Well, Bobby Hamilton Jr. is not running in Mexico, which results in him not being a Nationwide Series regular, in my opinion. I have known this for a month and had been hoping Bobby would get another ride. But it hasn't happened.
MOORESVILLE, N.C. (March 19, 2008) -- Team Rensi Motorsports announced today the signing of Boris Said to pilot the No. 25 No Fear Energy / Smithfield Foods Ford Fusion for the two NASCAR Nationwide Series international races -- in Mexico City (April 20) and Montreal (Aug. 2).
So it is time to change horses.
This week, the Germain Racing team heads south of the border to Mexico City, Mexico, for NASCAR’S first road course race of the 2008 season. Mike Wallace and the #7 GEICO Camry will hit the track at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for their first practice on Friday, April 19th, at 2:00 PM (ET). Final practice is also on Friday at 4:05 PM (ET), followed by qualifying on Saturday afternoon at 11:35 AM (ET). The Corona 200 is on Sunday, April 20th, and it will be televised live on ESPN beginning at 1:30 PM (ET), while the Motor Racing Network (MRN) will carry the live radio broadcast.
Jon Wood No 47 Clorox Ford Fusion Telcel-Mexico 200 Race Recap
March 4, 2007
woodbrothersracing.com
When Jon Wood qualified his No. 47 Clorox Ford Fusion 30th on Saturday for the Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he didn't seem worried. His confidence proved to be well-founded. Wood rallied to finish 10th on Sunday, giving Wood Brothers/JTG Racing two Top-10 finishers in a Busch Series race since June 18, 2005, when Wood and Stacy Compton both posted Top-10 finishes at the Kentucky Speedway. Wood's teammate, Marcos Ambrose, finished eighth.
The team brought a new car to the 2.518-mile road course in Mexico City, and Wood struggled early in practice and pole qualifying. But he promised better results in the main event.
Wood made a slow and steady run through traffic. He was 18th with 15 laps to go and improved eight spots down the stretch. In the process, he became a bigger fan of road-course racing. Not only did his crew make significant improvements to his No. 47 Clorox Ford before and during the race, Wood found a comfortable rhythm during the race that allowed him to miss all eight caution periods and improve his starting position by 20 spots.
Jon Wood Ready For The "Big Stage" At Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Mar 6, 2007
It's been 25 years in the making, but Jon Wood will finally fulfill a portion of his family destiny when he gets behind the wheel of the famed No. 21 car on Sunday, March 11th, 2007 for the UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup race. Preparations have been of the utmost importance for this historic moment and for Jon Wood, it's all systems go for driving the No. 21 Air Force Ford.
During the January Las Vegas test, Wood was able to clock the 16th fastest lap time in qualifying trim, though he's guaranteed a starting slot in the 43-car field based on the team's 2006 points finish. That will take the pressure off Friday, but that's nothing compared to the pressure he intends to put on himself during the race on Sunday. Regular driver Ken Schrader will step aside, but still compete in a second NASCAR NEXTEL Cup entry, the red No. 47 Ore-Ida/Kingsford/Clorox Ford. The UAW-Daimler Chrysler 400 will mark the first time that the Wood Brothers/JTG Organization will have two entries in the same event. The team also has plans to duplicate the double entry later next month at the Texas Motor Speedway.
Media attention is expected to be much higher than normal for the 25-year old Jon Wood. He's taking it all in stride and has a pretty good idea of what to expect heading into the weekend. The ESPN Network is filming a weeklong "All Access" feature story on Jon Wood and his family as the race nears. Part of the plan also has Wood leading a tour (which includes his entire immediate family) of the Nellis Air Force base, across the street from the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.
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.
David Gilliland “The thing that I love about road courses is that so much of the team’s performance is determined by the driver. We go to a lot of tracks that the car does all the work and the driver doesn’t have as much say in the outcome. At road courses, though, your finish has to do with how well you can turn the wheel. You don’t have to worry about aero-push or having your fenders ####ed in; it’s mostly about how well the driver can get through the course.
CARL EDWARDS-60-Scotts Ford Fusion
DO YOU LIKE COMING TO MEXICO TO RACE?
"I like it a lot. It's fun and it's totally different. I wish we went to places like this more often. I'm excited to go to Canada. I'm sure it's more of a nightmare for everybody that has to drive a truck here or deal with all of the paperwork or whatever, but for me as a driver, I got up this morning in my bed in Charlotte and flew down here with Greg (Biffle) and got to take a great van ride. Jon Wood was interpreting for everybody, which was pretty funny."
