Press Snoop: To chicane or not to chicane?

Sunday's weather has taken quite a turn in Mexico City at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez for the third NASCAR Busch Series race. All week it has been sunny and hot, but Sunday is grey and cloudy, and the overcast is not holding in any heat.

It says 50 degrees F, but feels more like 40. My fingers are numb while typing this. I certainly don't envy the ubiquitous chiquitas with their bare midriffs and skimpy costumes.

Sunday's NASCAR Busch Series race will be shown live in Spanish in the US on ESPN, with broadcast analyst ALEX POMBO and play-by-play announcer ANDREAS AGULLA. The pit reporters will be CLAUDIA TREJOS and MARCELO VIVO. This will be the first time such a broadcast has been done in the US live on a major network. Pombo has been working for ESPN since 1993, and knows Mexican racing from both sides of the microphone. Prior to joining ESPN Pombo was a racer, running Formula Vee, F3, Rabbits, Barber Saab and Mexican prototypes.

Pombo's pick for Sunday's Busch race is ROGELIO LOPEZ, starting 29th. Lopez tested earlier in 55 degree weather and has the right set-ups for this climate, and he knows the track. He is the 2006 champion of the Mexican NASCAR series, known as Desafio Corona. Lopez raced in last year's Busch race, finishing 29th.

SCOTT PRUETT has the pole for Sunday's telcel/MOTOROLA Mexico 200 NASCAR Busch Series race. Saturday he finished fourth in the Grand American Rolex Series race, with co-driver MEMO ROJAS in #01 TELMEX Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Daytona Prototype, and he continues to lead the driver standings. Pruett compared the Daytona Prototype and Busch stock car. Differences include the braking points and corner speeds. The basics are the same, but it is all in how the cars are set up. The DPs have heavier steering wheels which are physically harder to steer. The shifting patterns are different.

Eight drivers will be dropping to the back of the field a the start of the race - one for an unapproved adjustment after impound - SCOTT WIMMER - who qualified 19th; and seven for engine changes, including PJ JONES (from tenth), MICHEL JOURDAIN Jr (eleventh), DAVID GILLILAND (21st), DAVID REUTIMANN (25th), SHANE HUFFMAN (27th), DAVID RAGAN (35th) and KERTUS DAVIS (37th).

There are varying opinions on running the chicane at the end of the long front straight and whether or not it is related to the engine failures this weekend. A couple of the long-time NASCAR engine team builders, one each from Ford and Chevrolet, said the long straight with no chicane makes the rpms stay in high range for a long time. This is hard on valve train parts and puts more stress on the engine. Road racers are smoother on the down shifting, on the braking and shifting. The non road racers downshift too early, the rpms stay high and over rev the engine.

To compensate, the gear ratio is changed, which changes the rpms, to lower them so they won't run as high. NASCAR mandates gear ratios for all Busch Series tracks. It issues to all the three top tier series teams a list of the gear ratios to be used at each track all year. The gear ratios for Autodromo were changed this year to compensate for the loss of the chicane. This year, they are taller gears. The Autodromo rpms range from 5000 to 9400. At California Speedway last weekend, the range was 7000 to 9000 rpm. At Martinsville, the rpms run high but for a shorter time. Here in Mexico the front straight is 1.1km long, the longest straight Busch runs this year - longer than Pocono Raceway.

The high altitude also means less air/no air going through the engines so they run less power.

JOURDAIN Jr blew an engine Friday afternoon. His crew said that a part broke and it won't happen again. Without the chicane, the load is tougher, but his engine is up to it. Neither Jourdain nor Roush Racing manager MAX JONES feel the lack of the chicane is hard on the engine. At California Speedway, the cars run flat out on the two-mile speedway and there isn't a problem.

To that, another engine builder said the cars aren't running high rpms completely all the time at Fontana. It's running high rpms for extended periods of time which is hard on the engine. In Mexico, it's estimated that the cars run more than 3000 feet in high rpms, longer than Pocono.

LOPEZ didn't lose an engine Friday afternoon in the last practice. What he lost was a transmission plug, which was responsible for oiling the track, causing a delay in the session. JIMMY MORALES, director of Scuderia Telmex, feels the lack of a chicane is hard on the engines. He said when braking and downshifting at the end of the log straight, the rpms go up. The rods expand and blow. But, he added 'it's the show - for the fans. There is a lot of action in turn one'. But, he said, the chicane adds a dimension. Driving down the straight without it isn't too difficult.

Morales is a long-time Mexican driver who raced in the last two Mexican Busch races and, for two years, raced with the Chip Ganassi Grand-Am Rolex Series team. He is now in charge of the Telmex Driver Development programme, which includes drivers in the US, Mexico, Italy, England and Germany. This weekend, Telmex drivers include Lopez, who will be running the NASCAR Busch North Series in the US starting this summer. In all, Telmex sponsors and supports ten drivers.

DAVIS blew an engine Friday. However, his crew can't blame the lack of the chicane on the failure. With the chicane, down shifting is hard. REUTIMANN over revved the engine which burned a valve and this engine failure was not related to a lack of the chicane. The problem was back at the shop - a part failed.

RON FELLOWS, who has run all three Mexican Busch races, said the track is easier to run without the chicane. He doesn't think there is much of a correlation between no chicane and engine problems. The rpms are the same, maybe a tick longer. Running different gears, rear gears, allows for more speed at the same rpms. Fellows starts sixth.

BORIS SAID said he prefers the chicane. NASCAR gave the teams the wrong gears - one is too short and one is too long.

RUSTY WALLACE said there is more run-off now in turn one at the end of the straight and, without the chicane, drivers can go faster. One doesn't have to be a road course specialist. DENNY HAMLIN proved that last year.

Regarding the chances of a Mexican driver doing well in the race, Wallace said that communication between the crew chief and the driver could be problematic. The Mexican drivers need to know the cars.

Wallace is really pumped up about how far and wide the ESPN Busch coverage will spread this weekend. He was teasing Pombo earlier Sunday about being nervous to broadcast worldwide to 90 million people.