NASCAR in Argentina; Schrader to drive
Several members of the press, plus thousands of fans, were present at the Juan Galvez building, the Turismo Carretera Racers Association headquarters (ACTC in Spanish,) in order to take pictures and get to know more details of the cars that arrived from the United States and will be driven by the famous American driver Ken Schrader, as well as the local drivers MatÃas Rossi (3M pilot) and Diego AventÃn.
Oscar AventÃn –ACTC President-, Antonio Osuna -3M President-, Juan Carlos Lucio Godoy – RÃo Uruguay Seguros- Rubén Gil Bicella –ACTC General Secretary-, Hugo Mazzacane –ACTC Vice-president-, Juan MarÃa Traverso –representing the San Luis Government- and the Turismo Carretera 2008 Champion, Guillermo Ortelli, were all present at the press conference.
“This is an opportunity to bring to our country three cars from the main divisions of NASCAR and also, the winner of the Talladega 500, Ken Schrader," said Oscar AventÃn when he presented the vehicles from Sprint Cup, Nationwide Series and the Camping World Series. “Talladega is the fastest oval in the United States and Schrader is a successful driver in this competitive and famous series around the world. He is an experienced driver, and we are hoping that he will tell others what he experienced while in Argentina, in our series, and he will talk about the country and Potrero de los Funes, which is an authorized FIA racetrack."
“Hopefully this is the breakthrough moment, and NASCAR will be able to come for a competition in Argentina, in the future, and vice versa; (Hopefully) some day the Turismo Carretera cars will be seeing closely by the Americans and they will be able to see the technical advances in our cars. It is a great honor, for all the members of the Asociaci¢n Corredores Turismo Carretera, to have NASCAR among us," said AventÃn.
Talking from the San Luis Province, Tourism, Culture and Sports Minister, Mr. Carlos Poggi, assured: “We have to take the arrival of these cars not just like a parade; it is not just a ‘condiment’ for the Turismo Carretera racing weekend. We think this is a great opportunity for us to showcase to the visitors (what we have) so they can be witnesses, and take their impressions and points of view about the circuit (to others.) We are starting to dream that we can see the whole (NASCAR) series racing in our magnificent circuit."
The three Roush Fenway Racing vehicles will go around Potrero de los Funes on Saturday and Sunday, and will share the stage with the biggest auto racing series in Argentina.
07/27/09 On Sunday July 19th, three NASCAR vehicles from Roush Fenway Racing arrived at the Buenos Aires City Port. On August 2, those cars will hold a special exhibition during the celebration of a Tourismo Carretera Series racing weekend at Potrero de los Funes, a racetrack located in the San Luis Province. The American team will bring Ken Schrader who also has four wins in the NASCAR Sprint Cup. Argentinean drivers MatÃas Rossi (3M driver in Tourismo Carretera) and Diego AventÃn will drive with Schrader in the 6250 meters (3.88 miles) circuit. The vehicles that will be showcased around the circuit on Saturday -in between the Tourismo Carretera and TC Pista qualifying sessions, and on Sunday before the feature race of the mayor series in Argentina, come from the Sprint Cup, the Nationwide Series, and the Camping World Series. Tourismo Carretera was the first series created in the world, which earned it a Guinness Record Book mention. The first race was held in 1937 and over these 72 years has become a huge passion for Argentineans, just second to soccer. Every Tourismo Carretera race attracts an average of 40,000 fans. For the event on August 2, at the track known as "Potrero de los Funes," it is expected that a record number of more than 60,000 fans will attend, since it is a street course around a lake. Roush Fenway Racing will bring their crew chief and two mechanics that will travel with Ken Schrader. Media Racing