FanHouse Mexico

In the wake of Mexico's 3-0 demolition of Costa Rica on the fast turf of Saprissa late Saturday night, fans of El Tri ought to be grateful coach Javier Aguirre doesn't have the same policy for playing young players as his U.S. counterpart Bob Bradley.

After spending most of the summer worrying whether or not if Mexico would get out of CONCACAF World Cup 2010 qualification, El Tri are squarely back in the mix for one of the region's three automatic spots thanks to 20-year-old rising star Gio Dos Santos.

In the grand scheme of things, the first five matches for the U.S. national team in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup haven't had all that much long-term significance. That, however, changes Sunday afternoon when the U.S. meets with rival Mexico at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., to crown the tournament champion. (Fox Soccer Channel, 3 p.m.)

It doesn't matter so much that when that most of the players contesting Sunday's final won't be around come Aug. 12 when the teams meet again in Mexico City for a crucial 2010 World Cup qualifier. This is still U.S. vs. Mexico, the most heated rivalry in the region regardless of the starting XIs.

Sven-Goran Eriksson has been named the new manager of the Mexican national team. What better way to celebrate than with a song?


The former England and Manchester City manager replaces Hugo Sanchez, who was sacked after failing to get the Tricolores U-23s to the Olympics. Manchester City has already appointed former Blackburn Rovers boss Mark Hughes as their new manager.

I'm eager to see Bob Bradley's reaction to this hiring, actually. Bob and Sven look like they could play quite a chess match against each other.

Here's video of the contact made in Sunday's race between the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammates, Juan Pablo Montoya and Scott Pruett.

Judge for yourselves ... Did JPM race him clean or was he too aggressive getting past Pruett?

Update: Were there were plenty of laps left for him to complete the pass? Maybe yes, maybe no. Who's to say he would have caught up with him again?

I just don't think that JPM is fully responsible for this incident. He clearly had enough room to pull ahead of him ... and then Pruett came back down. The real question is ... where the heck was Pruett's spotter?

Juan Pablo Montoya's first Busch Series win will be recorded in history books and etched in the memory of the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team and its fans for years to come.

The record books will remember a foreigner winning a NASCAR race in a foreign land.

The team will remember a bittersweet trip to victory lane.

Montoya stole the lead from his teammate and polesitter Scott Pruett after making contact that sent him flying with 8 laps to go in today's Telcel Motorola 200:

"We were both braking about the same ... he kinda stayed wide so I went for the inside and when I was there he turned and I had nowhere to go ... I'm really sorry for him ... but ... you know ..." *shrugs shoulders*

After the incident, Pruett restarted 17th and made his way up to a 5th place finish. Pruett retaliated after the checkers by running Montoya down and giving him a nudge. He was less than pleased:

"Of all people to take you out ... your teammate. I mean that was just no good, low, natsty, dirty driving. I can't even put it into words. It's just so disappointing. We talked about it and talked about it and talked about it in meetings ... if he was faster than me ... you know ... we can work it out and he can go ... but not take each other out. That's just bad driving."

Montoya's crew chief, Brad Parrot, wasn't too happy either. He struggled to hold back the tears during a post-race interview:

"I'm upset that we wrecked Scott Pruett. Scott's got a great team ... I'm glad we won the race, but I'm really upset that we took out our teammate ... Juan's got a long way to go ... he's a great driver, but you know ... he's gotta get his head on ... I'm not saying he don't have his head on, but we had plenty of time to get by Pruett. I'm real proud of Juan and the job this Texaco Havoline Telcel Dodge team did ... I'm excited, but then again, I feel for [Crew Chief] Brian Pattie because we've worked hard to try to build a team that can work together. It's tough."

Gonna be even tougher now.

Tecel Motorola 200 Results | Busch Series Standings

Colombian native Juan Pablo Montoya topped the speed chart in NASCAR Busch Series practice yesterday and his Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Scott Pruett scored the second fastest time. Mexican natives Carlos Contreras and Jorge Goeters were also in the top 5 as they headed to qualifying.

On Sunday, Montoya and his crew chief, Brad Parrott, will be ESPN2's "In-Race Reporters." JPM will have cameras inside his car to show his face as he speaks to ESPN2 booth analyst Rusty Wallace while on the pace laps and during caution periods. Parrott will speak to booth analyst Andy Petree at various times throughout the telecast.

Montoya is excited to return to Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez:

"It's an awesome track. It takes a lot of talent to go around and its tricky and needs a lot of rhythm. I hope we can have a good weekend and bring the car home this time. I see our team going higher and higher and that is the main goal."

And by "bringing the car home" he means finish a race--something he has yet to accomplish in the series so far this season. After engine trouble in Daytona and a wreck in Cali, JPM is 46th in the Busch standings--quite a feat considering there are only 35 full-time teams.

Update: The top 5 in practice are also the top 5 qualifiers.

1. Pruett
2. Contreras
3. Montoya
4. Goeters
5. Defending race champion Denny Hamlin

Lineup

ESPN is set to make history on Saturday when they simulcast ESPN Deportes' Spanish-language flag-to-flag coverage the Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200.

As part of the ESPN Full Circle Presentation, ESPN Deportes will feature a unique telecast of the race, with its own on-site production team, Spanish-language graphics and commentary as well as highlighting key Hispanic drivers. Play-by-play commentator Andrés Agulla will be joined in the booth by Alex Pombo for analysis. Claudia Trejos and Marcelo Vivo will serve as pit reporters. NASCAR team owner Felix Sabates will join Agulla and Pombo in the booth for 30 minutes during the race.

English-speaking fans will still tune into ESPN2, home of the 2007 Busch Series.

There's no Nextel Cup race in Mexico City, but nine Cup drivers will join the Busch regulars for this weekend's international road course race, including the defending race winner Denny Hamlin, who scored his first Busch series win last season at Autodromo Hermanos Rodiquez. Carl Edwards, Dave Blaney, J.J. Yeley, David Gilliland and Greg Biffle also will race, as will rookies David Ragan, David Reutimann and Hispanic favorite Juan Pablo Montoya.

¡Boogity del boogity del boogity!

¡Vamos a competir a las carreras, muchachos!