Carl Edwards and the No. 60 Scotts team flew into Mexico City to compete on the first road course of the season, the 2.518-mile track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. The atmosphere was definitely one of international flavor and high energy tucked in the middle of a city of 25 million. The altitude of Mexico City is 7,380 feet making it one of the highest cities in the world.
Edwards was able to keep his Scotts Ford Fusion in the top-10 for the majority of the race. Pit road strategy and patience became the key for a great points day for the No. 60 team. The “Big Picture” was in the forefront of their strategy and enabled Edwards’ to finish at the TelCel-Motorola 200 with his third consecutive top-five of the season. To cap off the race weekend, Edwards and the No. 60 Scotts team captured the overall Busch Series points standings.
“I saw some things I might use next time we come here,” stated Edwards. “Juan Montoya’s a good driver and he did a good job. I think road course racing involves a whole different strategy and a different mindset. Guys like Tony Stewart and those guys are really good at it and I believe that Montoya has the road course mentality down better than anybody here and he can apply it. He was bringing some tricks out. On the restart I was just letting him know that I knew how fast he was. I had a blast today. There was a lot of excitement at the end. It was great to take over the points lead for this Scotts team. P.K. (Pierre Kuettel) made great calls and the crew did an awesome job keeping us in the front.”
“Our Scotts Ford Fusion team did a great job today,” stated crew chief Pierre Kuettel. “The guys did a good job on the stops. We worked really hard in practice to get this thing turned around. Carl did a fantastic job having a very consistent day. That’s what we needed. We needed to come to this place and get a top-five finish and go on from here. This is my first time here. I’m very happy with our finish.”
JORGE GOETERS-27-STAR Motorsports Ford Fusion (Finished 7th)
"The team did very, very good work repairing my car and everything. I was very pleased to have my opportunity to race with Brewco Motorsports. I'm very excited. This is the kind of race that everybody loves; nobody knows who's going to win until the white flag is coming out."
"We came back very strong. We had to take care about some positions and be careful. At the end, I pushed hard to do better and to get better places. It was good for me. I think the team is happy, and Scotiabank and Xtreme Gel is very happy."
AMBROSE RISES WITH REMARKABLE COMEBACK IN MEXICO TO FINISH EIGHTH
Marcos Ambrose has risen to fifth in the NASCAR Busch Series standings after a remarkable comeback to finish eighth in the Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 in Mexico City today. Ambrose had the chance for an even better result slip away on lap 64 when he was spun while racing within the lead pack in sixth position, dropping him to 24th position and setting the scene for a remarkable comeback, culminating in Ambrose passing seven cars in the final two laps.
Ambrose rises to an outstanding fifth in the NASCAR Busch Series standings, equal with defending series champ Kevin Harvick who did not race in Mexico, as well as maintaining his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings. It was a strong road course result for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, with both Ford Fusions in the top 10 as Jon Wood drove a smart and consistent race to finish 10th.
“Today was a really long day,” said Ambrose. “We fought all day. When we had clear track the worked nicely but when we went back into the pack after being spun the car couldn’t quite do what I needed it to do. Eighth is still a really good result for us but we had a better result in us today and unfortunately we didn’t get it."
“It was just one of those deals when we got turned around. Greg Biffle was just in front of us and he checked up through Turn Three. I checked up slightly and Yeley got into the back of me at just the wrong moment and we both went around in front of the almost whole field.
“The Ganassi cars were fast this weekend so we have a little bit of work to do on our road course program but we can definitely be proud of what we achieved today. “We got our first top 10 in the Busch Series, we’re still well inside the top 10 in points and we are still the leading rookie. So life is definitely good at the moment.
It would be interesting to see the Cup guys on more road courses. I personally like road courses as it demands more skill to navigate the course rather than turn left all day. Can you imagine NASCAR cars on a road course like Monte Carlo or the old Sebring course??
photo: I can just picture all those Nextel Cup cars fanning out on the start on that old airport runway at Sebring. That would be a sight to behold.
I think it's time to send a Cup race to Mexico City. The organizers put on a great event, and the fans are very entusiastic. Mexico City would be a welcome addition to the Nextel Cup schedule.
I would love to see the Cup guys on the European road courses and I think that is what NASCAR is trying to get to and what they should try to get to. Grow the circuit. Keep Busch in this hemisphere for more "local" flavor if you want.
I am thinking Busch and Nextel will be in Mexico City in 2008.
Sounds like the three of us are looking forward to the Busch race on the road course in Montreal as well.
It also just slays me when NASCAR only fans question Montoya's credentials. The man won Monte Carlo for Pete's sake.
I agree. Montoya is not a NASCAR driver yet. He's a Formula one/road racer. That move was a pure Formula One move. As someone who attended over a dozen Formula One/Gran Prix races over the years at Long Beach Gran Prix I have seen that exact move probably a hundred times. He did what he's always done and his teammate who is a NASCAR driver didn't anticipate the move as any Gran Prix driver would have. I got no problem with the move.
Chris was a client of mine in St. Louis. I was trying to help him attract Nextel Cup to race there. I was his hired traffic engineering expert. Did you ever meet him?
You saw Montoya? Cool. I like him too. He was my favorite F1 driver.
Last edited by 14Falcons on March 6th at 10:33 PM.
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