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Mark Martin said last week he was simply “naГЇve” when it came to considering drugs in NASCAR; who would even think to do drugs and then drive? The competitors already know the inherent danger and risk involved in racing, so why would drugs even be an issue? That’s why Fike’s admission hit the Cup garage so strongly.

Drivers interviewed last weekend said they have never been drug-tested by NASCAR. Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish Jr. said that last year, their last in the Indy Racing League, each was randomly tested once.

The bottom line: Drivers want random drug testing for peace of mind. Yes, this would mean considerable expense for NASCAR, but it seems like it would be money well spent.

No Indy for Hornish

Hornish, the 2006 Indianapolis 500 champion, said this week he will not attempt to run the Indianapolis 500 and the Coca-Cola 600 in the same day.

Timing-wise, it would be ridiculously difficult to do both. He is a Sprint Cup series driver, now in his first full season with Penske Racing, and he is not ready to damage relationships with that team to race at Indy.

That said, he would like to put his physical and racing abilities to the test by attempting someday to race the 1,100 miles in one day. This would be a great marketing tool for Indy, now that the open-wheel series have merged and the sport seems to be taking some small steps forward.

Hornish isn’t the only Cup series driver with open-wheel experience who would want to attempt the double, and it could be accomplished if the Indianapolis 500 went back to an earlier start. It still would be a tight schedule, one that also could be affected by weather, but it would be do-able.

While it’s not original to attempt both races В— Robby Gordon, Tony Stewart and John Andretti have done both В— it would add another angle and level of interest to open-wheel racing and racing in general.

International event

The Sprint Cup series is off this weekend, but the NASCAR Nationwide series is on, competing on the road course in Mexico City for the fourth year. This race is tough logistically, but teams are dedicated to it because NASCAR believes it is an important in-road to the Latin audience.

Mexican Adrian Fernandez will be driving for Hendrick Motorsports this weekend, clearly appealing to the Mexican fans, but Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, the defending champion, a fan favorite, will not be in the race.

From all accounts, the Mexican fans get firmly behind the event, there is plenty of fanfare and pageantry, and while the travel can be an issue, the drivers who like road-course racing have no issues heading south.

The Nationwide series also competes later in the year on a road course in Montreal, another attempt to extend NASCAR’s demographics to include Canadians.

Does this mean the Sprint Cup series will be going international any time soon with an event in another country? That’s highly doubtful.

NASCAR is still looking at possibilities in New York, the Seattle area and Denver. So for now, expect the Nationwide series to carry the international banner for NASCAR.