AGUASCALIENTES, Mexico — Starting at the back of the field in Sunday’s Aguascalientes 240 didn’t hamper the efforts of Rogelio López as he was able to work his way through the 34-car field to earn the NASCAR Mexico Series victory at Nuevo Autódromo de Aguascalientes.
López, racing in his hometown, started 32nd in a provisional starting spot on the grid, but was able to navigate his way to the front to collect his first victory of the 2011 campaign and the 19th of his series career. He beat two-time and defending series champion Germán Quiroga to the line by .257 seconds.
Quiroga, like López, was forced to use a provisional to start the race and followed a similar path and strategy to the front by the race’s end.
Hugo Oliveras finished third and was in the same boat with López and Quiroga by having to race from the back. Oliveras posted the quickest lap time in Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session, but his car failed to pass inspection which forced him to the back of the field for the beginning of the race.
Rubén Pardo, who started the race in the third position, was able to stay amongst the leaders all day and finished fourth followed by José Luis Ramirez in the fifth position.
Abraham Calderón, Irwin Vences, Óscar Ruiz de Azua, Alejandro Capín and Daniel Suárez rounded out the top-10 finishers.
While the top-three were going from the back to the front, polesitter Jorge Goeters was moving in the opposite direction to a finish in 27th place, 26 laps off the pace.
Antonio Pérez, who started alongside Goeters on the front row, picked up the 10-point bonus for leading the most laps on the day, but had to retire his car after just 88 laps and settle for a 31st-place finish.
With his third top-five finish of the season, Quiroga takes over sole possession of the points lead after sharing it with Goeters coming into the event. Quiroga now leads Oliveras by 35 points. Rafael Martinez occupies the third spot, 77 points off the lead.
The NASCAR Mexico Series next heads to its southernmost venue in Tuxtla Gutiérrez for the Tuxtla 240 on Sunday, May 15.
| NASCAR Corona Series (Mexico) |
|---|
| 1 32 48 Rogelio López HO Speed Racing Toyota 171 180 5 2 34 2 Germán Quiroga TELCEL/Fed Ex Toyota 171 175 5 3 30 11 Hugo Olivares Monster Energy Toyota 171 170 5 4 3 15 Rubén Pardo Citizen/Fram Toyota 171 160 5 8 08 José Luis Ramírez Ramirez Racing/Prestoflam Chevrolet 171 160 5 6 15 05 Abraham Calderón SC Racing Chevrolet 171 150 7 12 22 Irwin Vences Multipack Toyota 171 146 8 17 34 Óscar Ruiz de Azua Mikel's/Toyota Toyota 171 142 9 7 88 Alejandro Capín Quaker State/HDI Seguros Dodge 171 138 10 4 3 Daniel Suárez TELCEL Dodge 171 134 11 11 7 Carlos Peralta Intrateja/2b Racing Chevrolet 171 130 12 24 13 Elliot Van Rankin Von Haucke/Sanirent Toyota 171 127 13 18 0 Rafael Vallina Coke Zero/Tab Chevrolet 170 124 14 6 18 Rafael Martínez Canel's/Scotiabank Mazda 170 121 15 20 8 Freddy Tame, Jr. GMI/2b Racing Toyota 169 118 16 10 10 Óscar Peralta Harley-Davidson/Intrateja Toyota 168 115 17 13 27 Rubén García Novoa HDI Seguros/IMAGEN Dodge 168 112 18 9 77 Enrique Contreras, III * Fenix Racing Team Dodge 168 109 19 19 16 Luis Felipe Montaño AIRHO/Ultra AG Toyota 165 106 20 25 55 Jorge Contreras * Grupo CEDVA/DAI Dodge 165 103 21 33 26 Israel Jaitovich Corriendo por Mexico Toyota 164 100 22 21 70 Estefanía Reyes Vitromex Toyota 164 97 23 28 39 Juan Carlos Herrero * ANVI Motorsport Toyota 153 94 24 23 49 Jorge Arteaga Red Baron/La Huerta Dodge 153 91 25 5 5 Rubén Rovelo TELMEX Toyota 148 93 5 26 27 40 Héctor Félix * Logistica Aduanal de Mexico Toyota 147 85 27 1 31 Jorge Goeters Canel's/Scotiabank Mazda 145 87 5 28 22 30 Víctor Barrales ANVI Motorsport Toyota 131 79 29 14 20 Homero Richards NEXTEL/Pennzoil Dodge 122 76 30 26 36 Pepe Montaño Tempo/Toyota Toyota 115 73 31 2 1 Antonio Pérez TELMEX Chevrolet 88 80 10 32 29 02 Julián Islas Islas Motorsport Chevrolet 68 67 33 16 03 Patrick Goeters AC Delco Chevrolet 56 64 34 31 14 Carlos Contreras FCV Racing Team Toyota 44 61 RACE STATISTICS Fastest Qualifier: Jorge Goeters, Time: 24.615 Seconds, Speed: 127.239 mph Time of Race: 1 hrs., 44 mins, 4 secs Average Speed: 85.774 mph Margin of Victory: .257 Seconds CONTINGENCY AWARDS MOTORCRAFT POLE POSITION: Jorge Goeters, 31 Canel's/Scotiabank Mazda PENNZOIL RACE WINNER: Rogelio López, 48 HO Speed Racing Toyota TOP TOYOTA #1: Rogelio López, 48 HO Speed Racing Toyota TOP TOYOTA #2: Germán Quiroga, 2 TELCEL/Fed Ex Toyota TOP TOYOTA #3: Óscar Peralta, 10 Harley-Davidson/Intrateja Toyota TOP TOYOTA #4: Luis Felipe Montaño, 16 AIRHO/Ultra AG |
