Fernandezmania?

Mexico, which has had its share of great boxers, baseball players and soccer stars, now has one of its own in a most unusual position in motor racing.

Adrian Fernandez, a native of Mexico City, stands atop CART’s FedEx championship standings after winning the second race of his career last Sunday in Japan. With 29 points, he is tied with Canada’s Greg Moore, but ranked No. 1 because he has won and Moore has not.

Only one other native Mexican, Hector Rebaque in 1982, has won an Indy car or CART race.

“When I got home from Japan, I felt like everyone in Mexico was calling to congratulate me,” Fernandez, 32, said from his home in Paradise Valley, Ariz. He said the calls were not only from Mexico but from countries in South America. “It kept me very busy, but it was a happy busy.”

Although home is still Mexico City, Fernandez lives in the Phoenix area during the season with his Australian wife, Tania, whom he met while racing at Surfers Paradise in 1996.

Fernandez, who will drive in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach this weekend, won his first Indy car race two years ago at Toronto, but much of the enjoyment was lost when a close friend, Jeff Krosnoff, was killed in a racing accident that day.

“It was so hard to think about celebrating when one of your fellow drivers dies. I knew I had won, I had many people congratulate me, but always I had a heavy heart. This time, in Japan, I feel very satisfied because I know I won a close race with Al [Unser] Jr. right behind me.

“Looking in my mirrors for the last 30 laps and seeing Al Jr., I was thinking I might lose the race if I made the smallest mistake. It kept me very focused. I didn’t make a mistake, neither did he. It must have made for a great race for the spectators.”

Fernandez led 102 of the 210 laps on the 1.5-mile oval at Twin Ring Motegi.

“My whole life has changed since I joined Pat Patrick’s team,” Fernandez said. “It was easy to leave Tasman Motorsports after last year. I had a horrible year, I was stuck with the Lola all year and everyone knew it was not competitive. Everyone switched, even my teammate [Andre Ribeiro], to Reynards, but I was stuck with the Lola.

“It was very obvious to me that Tasman was not the place to be, even though the team gave me my first win, so I began looking at other teams. Pat Patrick had been my friend for years. We started talking and I was very fortunate to become part of his team and be teammates with Scott Pruett.”

Raul Boesel lost the Patrick ride when his sponsor, Brahma, decided to spend its money on World Cup soccer instead of racing. Fernandez got the edge by bringing his sponsor, Tecate/Quaker State, with him from Tasman.

The move was applauded by Patrick’s team as much as it was by Fernandez.

“Adrian brings the spark and enthusiasm that a team needs to be a front-running organization,” said team manager Jim McGee, the second-winningest manager/chief mechanic in Indy car history. (McGee has 83 wins, four Indianapolis 500 wins and nine championships and is the only man to win at least one championship in four consecutive decades.)

“Pat is a very intelligent man, very intelligent about racing, and he gets the right people, from Jim McGee to [chief engineer] Steve Newey and all the crew,” Fernandez said. “And I have worked closer with Scott Pruett than with any teammate I’ve ever had. We have fun, we pull together.

“That’s something you don’t see often at this level of racing. Having fun with each other.”

Fernandez also said that winning in Japan gave him and the team added satisfaction because “Japan is the home ground for Firestone tires, the race was sponsored by them and it was Scott and Pat Patrick who tested the tire and brought it back to CART a couple of years ago.

“It was a great win for the Ford engine too, right there in front of the Honda people, who built the Twin Ring track.”

Asked about his position atop the CART FedEx standings, Fernandez said he would rather not think about it.

“There are a lot of hungry drivers out there, driving good cars, so all we want to do is continue to work hard, accumulate points and have the consistency to be in position to fight for the championship later in the season.

“First, though, is Long Beach. We proved we were competitive on the ovals at Homestead [where he finished fifth] and Japan. Now we’ll see how we do on a road course. The Patrick cars finished third and eighth there last year, so the team has a good baseline. Hopefully, we’ll have the right combination.”

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Grand Prix of Long Beach at a Glance

* When: Friday-Sunday. Practice and qualifying Friday and Saturday. Support races Saturday and Sunday. CART race Sunday.

* The Course: A 1.59-mile, eight-turn circuit in downtown Long Beach.

* Drivers: Include defending and PPG Cup champion Alex Zanardi, six-time Long Beach winner Al Unser Jr., Jimmy Vasser, Michael Andretti, Paul Tracy.

* TV: 1 p.m. Sunday, ESPN.

* Radio: XTRA (690).