Ruben Rovelo Earns First NASCAR PEAK Mexico Title

PUEBLA, Mexico — Rubén Rovelo finished 10th in the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series finale Friday at Autódromo Internacional Miguel E. Abed, but it was more than enough for the 33-year-old from Mexico City to capture his first championship.

Two-time champion Abraham Calderón won the 12th and final race of the 2020 season, ahead of three-time champion Rubén García Jr. Calderón won the titles in 2014 and ’17, while García was champion in 2015 and 2018-19; there was no 2016 season.

Rovelo entered the last race of the year with a 22-point lead over García and 32 over Calderón, and need only to start the race in his #28 Alessandros/Marketing & Advertising/Andrade Toyota to clinch the title.

Rovelo, who made his series debut in 2008 as a 20 year old, has finished in the top 10 in points every season of his career — including runner-up in 2015 and ’17. It was also the first championship for his team JV Racing, the only team other than Escuderia Telmex and Team GP to win a championship in the series’ history.

Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the start of the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series was delated until July. Rovelo won the first three races – Querétaro, San Luis Potosí and Aguascalientes — and added wins at Querétaro in October and again there in the penultimate race of the season en route to the crown.

Rovelo has 22 career NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series wins. He made five starts in the former NASCAR East Series in 2010, with a career best ninth at South Carolina’s Greenville Pickens Speedway.

Max Gutierrez won the NASCAR FedEx Challenge Series championship on the strength of five wins, while Noel de Jesús León ran the final race of the season for the second division series.

Andres Perez de Lara won the Truck Mexico Series race by .008 seconds over Federico Gutierrez, and took home the non-NASCAR-sanctioned series title.

In addition, the NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series unveiled the new 2021 car.

The 2021 NASCAR PEAK Mexico Series schedule will be announced at a later date.