South of the border
It's an off week for the Cup guys, but the Busch drivers will be racing Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriquez road course near Mexico City. I'm sure both of my regular readers (hi, mom! hi dad!) know about the race. If you need to get up to speed, read this and this and some of the stuff here.
If you missed the entry list, the race will feature the usual assortment of Buschwhackers and guys doing double-duty in both series this season (Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Jamie McMurray, Robby Gordon), a couple of guys who don't do much Busch racing (Rusty Wallace, Elliott Sadler) and a couple of road-racing ringers (Boris Said, Ron Fellows). No Jeff Gordon, no Dale Earnhardt Jr., in case you're wondering.
Despite the lack of NASCAR's two biggest stars, this thing is a much of a big-time business opportunity as a race.
NASCAR obviously wants to tap into the fast-growing Latino market. NASCAR is figuring that everyone loves fast cars, no matter their nationality, and they'll probably draw a lot of fans no matter who's driving. (Let's face it: To the rest of the world, which worships open-wheel racing, these stock cars are actually pretty exotic.)
But it's also a chance for some sponsors to get some air time. A few of the cars will look a little different this week, and some of them won't look like anything you've seen. So we did a quick check, and here's what we found:
Telmex: The Mexican phone company. Think the Bell System (a.k.a. "the phone company") from back in the old days. It'll have its name on two cars Sunday.
Telcel: The first of two title sponsors. (Motorola is the other.) Telcel is the Telmex of the wireless business down south: It has 75 percent of the Mexican market and has expanded into Central America and the U.S. In other words, it's the NextSprintUlar of Mexico. It's also the car sponsor for Michel Jourdain Jr., a Mexican driver who's a Busch rookie this year.
Roshfrans Oil: It's a Mexican oil company. That's the best I can figure out from the pictures on a Spanish-only Web site. The company appears involved in F1, Champ Cars and World Rally. It has two cars in the race.
Del Valle Nectars: It's a Mexican beverage company that (thankfully) has an English-language Web site. What makes the company different? "All Del Valle cans are made from aluminum, not steel." Make sure you check out the Coconut Water.
Scotiabank Inverlat: A Mexican financial services company. "Scotiabank" didn't look Spanish to us, so we dug deeper. Turns out the parent company is based in Canada, which is obviously jealous that Mexico got a race.
Pelon Pelo Rico: This brand of spicy candy will be sponsoring Kevin Harvick's ride this week. "But," you say, "won't his Busch sponsor, Hershey's, be mad?" Why, no, no it won't. Hershey's bought the brand last year. Guess this is its U.S. launch.
Red Cactus Salsa: Don't let the Spanish-sounding "salsa" name fool you. The company is based in the burrito capital of the Rust Belt, Chicago.
Comments (3)
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It certainly was a successful event, with more than 94,000 fans turning out for the race, after drawing 38,000+ for qualifying. Do you think Mexico City will end up on the Cup schedule in the near future?
Also, I've never heard of Pelon Pelo Rico until this race, so I guess I learned something from Nascar's excursion south of the border.
Posted on March 7, 2005 4:46 PM
Bruce, I think Mexico will only get a Cup date if another track loses one. The answer for that will probably be Mother's Day weekend if Darlington does not sell out. The powers that be in Daytona already sold their soul when they moved the Southern 500 out of Darlington on Labor Day weekend.
By way Bruce do you think I should tell some of my friends about John's site and that it is really a new location to discuss Guilford County school board matters? I could have his Blog up to triple digit postings by Friday. As you know there are people over in High Point who would be willing to demonstrate "bump-drafting" going down Wendover.
Posted on March 8, 2005 8:43 PM
Bruce: I gave a long-winded answer to your question here. The short answer: Probably not.
Mark: Feel free to tell others about The Spotter. But please keep the edu-talk over at Bruce's blog. I'm not sure my little brain can handle redistricting talk. (I went through it in the late 90s both as a parent and a reporter. It was ugly then, and it will be ugly again this time around. Such is the nature of that particular beast.)
But if y'all want to talk about bump-drafting on Wendover Avenue, N. Eugene Street or anywhere else, well, this is the place.
Posted on March 9, 2005 9:38 AM