Taking the Flag for Mexico

How popular is Adrian Fernandez in his native Mexico?

He once upstaged the Rolling Stones when they were playing in Mexico City, the hometown crowd chanting his name when he walked into the concert a bit tardy while Mick and Co. were onstage and in mid-song.

Fernandez has received similar welcomes after walking into raucous Mexican stadiums, merely trying to find his seat at a soccer game.

That’s no small feat for a guy who drives race cars in the CART series. Especially when you consider that he doesn’t race in his country, and although it reveres its sports heroes, such idolatry is usually reserved for boxers and baseball and soccer players.

“It is a little different and a little embarrassing,” Fernandez said recently from his home in Mexico City. “But it’s something that I am very proud of and it’s just going to keep me working hard.”

As popular as he is in Mexico, though, Fernandez is seen as a novelty of sorts in the United States, despite his impressive racing resume.

Maybe it’s because Fernandez, 34, is one of only three Mexican drivers in CART, Michel Jourdain Jr. and Memo Gidley being the others. Or maybe it’s because two of his five victories in the champ car series have been overshadowed by wrecks and deaths.

Whatever it is, Fernandez hopes a strong showing in this weekend’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach will put such notions to rest.

Ron Richards, CART’s vice president of communications, said Fernandez is respected among his peers, even if the casual racing fan still overlooks him.

“He’s not as prominent in the U.S. as we’d like him to be but if he continues to perform well and challenge for a championship, then his stature is going to grow,” Richards said. “He’s not just popular, he’s a great race car driver who’s also a lot of fun to have in the series. Plus, he’s a huge hero in Mexico.”

Fernandez was named Mexico’s athlete of the year in 1999.

He spent much of his youth at Mexico City’s Hermanos Rodriguez racetrack, nipping at the heels of his two racing uncles, Santiago and Jose. And since his father, Adrian Sr., worked in the auto-parts business, it was a natural progression for the young Fernandez to find the driver’s seat.

He played a bit of baseball and soccer as a youth. He even excelled in track, the distance events, but he had been racing motocross since he was 8 years old.

When he turned 15, however, his uncles put him in a car cockpit and, literally and figuratively, threw him the keys.

“Straightaway, I was quick,” said Fernandez, who competed in his first race a year later, the 24 Hours of Mexico. “But being quick doesn’t mean you’re good. I knew it was what I wanted to do.”

While racing on the Mexican road circuits and in some of Europe’s developmental open-wheel series, Fernandez also was trying to attract sponsorships. He checked his ego and worked as a mechanic, sometimes for rival drivers.

He made his CART debut in 1993 for Galles Racing International and stayed with the team for three seasons before signing on with Tasman Motorsports in 1996.

It was with Tasman that Fernandez took his first checkered flag.

In winning Toronto’s Molson Indy in 1996, he became the first Mexican driver to win a CART or Indy car race since Hector Rebaque in 1982. But the victory was tempered by the crash and death of rookie driver Jeff Krosnoff and race marshal Gary Avrin, who was hit by debris.

Fernandez moved to Patrick Racing in 1998 and went from 18th in the standings to fourth, winning at Motegi, Japan, and Mid-Ohio.

Two weeks before the Mid-Ohio win, however, Fernandez wrecked in the Michigan 500. A tire and part of his car’s suspension flew into the stands, killing three fans and injuring six more.

Last year, Fernandez missed four races with a broken right wrist suffered in a crash at Detroit and still finished sixth in the points.

He won Motegi again and the season-ending Marlboro 500 at Fontana, where Greg Moore, Fernandez’s close friend, was killed in a crash.

“It does not matter if I win when there is a tragedy,” Fernandez said. “It’s not a win, it’s a tragedy for all of us.

“We enjoy what we do,” he added. “It’s just hard to understand and take when it happens.”

With the 2000 season only two races old, Fernandez has lofty expectations for his new Ford-powered Reynard.

He qualified third for the season opener at Homestead, Fla., on March 26 and was leading when he was forced out because of mechanical problems.

The CART series has a definite international air about it, what with 25 drivers representing a dozen countries.

And five of CART’s 20 races this year will be held on foreign soil--Brazil, Japan, Australia and two in Canada--with CART looking at adding a race in Monterrey, Mexico, next year.

“That would bring some flavor into the series,” Fernandez said.

Richards agreed.

“We want to reach out to those fans that may not have felt that CART was part of their sports menu,” he said. “There is a heavy Hispanic fan influence, particularly in markets like Long Beach, Houston, Chicago, Fontana. We see a growing interest among Hispanics and it’s attributable to Adrian and, to a degree, Michel Jourdain.”

Fernandez, whose No. 40 car resembles the Mexican flag with its color scheme of green, red and white, said he sees many Mexican flags whipping in the wind in support of him, giving the races a certain World Cup feel. He expects to see some waving along the streets of Long Beach.

“Mexicans are very intense followers, very intense fans,” he said. “They sing and chant and dance at the race. It’s just like futbol.”

Soccer, baseball and boxing are a sort of three-headed king in Mexico’s sporting world but Fernandez believes there is room for motor sports as well. Besides running his own bilingual Web site, www.adrianfernandez.com.mx, Fernandez also maintains five kart training centers in Mexico.

“It’s hard to get to a top series like CART but it’s harder to stay,” he said. “I’m very proud of the [rising] popularity [of racing] in Mexico and creating a following. Not that I’ve created it, it came about on its own.

“The doors are open but I want to help future generations, create more of a fan base.”

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Fernandez at a Glance

Career highlights for CART driver Adrian Fernandez, 34, who is in his eighth season:

* Career victories: 5

* Career Poles: 1

* Sponsors: Tecate, Quaker State

HIGHLIGHTS

* Finished sixth in 1999 FedEx Championship Series despite missing four events because of injury.

* One of four multiple winners in 1999 season (Japan, Fontana).

* Victory in season finale at California Speedway earned him $1 million.

* Scored career-best 154 points and finished a career-best fourth in championship in 1998.