The good life: Fernandez a national hero in his Mexico (cont'd)

It has been a virtually perfect marriage for the company that is trying to make inroads in the home improvement market in Mexico. They've backed Fernandez in each of his Mexico City efforts.

And just who is Fernandez? He's a guy who'll celebrate his 45th birthday on Sunday while competing in the fourth annual Corona Mexico 200, a race he'd dearly love to win.

But in his strength of character, it's no trouble to keep Sunday's events in perspective, either.

On Friday he was bemoaning the fact that having to go back and forth between California and Mexico was going to cut into his family time, as much as his sack time.

His very human perspective is perhaps the most delightful thing about Fernandez, who is a guy who one of his team representatives, when asked to describe his impact on Mexican fans in relation to drivers in America, said, "He's Jeff Gordon, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson all rolled into one."

Could that possibly be true?

Rumor has it, in 1997 at the same Autodromo venue, Fernandez arrived a little late to a Rolling Stones concert and shut it down when the crowd began chanting his name.

Huh? It's only half true, Fernandez said with a shy smile.

"Yes, I remember that," Fernandez said. "As I was coming in, [the crowd] was chanting my name, but [the Stones] were in a break. I came in at the front and everybody started connecting and they started chanting my name."

At a Mexico City restaurant on Thursday evening, a server was asked if he was a sports fan. "No," the genial fellow said. Soccer, by far, is his country's most popular sport, but he couldn't name its most popular player.

This was a for-sure fishing expedition, so the guy was asked who the most famous Mexican racecar driver was. He smiled, shrugged, turned and walked away. But he only took two steps before he turned back and said, "Fernandez."

Fernandez admitted the Stones concert episode occurred at the height of interest in the Champ Car World Series, when he was an annual championship contender. But even today he has a hard time quantifying how beloved he is in his home country, when all he is trying to do is exercise his love for his family, friends and his sport.

"It was just embarrassing, in a way, you know?" Fernandez said. "It's because you just don't know what to say. But I was very happy to have that feeling."

It continues in 2008, as Fernandez this weekend is racing in two countries, albeit only four-and-a-half hours apart -- but for the first time in his career. But before you write that off as no challenge, consider this:

He began his four-day, border-hopping experience on Thursday in Long Beach, Calif., where he practiced the Lowe's Fernandez Racing LMP2 Acura ARX-01B that he races in the American Le Mans Series.

Friday, he was back in Mexico City, at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where on Sunday he'll make his fourth attempt to win his hometown race -- and score his first career NASCAR victory.

He sat in a 10 a.m. local time media briefing and laughed about his schedule, the lack of sleep he'd get, the lack of time he'd be able to spend with his respective race teams in the two countries, and the most painstaking -- the fact he'd get to spend precious little time with his friends and family at an event that is maybe his most precious in all the motor racing he does these days.

After the ALMS race, he would get back on his airplane to return to Mexico, arriving, he estimated, about 1:30 local time in the morning.

After series veteran David Green qualified his car Saturday, Fernandez will have to come from the back, but in his typical style, he said he didn't see that being any problem in preventing him from winning.

You see, he's right -- because Fernandez is already a big winner.

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer.