2005 Telcel Motorola 200

The 2005 Telcel Motorola 200 was a NASCAR Busch Series race held at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in Mexico City, Mexico on March 6, 2005. The race was NASCAR's first ever trip to Mexico City and their first race that is not in the United States since 1999. It was also the 3rd race of the 2005 NASCAR Busch Series. The race was the NASCAR debut for former IndyCar Series driver and the hometown hero Adrián Fernández. One of Mexico's own Jorge Goeters, who was one of 10 Mexican born drivers attempting to qualify in the race, won the pole but it would be Martin Truex Jr. who would dominate the race, leading the most laps and winning the first ever race in the end.

Background
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is a 4.304 km motorsport race track in Mexico City, Mexico, named after the racing drivers Ricardo (1942–1962) and Pedro Rodríguez (1940–1971). The circuit got its name shortly after it opened when Ricardo Rodríguez died in practice for the non-Championship 1962 Mexican Grand Prix. Ricardo's brother Pedro was also killed behind the wheel nine years later. Since 2015, the track has once again hosted the Formula One Mexican Grand Prix, an event it previously hosted in two separate periods on a different layout, the last occasion of which was in 1992.

The circuit is located within the public park of the Magdalena Mixhuca Sports City in southeast Mexico City. The circuit is owned by the Government of the city, but is currently operated under concession by Corporación Interamericana de Entretenimiento (CIE) through OCESA, one of CIE's subsidiaries. CIE also organizes the NASCAR and Desafío Corona races in this circuit and rents the circuits to other parties, including race organizers, automobile clubs and track amateurs for fees that are controversial due to their disproportionately high amounts compared to other ex-F1 courses.

Entry list

 * (R) denotes rookie driver
 * (i) denotes ineligible for points

Qualifying
Mexico's own Jorge Goeters won the pole for the race with a time of 1:27.696 and a speed of 103.366 mph.

Starting grid
* – Scott Gaylord originally qualified the car and was to compete but made a last minute change to allow Jimmy Morales to be able to compete in his home Country.

** – Adrián Fernández, Chris Cook, Tim Fedewa, Jimmy Morales, and Robby Gordon all had to start at the rear of the field. Fernández had a backup car, Cook and Gordon had an engine change, Fedewa had a transmission change, and Morales has a driver change.

Race
On lap 1, Martin Truex Jr. attempted to take the lead from pole sitter Jorge Goeters in turn 3 but failed to get in front of him and Goeters led the first lap becoming the first Mexican born driver to lead a Busch Series race. On lap 8, the first caution flew for debris after José Luis Ramírez's right front tire came apart. The race would restart on lap 12. On the restart, Ron Fellows attempted to take the lead from Goeters but failed to get in front of him. On lap 17, Mara Reyes spun in turn 3 and ended up getting stuck on the gravel traps in turns 1 and 2 which would bring out the second caution on lap 18. The race would restart on lap 21. On lap 25, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead after the top 2 in Jorge Goeters and Jamie McMurray both pitted. On lap 27, a couple of incidents would occur. First being when Tyler Walker overshot turn 3 and ended up going through the gravel trap but that did not bring out a caution after Walker got back onto the track without any harm. The third caution flew when Mara Reyes' car stalled in turn 1. During the caution, a wacky and funny moment would occur when a dog ran out onto the track before it found its way out going through a hole in the fence. The race would restart on lap 30. On lap 32, Stanton Barrett spun in turn 3 but no caution flew as Barrett got going again. On lap 33, Mexico City's own Adrián Fernández took the lead from Truex. At the same time, Paul Menard spun in turn 5 but no caution was thrown as he got back going again. On lap 37, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead back from Fernández. On lap 38, the 4th caution would fly when Michel Jourdain Jr. crashed in turn 8.

Final laps
The race would restart with 40 laps to go. At around 37 to go, Ron Hornaday spun in turn 3 after he got turned by Jorge Goeters but no caution flew as Hornaday got back going again. With 36 to go, Ron Fellows spun in almost the same area Hornaday did before after Fellows got turned by Carlos Contreras. No caution flew as he got back going again. With 35 to go, Kevin Harvick took the lead after Martin Truex Jr. went to pit. As soon as Truex entered pit road, the 5th caution flew with 34 to go when Rubén García Novoa crashed in the chicane at around turn 3. Stanton Barrett was the new leader and Barrett led the field to the restart with 30 laps to go. With 28 to go, both Ron Fellows and Denny Hamlin spun in turn 3. No caution was thrown as Hamlin and Fellows got back going again. At the same time, Martin Truex Jr. took the lead from Barrett. With 27 to go, the 6th caution flew for debris. The race would restart with 23 laps to go. With 22 to go, Reed Sorenson spun in turn 4 but no caution threw as he got going again before the 7th caution flew for fluid from Robby Gordon's blown engine. The race would restart with 17 to go. With 16 to go, Tim Fedewa spun in turn 4 but no caution flew as he got back going again. With 15 to go, the 8th and final caution flew when Jorge Goeters' engine blew. The race would restart with 11 laps to go. Multiple incidents occurred during the run with no cautions thrown as the drivers got going. With 10 to go, Shawna Robinson spun in turn 3. With 9 to go, Stanton Barrett spun in turn 5. With 7 to go, Tyler Walker and Jamie McMurray spun in turn 5. With 3 to go, José Luis Ramírez spun in turn 4. While all that was going on, Martin Truex Jr. held onto the lead and Truex would win the first race at Mexico with Truex scoring his first of 6 wins en route to his 2nd Busch Series championship in a row. Kevin Harvick, Carl Edwards, Shane Hmiel, and Boris Said rounded out the top 5 while Rusty Wallace, Clint Bowyer, Kenny Wallace, Ashton Lewis, and Adrián Fernández rounded out the top 10.