NASCAR Mexico City race in doubt

UPDATE A reader asks, Dear AutoRacing1.com, So what if NASCAR pulls out, or is thrown out of Mexico City by Forsythe, what is Champ Car going to do to reverse their downturn in popularity in what was once their highest attended race? Bonnie Jackson, Oakland, CA

Dear Bonnie, Say what you might about Joe Heitzler, but when he ran things for CART down in Mexico, the race was a huge success (Over 400K attendance for the weekend, the place was packed all around the circuit). Rebuilding the motorsports economy (sponsorship) in Mexico is crucial to open wheel in the U.S. and Heitzler is one of the few (if not the only one actually) who could step into Mexico and fix it. He has maintained excellent relationships in Mexico and to this day is well respected for what he has done there. Until they put Heitzler on the ground full-time again in Mexico City, there won't be a turnaround. Mark C.

09/13/06 Recall our earlier prediction that Gerald Forsythe, pissed at NASCAR over the Phoenix race incident and other monopolistic NASCAR/ISC actions, could see to it that not only would Grand-Am be kicked out of Long Beach, which we hear they have been, but that he would terminate the NASCAR contract in Mexico City first chance he gets. That was speculation on our part, but something we surely can see happen when the contract is up.

Now, however, comes word that NASCAR might leave Mexico on its own. According to sources, apparently OCESA (Forsythe's partner in Mexico City) is going through a really tough period with NASCAR and there are strong rumors that the Busch race won’t happen next year… It seems that NASCAR gave OCESA around $12 million dollars to promote the NASCAR brand in Mexico and to operate their races and apparently the France family is not happy with the job done or the results.