By Will Weissert, The Associated Press
March 5, 2006
07:32 PM EST

MEXICO CITY -- Denny Hamlin pitted early, then stayed out of trouble Sunday to hold on and win the second Busch Series race in Mexico.

It was the first career Busch win in 39 starts for the 25-year-old Hamlin, who started second and pitted during the first caution, then outdueled pole-sitter and road-course ace Boris Said by 1.53 seconds in the Telcel-Motorola 200.

Said planned to pit late and his No. 9 Dodge was the last car in the field to leave the track, finally pulling off during a caution on Lap 25. He changed four tires and was out in 17.5 seconds, but was held to the back because of heavy traffic on the track. He climbed back to second, but fell behind and never really challenged Hamlin as a flurry of cautions marred the race's last laps.

"If I see someone else doing something I start to panic and I wonder 'What's going on? Why are they doing that?'" Hamlin said. "When Boris stayed out there for as long as he did, I was wondering 'What is he doing? Is there something that he doesn't know or something that we don't know?'"

While he was faster than Hamlin around the main turn, Said conceded he couldn't keep up. It was Said's third top-five finish in just six career Busch Series races.

"We just got beat," he said. "Denny Hamlin's the real deal."

Kevin Harvick, who finished second at the first Busch Series race outside the United States here a year ago, appealed a late penalty for improper passing and was able to regain third position, ahead of J.J. Yeley. Paul Menard was fifth.

Kyle Busch started ninth, but used a smooth early pit stop to move up, overtaking Hamlin on a turn around the tightest part of the course. Hamlin pitted for the second time on the 42nd lap, as did Busch, giving the lead briefly to Mexico's Michel Jourdain, who had only pulled off once.

He appeared headed for a sizable lead when, trying to pass Jourdain on the inside around tight turn eight, Busch didn't make it. The cars collided, ending Jourdain's day. Busch kept going, finishing seventh.

The crowd, enraged that one of its favorite drivers was out, began catcalls and chanted jeers at Busch. Because Jourdain was on well-worn tires, Busch probably could have waited him out instead of trying the risky pass.

"I don't know what Kyle was thinking," said an obviously miffed Jourdain.

The curve-filled, 2.518-mile Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road course featured eight tight turns and was especially tough for many Busch Series regulars used to negotiating oval tracks. The first caution came just five laps in, when Stacy Compton, driving his backup No. 59 Ford after a crash in qualifying, blew the engine, sending white smoke billowing in all directions and causing a back-end collision.

Mexico's most famous driver, Adrian Fernandez, began in fourth and moved up a spot early, but ran into problems when Jamie McMurray hit a chicane NASCAR inserted into the long front straightaway to reduce accidents at the sharp first turn, and careened off the track.

McMurray pulled back on in front of Fernandez, causing a minor crash that injured Fernandez's thumb. Fernandez finished 12th.

Busch regular Michael Waltrip had the day's biggest crash, crushing his No. 99 Dodge after hitting a tire wall on Lap 35. He was unhurt.

A total of eight Mexican drivers took a track they were very familiar with in front of a hometown crowd. Jorge Goeters, who grabbed the pole here in 2005 and led for 24 laps, started in fifth and finished 15th.

Carlos Contreras, the first Mexican to compete in a Busch Series race, topped all of his countrymen, finishing 11th.

Sunday's second NASCAR points race outside the United States is part of officials' push to promote stock car racing south of the border, where open-wheel formats such as Formula One and Champ Car have long ruled. Hermanos Rodriguez was built for open-wheel and only slightly modified to make braking easier for less-agile NASCAR vehicles.

Attendance was not immediately announced, but the grandstands looked emptier than last year, when a total 135,000 fans came out for qualifying and the race.

Robbie Weiss, NASCAR's international managing director, said no contract had been signed for a Busch Series event in Mexico City next year, but that all NASCAR venues have annual agreements that are not usually re-negotiated until the following spring. He said officials expect to be back for many years to come.

"We're doing pretty good here," he said. "This is such a passionate country."