The NASCAR Sprint Cup series has the week of this week as the Nationwide Series drivers head south of the border to race the Corona Mexico 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico city. The field will be field with both Nationwide regulars, road course specialists, and hometown drivers, such as Adrian Fernandez, who make their once a year visit to the Nationwide Series. The race this year will be the fourth consecutive year racing in Mexico City, a venue that can increase NASCAR's fan base in new markets.
In recent years, NASCAR has been struggling to find new fans in order to increase viewership and race attendance in all three of its top series. By taking the Nationwide Series to Mexico, NASCAR is giving race fans south of the border a taste of high intensity racing by some of the best drivers in the world. Its true that there is a NASCAR Mexico series, but its popularity in many of the central and South American countries pales in comparison to open wheel racing. By heading to Mexico once a year, NASCAR is showing that it can compete with the popularity of open wheel racing and that it can easily expand into new markets.
Mexico, however, is not the only place where NASCAR can increase its fan base. For the second time in as many years, the NASCAR Nationwide Series will be heading to Montreal for the Zippo 200. Some of the best racing fans come from Canada, but like in Mexico, and really around the world, open wheel racing dominates. Heading north of the border can only help and increase the NASCAR fan base. If the races are as exciting as the race was last year, there is no doubt that NASCAR popularity will increase.
The road courses in Mexico City and Montreal also allow for the road course specialists to exhibit their talents and skills to owners who might be looking for a new driver in their stable. This will be only the second race for Boris Said this season. Said, who is one of the best road course drivers, has struggled to find a full time ride in any NASCAR series. Scott Pruett, who occasionally races in the Nationwide Series will also be running on Sunday in Mexico City looking to secure a full time ride somewhere.
Many fans, drivers, and other media outlets have recently called upon NASCAR to add more road courses to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. What better place to add the road courses than in Canada and Mexico? Not only will a road course truly challenge the skills of the drivers, but it will also increase the popularity of NASCAR outside the United States.
The Nationwide Series race in Mexico provides an excellent example of what kinds of fans NASCAR has outside the U.S. More importantly, having NASCAR events outside the U.S. will bring new talent to the series, that may not have considered racing in NASCAR before.
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