Mexico City Observations

Thoughts, observations and a few questions following the Telcel Motorola 200 Busch Series race in Mexico City:

• Did Juan Pablo Montoya take his teammate out to win the race? Or did Scott Pruett chop Montoya and force the Colombian to use his fender to make the pass?

Clearly Montoya braked late, had the inside line and Pruett cut him off.

Enough said.

I hated to watch Pruett whine about it, too, as if he was just going to let Montoya pass him with ease later in the race.

• Was there any doubt that Montoya would have no problem making his way back to the front after his fueling snafu?

Not in my mind.

I had the pleasure of watching this extremely talented driver decimate the competition in his CART days on both road courses and ovals. Just wait until he and his Cup team get the ovals figured out.

And by the way, after watching the manner in which Brad Parrott and his crew first gave Montoya a top-notch car to win the race and then held it together during their pit road problems, I'm convinced that Chip Ganassi needs to put Parrott in charge of Montoya's Cup program

• Every time the ESPN2 crew referred to Montoya as "Juan Pablo Montoya, International Superstar" it made me laugh. I kept thinking they were about to say "Juan Pablo Montoya, International Man of Mystery.

I still laugh when I think about it.

• For a guy with a short-track sprint car background, Jason Leffler and his Toyota delivered another standout performance on a road course with his sixth-place finish. Carl Edwards may be the favorite for the Busch Series title at this juncture, but I'm thinking Leffler (who is only 12th in points right now) just may be the guy who could give him a real run for his money.

Plus, the Toyota Busch program looks like it may be the real deal. Dave Blaney (another short-track guy) scored a solid 13th-place finish with his Camry and moved into third in the points.

• There were six engine failures before the green flag flew and then two more occurred during the race. Is unleaded fuel the culprit? Was the altitude an issue? There are a lot of unanswered questions here.

• Aussie road racer turned oval racer Marcos Ambrose had a sure top-five run going until a late-race spin forced him into a display of road racing expertise, passing seven cars on the final two laps. He ended up eighth. This guy is good.

• Several drivers ended up (once again) under the "Can I Get a Break Here?" banner in Mexico City. They include Ron Fellows, who always seems to have some kind of issue at this event. This time it was an engine misfire. Then there is local favorite Carlos Contreras, who wowed the crowd by running with the leaders for most of the race until a faulty fuel pump put him out of the running. And finally, local favorite Michel Jourdain Jr. for the second year in a row was involved in a wreck coming out of Turn 7.

• OK, so you put road course "expert" P.J. Jones in arguably the best car in the field (the RCR-prepared Chevy that Kevin Harvick normally drives) and he brings it home 24th? Here's a guy who should have easily driven right through the field. He did not.

Then you put another road course "expert" (former Trans Am champion) Brian Simo in arguably one of the worst cars in the field and he finishes 22nd. Simo struggled to stay out of everyone's way for most of the day, but still finished ahead of Jones.

Things that make you go Hmmm.

• Mexican sports hero Adrian Fernandez had engine issues and problems in the pits en route to a ninth-place finish, his second-best at his home track (he was fourth in 2006). There's still next year.

• Speaking of next year, from all accounts NASCAR will be back again in Mexico for 2008. However, there's talk once more of moving this race to the road course at Monterrey, in northern Mexico. Although logistics would make the race easier to get to for both the big rigs and American fans that want to attend a race in Mexico, I think it would be a mistake to take this event out of Mexico City.

• The locals had reason to stand on their feet early in the race when another hometown driver, German Quiroga Jr., led nine laps. Quiroga is no newcomer to racing. He comes from an open wheel background (he also has passed his Indy Pro Series rookie test) and he's done some sports car racing as well.

• I'm still not comfortable with the ESPN2 broadcast crew. Dr. Jerry Punch seems hesitant with his leadership role in the booth, Andy Petree comes off as a caricature of Larry McReynolds and someone needs to tell Rusty Wallace to shut up. Wallace uses too many words to describe a situation.

However, ESPN2's plan to include both Montoya and Parrott as race analysts was a stroke of genius. It was pretty cool to hear Montoya admit that the most important thing on his mind was to bring his car home – and not go for the win – during the final caution laps.

Postscript

Montoya's first win came in a characteristic (for him) fashion. For those unfamiliar with his recent history, the Colombian's wheel-to-wheel battles with perhaps the greatest Formula One driver of all time, Michael Schumacher, are the stuff of legend.

Montoya backs down from no one.

Some may call this a controversial win, but it was done in a manner that would easily elicit a wink and a nod of approval from many a long-time stock car racing observer.

It's not too difficult to imagine a similar move being made by one of the sport's current and/or former superstars.

Should we expect anything less from Montoya, a future star of the sport? And should we expect Montoya be brazen enough to make a similar move against Tony Stewart or Jeff Gordon?

Maybe not in the near future, but expect it to happen before the season is out.