NASCAR won't visit Mexico City in 2009

NASCAR will not return to Mexico next season, The Charlotte Observer reports.

For four years, the Nationwide Series has run a race at the Hermanos Rodriguez Autodrome road course in Mexico City. Officials confirmed Sunday that the series will not be back there in 2009, but they have not announced where the replacement race will be. However, sources told the Observer the likely replacement venue is the new Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa.

Several factors, including a growing and stable touring series in Mexico and lower attendance at the Nationwide event, contributed to the decision not to return to Mexico City in 2009, the Observer reports.

"This was never about a single event. The big idea was to strengthen motorsports in Mexico," NASCAR executive Robbie Weiss told the Observer. "We didn't create racing in Mexico and it has a long heritage, but in reality the racing market down there was very fragmented.

"The idea was could we help relaunch and strengthen the Mexican motorpsorts community with the big idea of launching a national championship that would be the most significant championship in the country."