DOES HE SPEAK SPANISH?
"Almost as much as I do, which is not a lot. We had fun, and it's just different. Like tonight, I'm excited to go back to the hotel and check it out and try to understand what they're saying on TV."
YOU WERE VOCAL ABOUT THE NEED TO REMOVE THE CHICANE FROM THE ROAD COURSE, AND THIS YEAR IT'S GONE. WAS IT THAT BAD?
"No, it just got me that one trip to the hospital there. But other than, it's fine and it was fun. I think it will be better without it. It will be just a little more straightforward. The only problem with the chicane was that in traffic you couldn't see the curbs very well at all, so everybody just had to agree to take easy though there and that made it a little bit tough."
HOW WILL IT CHANGE THE RACING?
"I think it will make passing a little more straightforward if you get a good run off of the last corner. It will make it simpler to make a pass on somebody, and you get that whole straightaway to figure out how you're going to pass them. I think you'll see some neat blocking and stuff because that's a long straightaway."
DO YOU THINK THE OPINION OF THE DRIVERS HELPED TO REMOVE THE CHICANE?
"I don't know about that. I think it's pretty obvious that that was a band-aid for the long straightaway. I think practice went pretty well. I didn't feel that I was going much faster at the end of the straightaway than we were, and it just felt a lot more comfortable. It was just a bottleneck and I think will be fine without it. I think it will be better. That was kind of a bottleneck and kind of a crutch to keep everybody going a little bit slower, but it kind of took the racing away from that section of the race track. You couldn't get a run on somebody and pass them off of the corner because you had to feed right back in line. I think it's good."
The brush south of the border can get thick in places I hear. Never fear. The Buschwackers are coming. Carl Edwards is leading the way.
Edwards says, “I really love traveling to Mexico. They have great fans and I am very excited. The Mexican drivers are fast. They’re going to be very hard to beat because this is their third year in the Busch cars. We have finished in the top-10 both years, but we struggled a little last year. I feel like we can do much better this year and I would love to do my back flip in front of the Mexican fans!”
On his right flank is Dave Blaney.
Although this is the third Mexico City race for the Busch Series, it will be Dave Blaney’s first time participating in the Telcel-Motorola 200. Blaney has never even seen the 2.518-mile road course, but he’s been doing his homework. Blaney has been watching tapes of the past two Mexico races to get a better feel for the track. Kicking off the season with a second place finish in Daytona and capturing the pole in California, Blaney and the Fan1st.com team plan to keep the momentum going in Mexico. Although he has never raced at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, he has logged a combined 21 starts at Watkins Glen International and Pocono Raceway.
Behind them are David Gilliland, Juan Pablo Montoya and David Reutimann. O.K. so it isn't a big bunch of wackers. Which makes my point. Separate the venues between Nextel Cup and Busch and you get a truer Busch race.
Of course I am also trying to drag you in here and get you interested in Busch racing. So stick with me.
Actually this is an excellent opportunity for Regan Smith to climb in the point standings and see if he can win the Busch title this year. Currently Edwards is second, Blaney is fourth and Smith is ninth.
Apparently, after filing an entry, wacker Greg Biffle who is currently fifth in the points, has decided not to make this trip. Current points leader and wacker Kevin Harvick did not plan to race. Neither did wackers Matt Kenseth, Denny Hamlin, Tony Stewart or Kyle Bush.
Coverage of the Telcel-Motorola 200 begins Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on ESPN 2.
Most Interesting Blog, June 16, 2008 (unofficially ) and six other occasions (probably if they still did this). Lisa awarded him Best "breaking news" blogger March 31, 2008. Blog of The Day, Christmas Day, 2007. edhardiman wrote, "Falco's tribute to Rocket Richard reminds us all the stars of today stand on the shoulders of giants..." October 23, 2007. Three Golden Swirrly p00p Awards (Hockey, NASCAR and Use of Graphics), FlyingPig, July 18, 2007. 2007 Memorial Day Weekend Trifecta sponsored by williamwilman . Featured on WFORacingFans April, 2007. "Stylin'" award, Dusty, February 07. "One of ten new bloggers to watch" Dudski, January 2007.
