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Word for Word
As NASCAR goes south of border, caution flag is out
By PETER COUTURE
Published March 5, 2005
On Sunday, stock-car racing leaves home when NASCAR stages its first race in Mexico.
The second-tier Busch series, in which several of NASCAR's top Nextel Cup drivers also compete, will run on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course in Mexico City.
According to NASCAR.com, a contingent of drivers, crew members, owners and sponsors numbering more than 1,300 are making the trip south for the Telcel Motorola Mexico 200.
But is fast-growing NASCAR, in reaching far beyond its Southern U.S. roots, uneasy with a new culture? Officials warned drivers and others about straying from their hotels while in Mexico, and they secured mass transportation with armed guards, NASCAR.com reports.
"I don't really know if it's dangerous or it's not, (but) I'm really not worried about it," driver Jamie McMurray said. "I've been told to use some common sense. I'm going to stick with the crowd."
Are those concerns warranted? Mexican open-wheel racing star Adrian Fernandez, who is competing in the race Sunday - his first in a stock car - was asked about the risks in an interview with NASCAR.com's Lee Montgomery. As Fernandez reminds us, it's all a matter of perspective.
- PETER COUTURE, Times staff writer
NASCAR.com: Are there safety issues for guys coming down there?
FERNANDEZ: No. There are safety issues everywhere. You can go to the wrong place in Daytona, the wrong place in New York, the wrong place in L.A., Chicago. You just have to know where you are going to be, and it's the same in Mexico. Mexico has been having international races for the last few years, and everybody has had a good time. It's a great place to be. We have the best food, and people are very happy to see something new. We have great fans.
I'm marrying a Colombian girl. Juan Pablo Montoya (a Bogota native and fellow driver) was inviting me to a race at the end of last year, and I said, "I don't want to go. It's too dangerous.' Well, I have been there 10 times, and nothing has ever happened.
NASCAR.com: There are a lot of guys who don't want to go to Mexico for security reasons. They're worried about kidnappings and stuff. Is that insulting?
FERNANDEZ: It's not insulting. It's just unfortunate. It's like me saying that I was not going to Colombia. Sometimes we judge without knowing what is happening. Have we had bad things happen? Yes. But also look at the news in America. You have to feel afraid in some situations.
Word for Word is an occasional feature excerpting passages of interest from books, magazines, Web sites and other sources. The text may be edited for space but the original spelling, grammar and punctuation are unchanged.
[Last modified March 4, 2005, 09:15:07]
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