Quaker State in litigation with Fernandez

The word from our Mexican sources is that Quaker State of Mexico dropped Fernandez Racing and was sued by and countersuing Adrián. Quaker State was Adrian's last real Mexican sponsor. Apparently in October there was an Executive Board change at the company. Their board consists of five people, two of them the Flores brothers, but the other three guys are new. The new guys got together, out-voted the brothers, and decided to get out of the IRL since they feel it is money that doesn’t have great return. Instead they started a promotional campaign where if you buy two liters of oil you can win a Porsche (three given away), and if you don’t you get a Hot Wheels car.

Telmex decided to focus on racing series that run in Mexico, that's why they quit sponsoring Adrián for 2005, although Carlos Slim told our source that they would review this if the IRL came to race in Mexico. They will sponsor the Mexico 200 Busch race, plus a team and do some personal sponsorships with drivers.

Tecate left IRL because they sponsor the Champ Car races in Mexico and they don't want the IRL, but they still say they will have the Tecate GP in Monterrey this May. They have the idea that sponsoring a racing series or events is much more fruitful than individuals or teams. This is the same thinking by Roshfrans, which now sponsors the Busch Mexico 200 (Associate sponsor) and the NASCAR Mexico, plus they will keep some money with HVM (Herdez Comp.)