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The second wave of NASCAR realignment was drastic enough in itself: the demise of Darlington's storied Southern 500, and a further western expansion at the expense of the sport's grass roots.
That could be nothing compared with the next phase - possibly a Busch series date in Mexico City in 2005 and a trucks race in Canada soon after. NASCAR officials have been exploring the possibility of a race in Mexico for more than a year as part of a plan to broaden its Hispanic demographic in the United States and abroad. NASCAR officials toured the 2.75-mile road course at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City last week.
The Mexico City date presumably would replace Nazareth on the schedule, as International Speedway Corp. announced Friday that the Pennsylvania track was being removed from future schedules.
Nextel Cup drivers, who would be encouraged to enter the prospective Mexico City date to increase its star appeal, have expressed support for the plan. Dale Earnhardt Jr. wants a Nextel Cup race there.
"I'm really excited that one day the Nextel Cup series will be more international," he said. "I look forward to the day we race in Canada, Mexico and maybe South America. I don't know if we will ever be overseas racing, but you never know. It would be cool to race in Europe and see what kind of reaction from the fans we'd get."
If Canada is to eventually be on the trucks schedule, Ray Kuntz would like NASCAR to take a hard look at Race City Motorsport Park. The Calgary facility's chief operating officer thinks Race City is best-suited to accommodate such an event as it currently hosts a top-tier event in Canada's CASCAR stock car racing circuit.
"I haven't gotten a call yet, but I'll talk to them any day," Kuntz said. "We probably run the largest schedule of any track in Canada, we have more seats than any track in Canada. I would think Calgary would have to be one of the ones they consider."
Race City's two-groove, half-mile oval has the highest banking in Canada at 15 degrees in the corners and eight degrees in the straightaways.
It also features a 2-mile road course and a quarter-mile drag strip, and crams 88 racing events between May and early October.
The main problem is infrastructure. Though the track is only 19 years old, it has just 9,000 seats. Kuntz estimates 40,000 or more would be needed to be considered a NASCAR venue, but land is available to add grandstands. He has no estimate on the cost or viability.
Calgary makes sense in numerous ways.
A metropolitan area with a population of about 1-million, it is home to several corporate headquarters, supports teams in the National Hockey League and Canadian Football League and two minor-league franchises, and in 1988 hosted a Winter Olympics that was regarded as a resounding success.
A race would establish a NASCAR foothold in an underserved market. The next closest NASCAR event is a Busch race near Denver, more than a 1,100 miles south.
"We're a premium destination, a big small market," Kuntz said. "We're able to pull off major sporting events. The weekly program is stagnant like everyone else but the big shows are growing."
CLIMBING: Zephyrhills native David Reutimann moved up one spot to third (54 points out of first) in the Craftsman Truck series standings last weekend despite finishing 14th at Mansfield, Ohio. The rookie was sent a lap down after being spun out just eight laps in and received body damage in another collision that eventually required a pit stop to chop loose metal off his No. 17 Toyota.
"We endured a lot in the first half of the race, but we were able to position ourselves just outside the top 10 after we stayed out while others pitted," Reutimann said.