Mexico City — The NASCAR Busch Series concluded its two-day test this week at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City in preparation for the March 6 Mexico 200 road-course event.
In front of more than 100 members of the Mexican media and new ppc Racing driver Michel Jourdain Jr., former Ford driver Jeff Burton officially welcomed the NASCAR Busch Series to the by participating in the first test at the facility, Wednesday and Thursday.
The 80-lap race will be the first-ever NASCAR Busch Series points event held outside the United States.
Burton conducted the test on the reconfigured 2.518-mile course. NASCAR officials, including Vice President of Research and Development Gary Nelson, Vice President of Competition Robin Pemberton and NASCAR Busch Series Director Joe Balash, and the No. 21 NASCAR Busch Series team from Richard Childress Racing oversaw Burton’s test. The focus of the test was rear-end gear ratios, transmission gear ratios and overall set-up.
“A combination of Jeff’s feedback and the computer data provided all the necessary information for the proper selection of gears for the upcoming race,” Balash said.
“This is a special day for NASCAR and a special day for Mexico,” Burton said after taking his first laps on the course. “This track is very wide, which will make for a tremendous amount of passing opportunities. Guys who will run up front will like the width and series of corners on the race track. And, Turns 7 and 8 will create an environment that will allow quite a bit of passing along the frontstretch in front of the main grandstands.”
Burton’s laps were clocked at an average of 91.9 seconds, nearly 100 mph.
The test was originally scheduled to be a one-day event with Thursday reserved as a rain day, but Balash said NASCAR utilized the second day because it offered additional opportunities to secure information. “Everything went according to plan,” Balash said. “We gathered everything necessary, not only about the set-ups on the car and gear ratios, but also all of the last-minute details that we needed to finalize about this racing facility.”
The Mexico 200 marks the NASCAR Busch Series’ return to road-course racing for the first time since 2001 at Watkins Glen. The NASCAR Busch Series will also return to race at Watkins Glen on Aug. 13.
NASCAR Busch Series teams will make their 2005 debut at Daytona International Speedway Jan. 22-24 during NASCAR Preseason Thunder testing.
Contributed by NASCAR News Bureau
