NASCAR’s search for new markets for Winston Cup racing could take a decidedly unexpected twist – think Mexico City and Australia. Car owner Jack Roush says that an early January Cup race in Australia would be perfect timing, since the weather’s great, and he likes Canadian and Mexican options, too. While the Indy Racing League would be the obvious choice to replace CART at those venues, NASCAR sources say that the stock-car sanctioning body – which, after all, runs one of the world’s most popular auto-racing series – may be approached by sponsors to consider running races at Mexico City and in Australia in CART’s stead. Two such Winston Cup races could perk the interest of NBC and Fox, who haven’t been making money on the sport they’re paying $400 million a year to broadcast. Two venues closer to home, with more logical markets, are Vancouver, British Columbia, and Denver [street courses for Cup cars?].( Winston Salem Journal )(8-4-2003) UPDATE: NASCAR spokesman Herb Branham confirmed Tuesday the sanctioning body is exploring the “long-term possibility” of holding a Busch or Truck series race in Mexico, likely in the Mexico City area. NASCAR has expanded beyond the continental United States before but only with non-points “exhibition” races held in Japan in 1997 and 1998. “People in Mexico are intensely interested in NASCAR and Mexico borders areas of the U.S. also with a lot of fan interest,” Branham said. “It should come as no surprise there would be interest in holding a race in Mexico considering the tremendous growth of the sport.” In its third year of distributing its programming overseas, NASCAR started the 2003 season with an expanded global reach including television broadcasts in more than 100 countries in 21 languages each week. “We are working hard to drive more worldwide exposure and attention to NASCAR and we are pleased with the early results our international television partners are seeing in their local markets,” said Paul Brooks, NASCAR’s vice president of broadcasting. Asked specifically if the 2005 season was a possibility for a NASCAR event in Mexico, Branham said there was not established timetable.( Thatsracin.com )(8-5-2003)
