Eloy Sebastián López Moves Up to Second Place in the NASCAR Mexico Chase

The NASCAR México Series Chase began at the Óvalo Aguascalientes México with a victory by Eloy Sebastián López, who moved up to second place in the championship, five points behind Rubén García Jr. First and fifth in the unofficial standings were separated by ten points, a margin that leaves five drivers with realistic championship chances.

The Monterrey round, scheduled as the ninth of the calendar, was canceled due to the conditions the rain left the circuit in, so Aguascalientes became the first of the four races that will decide the titles in NASCAR México Series and Challenge Series. The points reset gave 2015 to the regular-season leader, 2012 to second, 2009 to third, and 2006 to fourth, and from fifth to tenth the gap was one point per position. From there, each driver scores in every race, including stage points, and the champion will be whoever has the most at the end of the four.

Xavi Razo started from pole and led several stretches, until a bad pit entry during the stage cost him positions. Eloy Sebastián López moved to the front and led the most laps in the Aguascalientes el Gigante de México 170. Razo finished second by less than a second, with heavily worn tires, and said he chose to save them late because López was practically unreachable. Irwin Vences was third, Julio Rejón fourth, and García Jr. fifth. López attributed the result to the car his team prepared and said he never doubted he could win. Vences had to manage his pace due to fuel consumption and believes the result is starting to put him among the title contenders.

Other contenders lost ground due to specific problems. Max Gutiérrez scored stage points along with García Jr. and was running in the top three when a fuel pump failure sent him to the pits in the closing laps. He finished eleventh and dropped to sixth in the Chase with 2,042 points. Rubén Rovelo also briefly led the race, but a fuel stop in the final quarter dropped him to eighth place. Alex de Alba, the current NASCAR México champion, was twelfth and ended up seventh with 2,041 points, tied with Rovelo and Julio Rejón, and 15 behind García Jr.

García Jr. retains first place with 2,056 points thanks to stage points and his fifth-place finish. López, who entered the Chase further back in the standings, is second with 2,051. Vences has 2,047, nine behind the leader, and Rodrigo Rejón and Razo have 2,046 each, in fourth place. Rodrigo Rejón was coming off a win at Puebla, the final round of the regular season, and maintains that reduced gap to those above him. José Luis Ramírez closes out the group with 2,021, 35 points behind the leader, a figure that can still change with three races remaining.

Giancarlo Vecchi starts the Challenge Series Chase in first place

Giancarlo Vecchi started from pole in Challenge Series, lost ground when a tire blew, and returned to the front to win. Gerardo "Chispa" Rodríguez finished second and Víctor Barrales Jr. third. Vecchi said the car was incredible and thanked the team. Rodríguez said he chose to take care of the car and hold second place, and Barrales praised the mechanics who put in extra hours working on the car.

Vecchi had started the Chase as third in the regular season and now leads with 1,054 points, ahead of Rodríguez with 1,047 and Barrales with 1,040. Emiliano Richards, who began as the top seed, dropped to fourth with 1,033, 21 points behind Vecchi. Mateo Girón finished fifth in the race and is fifth in the Chase with 1,032, followed by Jorge de la Parra with 1,031 and Eliud Treviño with 1,030. Majo Rodríguez has 1,024, and Andrik Dimayuga and Regina Sirvent are tied with 1,020. Sirvent started with 1,002 and added 18 points at Aguascalientes.

Yucatán will host two Chase races on October 17 and 18

The canceled round at Monterrey will not be made up at that track. NASCAR México moved it to Yucatán, where the pending race will be held on Saturday, October 17, and the one already scheduled there —the semifinal— on Sunday, October 18. At the end of that weekend, only the November 8 final at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez will remain. With three races still to be run and two of them on consecutive days, the ten points separating first from fifth in NASCAR México can change hands in a single weekend, and in Challenge Series, Richards needs to make up the 21 points separating him from Vecchi before reaching Mexico City.

NASCAR México Aguascalientes

Pos	No.	Driver	Team	Class	Time
1	#9	Eloy Falcón	Volaris- Aldo Conti	NM	1:27:15.236
2	#7	Xavi Razo	Motorcraft	NM	1:27:15.919
3	#46	Irwin Vences	Escuderia Gt- Sakura- Toyopower- JV Motorsport	NM	1:27:29.353
4	#55	Julio Rejón	GGG Racing Team- NS- JV Motorsports	NM	1:27:30.312
5	#88	Rubén García Jr	Canel´s- Logitech- Mobil- Laboratorios Tequis	NM	1:27:34.182
6	#75	Giancarlo Vecchi	Restonic	CH	1:27:35.614
7	#95	Rodrigo Rejón	ProRally Mothers- GGG	NM	1:27:20.395
8	#28	Rubén Rovelo	Alessandros Racing	NM	1:27:27.649
9	#48	Chispa Rodríguez (N)	Alessandros Racing	CH	1:27:27.954
10	#2	Abraham Calderón	Aurora- Rukus- Telcel	NM	1:27:29.866
11	#23	Max Gutiérrez	Canel´s- Logitech- Laboratorios Tequis	NM	1:27:31.607
12	#27	Helio Meza (N)	Alessandros Racing	NM	1:27:34.132
13	#69	Germán Quiroga	Prime Sports- Car Motion	NM	1:27:34.357
14	#39	Victor Barrales	Anvi Motorsport	CH	1:27:17.874
15	#14	Alex de Alba	Aga de Manzana- Red Cola	NM	1:27:18.444
16	#51	Jake Cosio	Control Plag- Chick In- Ana Seguros- En Ti- JBL-	NM	1:27:20.450
17	#26	Eliud Treviño	Alessandros Racing	CH	1:27:21.880
18	#05	Mateo Girón (N)	Alessandros Racing	CH	1:27:22.308
19	#29	Koke De la Parra	Prime Sports	CH	1:27:22.516
20	#54	Omar Jurado	Alessandros Racing	NM	1:27:24.636
21	#20	Emiliano Richards (N)	Escuderia GT- Trobbu- JV Motorsports	CH	1:27:33.691
22	#77	Majo Rodríguez (N)	Car Motion	CH	1:27:34.249
23	#08	José Luis Ramírez	Aurora- Ruck US- Telcel	NM	1:27:33.316
24	#13	Regina Sirvent	Kotex- Volans	CH	1:27:26.998
25	#67	Andrik Dimayuga	Dimayuga Racing	CH	1:00:10.989
26	#19	Diego Ortiz	XIX Motorsports	CH	49:06.796
27	#22	Santiago Tovar	Quaker State-Anvi Motorsport	NM	29.413