NASCAR Home Tracks
Lopez Out Front In The End
Last-lap accident hands him 17th career winMEXICO CITY - Rogelio Lopez was in the right place at the right time to extend his all-time NASCAR Mexico Series wins mark to 17 with his second win of the season Sunday. It was also the second career win for the 2006 series champion at Mexico City, with his previous win at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez coming in Dec. of 2006.
A multi-car wreck on lap 102 collected race leader Carlos Contreras and challengers Antonio Perez, Rafael Martinez, Patrick Goeters and Jose Montano. The red flag was brought out for cleanup and Lopez was out front at the point when the race reached its 100-minute time limit.
Ruben Rovelo finished second, followed by Pepe Gonzalez, Hugo Oliveras and rookie Alejandro Capin.
Points leader Germain Quiroga finished 12th, yet still managed to extend his points lead over Ruben Pardo, who was caught up in an accident and finished 29th. Quiroga now leads Lopez by 318 points with two races remaining. Pardo dropped from second to sixth - 14 points behind Lopez, but now trailing Rovelo, Goeters and Perez in the standings as well.
Martinez won the pole position Saturday and led the first 24 laps before giving way to Perez. Martinez wound up finishing 11th, while Perez finished 16th. Carlos Contreras took the lead on lap 52 and led nearly the rest of the way until an accident in the closing laps allowed Lopez to grab the victory.
Quiroga can clinch his first NASCAR Mexico Series championship by starting the second-to-last race of the season Nov. 8 at Autódromo de Chiapas in Tuxtla Gutierrez. Quiroga has been the series runner-up the last two seasons - finishing second by four points to Rafael Martinez in 2007 and by 29 to Antonio Perez by 29.
Below, the cars drive down the front stretch at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez Sunday. OCESA
