roads a little bit."
Navigating one of the world's biggest cities
But that was the easy part. Mexico City is one of the world's largest metropolitan areas, and Busch Series hauler drivers found out the hard way about getting around.
"We would go one way, and then we made a complete U-turn and went the direction we just came from," Davis said. "But we veered back off to the right when we got in town."
Of course, road signs are all in Spanish, but even if they were in English, most drivers would be lost.
"You couldn't find the track," Davis said. "We've come to the track five times and never came the same way."
About 20 million people live in and around Mexico City, so traffic is a nightmare. Drivers here don't seem to mind the congestion.
"People around here drive way too crazy for me," Patton said. "But other than that, no problem."
Of course, Patton drives a huge 18-wheeler, while most Mexican drivers sit behind the wheel of compact cars.
"I've seen more Volkswagens here than I've seen in my life," Brown said. "I guess people in Mexico City don't realize what a big truck can do a little ol' vehicle down here."
Safety aside, there were some lighter moments. Snipped/More
Davis got an early morning call about some strange happenings ahead.
"At 3 a.m., someone came on the radio and said, 'Watch out, there's an ass in the median,'" Davis said. "Sure enough, there was."
A donkey, it seems, was grazing in the grassy median. It wasn't the only animal, as Davis said he saw cows, goats and wild horses.
Why the median?
"That's because that's where the green grass was," Davis said.
Davis also said he saw a truck that didn't have a cab on it. Instead, an industrious driver had placed a wooden chair behind the wheel.
Going home
You'd best stay north of the border...
Brian France????
Practice Speeds.......
Rank Car Driver Make Sponsor Speed Time Behind
1 #60 Carl Edwards* Ford Charter Communications 113.484 88.379 Leader
2 #1 Boris Said Dodge Yellow Transportation 113.237 88.572 -0.193
3 #5 Adrian Fernandez Chevrolet Lowe's/Hitachi Power Tools 113.169 88.625 -0.246
4 #41 Reed Sorenson* Dodge Discount Tire 112.721 88.977 -0.598
5 #10 Michel Jourdain Jr.* Ford Telcel 112.474 89.173 -0.794
6 #87 Ron Fellows Chevrolet NEMCO Motorsports 112.349 89.272 -0.893
7 #66 Jorge Goeters Ford Scotiabank Inverlat/Canel's 112.348 89.273 -0.894
8 #283 Robby Gordon Chevrolet Red Bull 112.227 89.369 -0.990
9 #21 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Pelon Pelo Rico 112.159 89.423 -1.044
10 #40 Carlos Contreras Dodge Roshfrans Oil 112.048 89.512 -1.133
11 #11 Paul Menard Chevrolet Menards/Turtle Wax 111.979 89.567 -1.188
12 #22 Kenny Wallace Ford Stacker 2 111.901 89.629 -1.250
13 #42 Jamie McMurray Dodge Texaco Havoline 111.851 89.669 -1.290
14 #32 Shane Hmiel Chevrolet Win Fuel 111.844 89.675 -1.296
15 #8 Martin Truex Jr. Chevrolet Bass Pro Shops 111.730 89.766 -1.387
16 #38 Tyler Walker* Dodge Great Clips 111.645 89.835 -1.456
17 #64 Rusty Wallace Dodge Bell Helicopter 111.502 89.950 -1.571
18 #267 Jimmy Morales Dodge Telmex 111.299 90.114 -1.735
19 #59 Stacy Compton Ford Kingsford/Bush's Beans 111.012 90.347 -1.968
20 #2 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet ACDelco 111.008 90.350 -1.971
21 #90 Elliott Sadler Ford CITI Financial 110.890 90.446 -2.067
22 #14 David Stremme Dodge Navy "Accelerate Your Life" 110.830 90.495 -2.116
23 #7 Chris Cook Chevrolet NEMCO Motorsports 110.829 90.496 -2.117
24 #33 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet Yard Man 110.770 90.544 -2.165
25 #12 Tim Fedewa Dodge Goulds Pumps 110.766 90.548 -2.169
26 #36 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet DCT Motorsports 110.758 90.554 -2.175
27 #35 Jason Keller Ford McDonald's 110.628 90.661 -2.282
28 #58 Brent Sherman* Dodge Hickory Farms/Serta 110.407 90.842 -2.463
29 #20 Denny Hamlin* Chevrolet Rockwell Automation 110.309 90.923 -2.544
30 #27 David Green Ford Kleenex 110.235 90.984 -2.605
31 #18 J.J. Yeley Chevrolet Vigoro/The Home Depot 110.012 91.168 -2.789
32 #47 Jon Wood* Ford Clorox/Wisk 109.905 91.257 -2.878
33 #6 Paul Wolfe* Dodge Hellmann's Mayonnaise 109.871 91.285 -2.906
34 #143 Jose Luis Ramirez Magana Dodge Del Valle Nectars 109.870 91.286 -2.907
35 #25 Ashton Lewis Ford U.S. Marines 109.568 91.538 -3.159
36 #72 Ruben Garcia Novoa Chevrolet Roshfrans Oil 109.479 91.612 -3.233
37 #28 Johnny Sauter Dodge Yellow Transportation 109.394 91.683 -3.304
38 #44 Justin Labonte Chevrolet U.S. Coast Guard 109.201 91.845 -3.466
39 #297 Todd Souza Chevrolet Central Cast Cabinets 108.847 92.144 -3.765
40 #4 Ryan Hemphill* Dodge GEICO/Pet Brands 108.111 92.771 -4.392
41 #292 Alfredo Tame Jr. Ford IXELL/VOXip/RadioShack 107.285 93.486 -5.107
42 #34 Randy LaJoie Chevrolet Dollar General 106.488 94.185 -5.806
43 #173 Eric Jones Chevrolet Red Cactus Salsa 105.337 95.214 -6.835
44 #265 Stan Silva Jr. Chevrolet A & S Metals/Stan Silva Trucking 104.977 95.541 -7.162
45 #49 Mara Reyes Ford Advil/Telmex/Sun Microsystems/AMD 104.731 95.765 -7.386
46 #0 Rafael Martinez Chevrolet Davis Motorsports 104.692 95.801 -7.422
47 #52 Scott Gaylord Ford Means Racing 103.334 97.060 -8.681
48 #24 Kim Crosby* Chevrolet Boudreaux's Butt Paste 97.928 102.418 -14.039
49 #23 Shawna Robinson Chevrolet Vassarette 97.375 103.000 -14.621
50 #16 Mark Montgomery
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| * Denotes Rookie |
Telcel Motorola 200 practice Stremme crashed in the chicane along the long frontstretch and later complained about the curbs lining the asphalt. "I guess they've got that 'bus stop' in there so they don't go so fast,
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Saturday Scattered Clouds. High: 71° F / 22° C Wind SW 11 mph / 18 km/h |
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You are on Speed Vision rat now...
Very Cool! About time the gun manuf's got into the sponsorship program!
Well they said it was all about Corvettes but...
Hey, good to see Buddy Baker at Carlisle.
Here's the vettes.
I hope that's right, no spell check for that on FR. :)
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