Said Wins Pole For Busch Race In Mexico City

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Said wins pole for Busch race in Mexico City

MEXICO CITY -- Boris Said, a road-course specialist born in New York, won the pole and two Mexican drivers placed in the top five Saturday for the Telcel-Motorola 200, the second race south of the border in NASCAR's Busch Series.

MEXICO CITY COVERAGE

When Mexico City was listed on the '05 Busch Series schedule, it wasn't the most anticipated trip of the season. But that has changed this season.

Many of NASCAR's biggest sponsors have a big presence in Mexico, making it a market the sanctioning body can't ignore.

Although fewer Nextel Cup regulars are entered this weekend in Mexico City, By the Numbers shows that outsiders still rule when the Busch Series hits the road courses.

Mexican drivers Carlos Contreras, Adrian Fernandez and Jorge Goeters recently answered some questions about this week's race in Mexico City.

Said averaged 1 minute, 28.295 seconds while reaching a top speed of 102.665 mph. Most of the top finishers from Friday's practice took the track after him but were unable to post faster times.

It was Said's second pole in six Busch Series starts. His first came during his Busch debut in June 1998 at another road course, Watkins Glen.

Said finished fifth in Mexico City a year ago during the Busch Series' first race in Mexico. He said he didn't think his time would be good enough for the pole, but that Mexico City's tricky Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez played a role.

"How big and heavy these cars are, with 43 guys, it's difficult,'' he said. "The S [curves] are difficult, the last turn is difficult.''

Second was Denny Hamlin who finished 0.134 seconds behind Said with a speed of 102.509 mph. He finished fifth in the points last year, his first full season.

"This track, I love it,'' Hamlin said. "I like short-track racing, road courses and flat tracks and this is a combination of all three of those.''

Johnny Sauter went around the 2.518-mile course just once but his time of 1:28.449 was good enough for third place.

Mexico's Adrian Fernandez, an open-wheel racing veteran who knows the Mexico City course better than almost anyone else, took fourth. He was followed by Mexico's Jorge Goeters, who took the pole last year.

"I wanted to make sure I got into Turn 1 very good,'' Fernandez said. "I did all that very good so from there to the end I needed to make sure that I didn't make mistakes.''

Saturday's times were slower than the 1:27.696 posted by Goeters, who set a track record of 103.366 mph in winning the pole.

Qualifying was interrupted several times by crashes, many coming in curves NASCAR inserted into the long front straightaway to reduce accidents around the first turn. That's the fastest part of a track that was originally built for open-wheel racing.

Stacy Compton shredded the back end of his No. 59 Ford after careening into the grass and spinning into a wall on the seventh turn.

"This was a great racecar,'' Wood lamented. "But they can put some things on the other racecar to make it just as good.''

Officials used a group qualifying format associated with road-course races, but not in place for several years in the Busch Series.

Jon Wood, who finished first in practice, had trouble keeping his No. 47 Ford on the course a day later, settling for 17th. The group qualifying meant the fastest cars from Friday started last Saturday, encountering a track that was especially hot and slippery.

"I don't know how this qualifying stuff is going to work,'' Wood said before taking the track. "I'm a little confused about that.''