Columnist Brian Hilderbrand: Drivers take caution as Busch series heads south of the border

Friday, March 4, 2005 | 10:51 a.m.

Brian Hilderbrand covers motor sports for the Las Vegas Sun. His motor sports notebook appears Friday. He can be reached at bh@lasvegassun.com or (702) 259-4089.

Jamie McMurray and Robby Gordon will be among a handful of NASCAR Nextel Cup regulars venturing south of the border this weekend to compete in the Busch Series' inaugural race in Mexico City, but the two drivers are taking different approaches to the event.

Security concerns reportedly have prompted some drivers to skip the race and led NASCAR to provide caravans -- complete with security guards -- to and from the airport, hotels and racetrack.

Tony Stewart, who has competed in the first two Busch Series races of the season, told the Associated Press he had no desire to race in a country "where they've got to get the Federales or the police or whatever they are to escort your rigs to the track."

McMurray said he didn't know what to expect once he got to Mexico but added he didn't plan to play the role of tourist while he was there.

"I don't really know if it's dangerous or it's not," McMurray said of his first trip to Mexico. "I've been told to use some common sense. I'm going to stick with the crowd. I'm not 100 percent sure on this, but I believe NASCAR has got some security for us while we're there.

"I'm just going hang out with the group of guys I'm going with and not venture out on my own. I'm really not all that worried about sightseeing. When we go to the races, we go to race, we don't go sightseeing when we go anywhere else, so I don't see that being something we're going to do (in Mexico). It's not something I'm really worried about."

Gordon, on the other hand, has raced in the Mexican desert for two decades in the SCORE Desert Series and said he would take the normal precautions any traveler should take when visiting a foreign country.

"I've been going to Mexico for 20 years and I've really, really enjoyed myself every time I've been down there," Gordon said. "The key is to keep it all in perspective and know where you're at and what your consequences may be. Obviously, I've had friends of mine that have got in trouble in Mexico before -- you don't want to get in trouble down there.

"The rules are still the rules; they still have speed limits. When you have a language barrier like we have, being a U.S. citizen going to Mexico, not speaking fluent Spanish, that can be a big issue. I heard Mexico City is a lot different than where I've been (racing), down on the Baja Peninsula, but I must say for 20 years, I've never had one issue down in Mexico."

Sunday's race will be held at the 2.518-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course -- a venue that has hosted the Champ Car World Series for the past two years. The 2002 Champ Car event attracted an estimated 400,000 fans for the three-day race weekend and last year's drew an estimated 345,000.

Attendance for the inaugural Busch Series race is not expected to reach those numbers, although one NASCAR source said pre-race ticket sales have exceeded 100,000 and a up to 300,000 spectators are expected for the weekend. That would not surprise Gordon.

"I'm pretty excited about it," Gordon said. "I think it's a good marketplace for us. It obviously makes a lot of sense because it's in a different country that obviously we can just drive across the border to go down and put on the event.

"From what I've heard from my fellow friends that have raced there with open-wheel cars, the fans there are pretty cool. They had a sell-out event for their (Champ Car) race they had there a while back. From what I've been hearing from friends down there, the buzz is obviously the NASCAR Busch race down there this weekend."

IRL MOVES TO ETHANOL: The Indy Racing League will begin using a fuel mixture of ethanol and methanol in its racecars next season and is expected to use 100-percent fuel-grade methanol in 2007, series officials announced Thursday.

Ethanol is an alcohol derived from grain and burns cleaner than methanol, which has been used in IndyCars since the 1970s.

The IRL plans to use a blend of 90 percent methanol and 10 percent ethanol in 2006.

"The transition between methanol and ethanol in our cars should be very smooth," said Phil Casey, technical director for the IRL. "Our cars won't sound differently, smell differently or run differently than they have in the past. There will be a seamless transition from methanol to ethanol in our cars."

SCHMIDT OPTIMISTIC: The Indy Racing League Menards Infiniti Pro Series begins its fourth season Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway and Sam Schmidt, a resident of Henderson, is fielding a three-car team this season in hopes of repeating as the series' championship car owner.

Sam Schmidt Motorsports captured the 2004 IPS championship with driver Thiago Medeiros, but Schmidt is welcoming two new drivers to the team this season. Chris Festa, 19, and Jaime Camara, 24, will join Travis Gregg, 26, who drove in three races for Schmidt last season.

"We feel great about our potential for 2005," Schmidt said. "We've made great efforts to make all three of the cars extremely equal in terms of the car and the crews. Each unit is very deep and all three drivers are very good.

"Our goal is to finish 1-2-3 in the championship; (the drivers) can decide which order among themselves. But we have three drivers who are getting along great and three sets of crews who are getting along great. The drivers are sharing information well and that's going to be important. They are all rookies and they need each other to be successful."

The Infiniti Pro Series will contest a 14-race schedule in 2005: 13 events on Indy Racing League IndyCar Series race weekends and one in conjunction with the United States Grand Prix in June at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

OPEN HOUSE: The Orleans Racing team will hold an open house from 3-5 p.m. Friday, March 11 and the team's drivers, Brendan Gaughan and Steve Park, will be on hand to sign autographs.

"We'll have 10 trucks in the (shop)," Gaughan said. "The new Steve Park banners and trophy from Fontana will be on display. We want the fans to come in and see where the last two consecutive Craftsman Truck Series Most Popular Drivers of the Year work. We want the fans to see what the Orleans Racing team is all about.

"If you have never had a chance to see a full-blown NASCAR race shop, come on out."

The Orleans Racing shop is located at 6975 Speedway Blvd., Building D-104, and is adjacent to the Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

MORE APPEARANCES: Local racing fans won't have to wait until next week to get their NASCAR fix. Many of the Nextel Cup teams' souvenir trailers are parked on the mall at the Fremont Street Experience this weekend and will be selling merchandise from 2-11 p.m. daily through Monday.

Reigning Nextel Cup champion Kurt Busch of Las Vegas will be signing autographs at his souvenir trailer from 4-5 p.m. Saturday and Kyle Busch will be signing from5-6 p.m. Saturday.

CELEBRITY POKER TOURNAMENT: Ryan Newman, Rusty Wallace, Travis Kvapil, Helio Castroneves and Sam Hornish Jr. are among the drivers who will be participating in the Mobil High-Endurance Charity Poker Challenge from 6-9 p.m. Thursday at the Golden Nugget.

The event, which will award $100,000 to charity, is open to the public at no charge, but will the drivers will not be available for autographs.