Telcel Motorola 200
 |
|
| Venue | Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez |
|---|---|
| Location | Mexico City, Mexico |
| Corporate sponsor |
Corona Banamex |
| First race | 2005 |
| Last race | 2008 |
| Distance | 201.44 miles (324.19 km) |
| Laps | 80 |
| Previous names |
Telcel-Motorola 200 Presented by Banamex (2005–2006) Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200 (2007) Corona Mexico 200 Presented by Banamex (2008) |
| Most wins (team) | Joe Gibbs Racing (2) |
| Most wins (manufacturer) | Chevrolet (2) |
| Surface | Asphalt |
| Length | 2.518 mi (4.052 km) |
| Turns | 16 |
The Corona México 200 presented by Banamex was a NASCAR Nationwide Series held at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez road course in Mexico City, Mexico. The inaugural race was held in 2005 and the final race was held in 2008. The 2005 race marked the first time that NASCAR had run a Busch Series race on a road course since 2001, and at one time the Mexico City race was one of three road races on the Busch/Nationwide circuit (joining races at Watkins Glen and Montreal).
Much attention was directed towards this race, as it was the first NASCAR points-paying race outside the United States since 1952. The only recent international races for NASCAR had been those at the Suzuka Circuit and Twin Ring Motegi (1996–1998) in Japan, but the races were non-points-paying exhibition races. In 1952, NASCAR sanctioned points-paying races on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls.
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez track is a very popular track for open-wheel racing such as Formula One and Champ Car, however the course needed some work to make it suitable for stock cars. The most notable difference was a chicane on the pit straight, and also the addition of a link to eliminate Curva Héctor Rebaque, instead adding a long, curve between the track's short circuit curve and Ese del Lago. This move was made because of the heavy braking of the heavier cars. Unlike the Champ Car race, however, the cars do not use the chicane at Peraltada. In 2007 the cars no longer used the frontstretch "Bus stop chicane".
Tickets sales were good, and fans packed the track after the announcement that several local drivers would drive NASCAR entries normally driven by other drivers. Among them was open-wheel star Adrián Fernández, Jorge Goeters, Mara Reyes (a female driver), Carlos Contreras, and Michel Jourdain Jr. who had just moved to NASCAR from Champ Car.
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