The NASCAR Nationwide Series made its annual trip to Mexico City for the Corona Mexico 200 at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Kyle Busch had a strong showing all day and took his #20 Doosan Toyota to victory lane in front of the the great crowd. This would be his third consecutive victory this season in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Like many road course races, the Corona Mexico 200 became a fuel mileage race, where pit strategy became very important toward the ends of the race. The intensity of the race picked up in the second half of the race, as the drivers became more aggressive as the laps wound down. Tempers flared, and cars got spun, but in the end, Kyle Busch would be victorious in Mexico City.
While the competition was very intense, the day was mostly dominated by NASCAR Nationwide Series regulars. Carl Edwards and Scott Wimmer fought for the lead early on. About half way through, the race, Kyle Busch, who has had a dominant season in all three NASCAR series, passed Scott Wimmer for the lead. Busch, who has not had very much experience on road courses, went to Mexico City not expecting to perform very well, yet he was been able to weave through the field, after starting sixth. Busch would take the lead from Pruett with nine laps to go, after battling him for the lead for at least three laps.
Scott Pruett felt that the victory at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was taken away from him last year when teammate Juan Pablo Montoya spun him in the final laps on the way to his first NASCAR win. Pruett dominated the second half of the race leading 36 laps. Unfortunately for him, he would be unable to compete for the win after Kyle Busch passed him for the lead. The pass by Busch would be the beginning of Pruett's problems, as he began fading back in the final ten laps. With five laps to go, Pruett radioed his team indicating that he ran out of tires, making him less competitive.
The story of the day had to be the number of red flags brought out due to wrecks by Kertus Davis and Michel Jourdain Jr. Both of the drivers were involved in wrecks which severely damaged the track and their cars. Even though there is not normally many red or yellow flags in road course races, NASCAR felt it was necessary to stop the field to dry the oil and other fluids that both of the cars spilled on the track from their badly damaged cars. Like last year, cautions bred cautions towards the end of the race. The race finished with seven cautions.
Adrian Fernandez, the road course specialist and fan favorite in Mexico, had to deal with with a variety of different issues throughout the weekend. Fernandez, who flew back and forth between Mexico City and Long Beach, Ca. for the American Le Mans Series, had to start in the 42nd position because he did not qualify the #5 Lowes Chevy for JR Motorsports. He powered his way to the front of the pack but with 31 laps to go, he was involved in a wreck with Sam Hornish Jr. His tail end would be smashed in, taking him out of contention for the win.
Road course specialist and fan favorite Boris Said had his share of problems. Said got off the track in what appeared to be mechanical issues early in the race. A few laps later, Said, who started sixth, got tangled up with another car and got spun on one of the S-turns. With 26 laps to go, Boris Said got tangled with Max Papis in turns one and two after getting turned by Marcos Ambrose, finally knocking damaging his car enough to knock him out of competition.
In a post race interview, Said stated, "He [Ambrose] made a mistake or is incredibly stupid, and he doesn't make mistakes like that so..." . Said had made a bet with Danica Patrick that if they both got their first win in their respective series on the same weekend, they would both shave their head. Unfortunately, that would not come to fruition as Said finished in thirty fifth place.
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