So I Am Attending My First Professional Race In A Few Years

NASCAR Mexico, at the Chihuahua, Mexico Autodromo.

Today the wife an I drove out to where we thought the circuit was located. Not one sign, and the race is next weekend. I could see the tower in the distance, and what looked like fencing.

So we drove up a bumpy dirt road, and there is was! Chihuahua, Mexico's very own race track. We drove around to the first turn, and stood on a pile of dirt to see the facility. Looked like around 1/3 mile, very high banked, "D" shaped, but.......

.....the pit lane was not completed, half the grandstands were not finished, the official tower was not completed, what looked like concessions stands or VIP areas were not completed. About all that was done was the race surface. No garages, no pit wall, nada in the infield.

An old money family is behind this circuit, so the only reason it is not finished is a week of rain, and probably a lousy contractor.

They just started promoting the race 3 days ago, no seating map, shades of COTA. Except the adult tickets are around $12 USD, so no matter what, it is not much of a gamble.

I am looking forward to my first race since the Daytona 500 in 2009. I wonder if Tony Stewart will be here?

And since the series is sponsored by Toyota, how come the promo ad shows an Impala in the lead?
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I will let you know Monday. One of the wealthiest, old money families in Chihuahua is the $$ of this circuit, so they would likely not gamble their reputation.

I hope this will be fun, this series races all over Mexico. Possibly it is the same as what we see in the USA as local stock car racing. But for about $12.50 USD (today's exchange) for admission, what the heck. I miss the sounds.

 

My wife and I, and her 20 year daughter, showed up at the track at 9AM. We were one of the first spectators.

Surprise, they put the circuit in order, and from the gate it looked really professional. We finally got to the stands, and in one week, the facility went from COTA to looking really great. No, it is not Daytona, but it is a very high banked concrete surface one kilometer D shaped oval.

I hear this is supposed to be the best oval race circuit in Latin America, and I believe it. The surface looked quite smooth. Amazingly, there was 2-3 lines in each corner which made for great passing opportunities.

Seats are not reserved, so we got their early and had our pick. Really not seats, concrete benches, so I brought cushions for all of us. Bummer, they let people bring umbrellas, it is a Latin thing, for protection from the sun. But, where we sat, we could stand and not create a problem for those behind us.

So the first race was all Toyota 2 door 6 cylinder Camrys. Not a car we get in the USA, these were real 2 doors, the roof line was different. About 14 cars, and much to my surprise, the put on a great show. The last lap was a thriller.

At this point, the stands started to fill up. At 11 AM, we could see the entry road was packed with cars slowly moving inside the facility. In fact, by 1 PM, they stopped letting people drive in, so they were walking in by the hundreds. I think they only expected 7500-8000, but they must have had over 12,000. I had no idea NASCAR was so popular in Mexico. Many typical NASCAR shirts, Tony Stewart the most popular. But the one shirt and hat that was the most obvious, was Ferrari. Mostly families with children. No one looked like the "red neck" we see in the USA. Younger people with Aeropostle or Hollister shirts. Young ladies wearing stylish clothing.

Except for opening the gates late, the actual NASCAR show went on like, a typical NASCAR show. Everything was on time. When there was an accident, the response was incredible and the track was cleared every time in less than 10 minutes.

Most of the cars were American built Camrys, some Impalas and Fusions, and a few Mazda 6s. They looked like typical NASCAR cars, they all looked freshly painted, sponsors like FedX, TelMex, Telcel, etc. Really first class.

Now it is time for the NASCAR race, the NASCAR Mexico Toyota Series. 33 cars lined up for the start. I have no idea who these drivers are, and how competent they might be. There were no incidents for the first 70 laps of a 250 lap race. Even NASCAR USA can not do that. and keep in mind, this track had at least two lines in the corners, sometimes three. Lots of passing.

The race was to be 250 laps or 2.5 hours, whichever came first. With 30 minutes left, I could still see people walking in to the track. So we decide it would be to our benefit to get out now, or sit in the car for 3 hours. So we left. Besides, they did not have time to put up a scoring tower, so I had idea who was leading the race.

We left. My wife's daughter saw her first professional car race and loved it. My wife has been to the Daytona 500, and we planned to to Austin but a tumor has interrupted that plan, and she had a great time. Honestly, I really enjoyed the experience.

I briefly spoke to the man $$ behind the facility, and he is also one of the drivers, and he told me they were going to light up the track and do a NASCAR night race in March. El Paso is only 5 hours away, so if there are American NASCAR fans in that area, I would suggest they make the trip. There was enough military, Federal police, local police to let you feel safe.

Oh, and this same weekend, there was one of the most popular air shows in north/central America in Chihuahua, like 100,000 spectators. So some of the airplanes flew formations over the track, and even the military jets flew formations over the track.

For what and where this is, it was a fun experience, and actually some competitive racing.

P.S. None of those NASCAR "what's the yellow for" occurances to tighten up the field.

Photos to follow.