Motorsports

NASCAR's Truex gets lucky flag south of the border

Martin Truex Jr. capitalizes on a late caution to hold the lead in the final 28 laps of the Busch series' 80-lap Telcel-Motorola 200 in Mexico City.

By wire services
Published March 7, 2005

MEXICO CITY - NASCAR's first surprise-filled journey south of the border finished a lot like those back home, with regulars Martin Truex Jr., Kevin Harvick and Carl Edwards at the front of the pack.

Truex used a planned early pit stop - and took advantage of a lucky yellow flag that shut the door on two pursuers - to hang on to the lead over the final 28 laps of the first points-paying NASCAR race outside the United States in a half century.

Nextel Cup driver Kevin Harvick finished just over six seconds back, second in a third consecutive Busch series race after slipping past Edwards on the 78th lap of the 80-lap Telcel-Motorola 200.

Truex made two early pit stops, his last at the 46th lap.

"We wanted to have a full tank of gas with 40 laps to go," Truex said.

The pit stop came seconds before a caution flag came out.

Adrian Fernandez and Boris Said, running in the top five, were caught in the approach to pit road and were penalized for pitting too quickly after the caution period started. They started at the back, dashing their chances to win.

"As soon as we reached pit road and they told me the caution was out, I said, "Yeah! That's perfect!' We caught a little bit of luck there," Truex said.

Said battled back to fifth and Fernandez to 10th by the end.

Edwards had a remarkable comeback as well. He smashed his main car in practice and blew a replacement engine. Yet he managed to qualify ninth and finish third in his backup car.

Reed Sorenson, who entered the race second to Harvick in season points, was running strong before spinning onto the grass on Lap 59. Virtually all of the pack passed before he could get back on the track.

The race was a boost for NASCAR's effort to build a new fan base in Mexico, where open-wheel racing has been dominant. Promoters said 94,229 people turned out on race day after a 38,319 crowd for Saturday's qualifying.

Robby Gordon qualified in the first row Saturday but quickly ran into engine woes during the race, and pitted after the 59th lap after spewing oil on the track.

NASCAR said it was investigating a prerace scuffle between Gordon and Edwards' crew chief, Brad Parrott.

FORMULA ONE: Giancarlo Fisichella was exuberant, and it was tough to blame him.

He gulped and sprayed champagne after winning the season-opening Australian Grand Prix in a decided change of pace for the series - a winner other than Michael Schumacher.

Schumacher, the seven-time world champion who won 13 of 18 races last season, was never in contention and failed to finish in his bid to defend his race title.

His Ferrari teammate, Rubens Barrichello, was second and Fisichella's Renault teammate, Fernando Alonso, was third in Melbourne. David Coulthard was fourth for Red Bull Racing, formerly Jaguar.

It was Fisichella's second Formula One victory. His first came after 100 starts, and he had to wait five days to have it confirmed.

[Last modified March 7, 2005, 01:58:12]