DAYTONA BEACH, Florida -- NASCAR announced today its newest international racing series. Under a licensing agreement with NASCAR, the Desafio Corona Series – the No. 1 stock car racing series in Mexico – will become the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series in 2007. The re-launch of this series expands NASCAR’s presence in Mexico and supports NASCAR’s commitment to Mexico and the international motorsports community.
“By further incorporating the series under the NASCAR brand and competition structure, we hope to create a natural bridge for teams and drivers to grow and participate in the NASCAR system,” said Robbie Weiss, NASCAR Managing Director, International.
The series was originally founded in 2004, in conjunction with the OCESA and NASCAR partnership to form NASCAR Mexico. NASCAR Mexico is a local base of operations, which oversees sponsorship, licensing and marketing for the NASCAR and NASCAR Mexico brands in Mexico. OCESA, a subsidiary of CIE, the leading live entertainment company in Latin America, also stages the NASCAR Busch Series event in Mexico City.
In 2006, the Desafio Corona Series consisted of a 14-race schedule at oval tracks and road courses throughout Mexico, including seven of its largest cities: Mexico City, Monterrey, Puebla, Zacatecas, Guadalajara, San Luis Potosi and Queretaro. Under the OCESA/NASCAR partnership, the Series has witnessed significant growth in its first few seasons and the Series is Mexico’s premier national motorsports property with more than 100,000 spectators attending events annually. The Series competitors race stock cars similar to those used in Late Model classes at short tracks in the U.S., with fiberglass composite bodies and spec engines.
“This is great news for everybody who is involved in motorsports in Mexico,” commented Edgar Matute, director of national racing for OCESA. “The branding of our series, now the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series, is not only the result of years of hard work, but also the reward to our teams and sponsors for their support and the beginning of a new era of prosperity in our sport. Under NASCAR’s guidance, we will be able to grow our series with their experience to ensure a bright future, opening new business opportunities for our motorsports family.”
Several drivers have successfully made the transition from this series into NASCAR racing in the U.S., including the 2005 Desafio Corona Series champion, Jorge Goeters, who claimed the Busch Pole award for the inaugural NASCAR Busch Series race in Mexico City and made his NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen International in 2005.
Another series driver, Ruben Pardo, competed in the NASCAR Grand National Division, Busch East Series in 2006. He won the season finale at Lime Rock Park and the 2006 Busch East Series Sunoco Rookie of the Year award. Pardo, who drives for a team co-owned by NASCAR Busch Series owner Armando Fitz and Mexican racing champion Carlos Contreras, was invited to the NASCAR Toyota All-Star Showdown at Irwindale Speedway, where he finished 21st in the field of 30 all-star drivers. Rogelio Lopez, the 2006 Desafio Corona Series champion, has also competed in the Busch East Series.
The 2007 NASCAR Mexico Corona Series is scheduled to debut at the renowned Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City the weekend of March 2, along with the NASCAR Busch Series and the Rolex Sports Car Series. All NASCAR Mexico Corona Series events are broadcast live in Mexico, on Televisa, and throughout Latin America on SPEED Latin America.
Former NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series driver Chad Little, who has worked as NASCAR’s director of racing development, Mexico since 2005, will continue to provide competition support for the NASCAR Mexico Corona Series.
“It’s great to see so many talented drivers gaining new opportunities to compete in NASCAR,” said Little. “The NASCAR Mexico Corona Series will be a great venue for the best drivers in Mexico to compete and showcase their talents. It’s an exciting time to be a part of NASCAR Mexico and build this new series.”
About NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc. (NASCAR), which began in 1948, is the sanctioning body for one of America’s premier sports. NASCAR is the No. 1 spectator sport – holding 17 of the top 20 attended sporting events in the U.S., the No. 2-rated regular season sport on television with broadcasts in more than 150 countries, and has 75 million fans that purchase more than $2.1 billion (U.S.) in annual licensed product sales.
NASCAR consists of three major national series in the U.S. (NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, NASCAR Busch Series and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series) as well as regional tours and one local grassroots series. NASCAR sanctions nearly 1,400 races at over 95 tracks in 33 states, Canada and Mexico. Based in Daytona Beach, Florida, NASCAR has offices in Bentonville (Arkansas), Charlotte, Concord and Conover (North Carolina), Los Angeles, New York, Mexico City and Toronto (Ontario, Canada).
