Getting down to the start of La Carrera Panamericana down in southern Mexico gets a little easier each year, but it is always an adventure.  Instead of everyone trying to get to starting city on their own, eight years ago we started the Coyote Convoy.  Strength in numbers seemed to make sense.   It also makes clearing Mexican customs much easier.

Leaving together from Texas and stopping in San Miguel de Allende also means we get to know each other on the way down.  During the race, we hardly have time to say hello.

The Coyote Convoy will leave Laredo, Texas this year at 6:00 AM on Saturday, October 16, and will stop in San Miguel de Allende, which is 540 miles south, around 5:00 PM.  We may display our cars in the main square on Sunday, and then leave early on Monday, October 18 for the long drive down this year to the starting city, Tuxtla Gutierrez. 

If you plan to drive down on your own, you should arrive in the starting city by October 19.  Registration and inspection opens that morning.  Arriving on Tuesday will give you two days to complete the registration process.  The “pre-qualification” run is the afternoon of October 21, and he race starts the next morning.

TRAVEL INFORMATION - GETTING TUXTLA GUTIERREZ
Can you find Tuxtla Gutierrez on the map?  It’s in the south of Mexico, in the state of Chiapas.
Take out a colored marker and on your AAA map, trace your path from Laredo, Texas, to San Miguel de Allende (NW from Queretaro), and then down Tuxtla.  Connect these cities: Laredo, Monterrey, Saltillo, San Luis de Potosi, San Miguel de Allende, San Juan del Rio, Puebla, Cordova, Minatitlan, and then Tuxtla.  Whew!  It’s a long way!

With another color, mark the route of La Carrera back the other way.  The total length that you will travel in Mexico is equal to a trip across the USA!  Are you are being to feel the pain in your backside?  But we are up to the challenge, right?  (The official route will eventually be posted on the web site.)

DIFFERENT ROUTES TO TUXTLA
If you start in Nuevo Laredo, it takes two days of hard driving to make it to Tuxtla by the shorter/best route.  The recommended route is from Nuevo Laredo to Mexico City (770 miles) via Monterrey and San Luis Potosi (Highway #57), and then around Mexico city to Puebla (75 more miles).  It's four-lane highways the whole way.  On the second day, it about that far to Tuxtla along the Gulf coast and down the new toll road to Tuxtla 
Driving in Mexico at night is not recommended, primarily because so much of it is open cattle range.  Do not enter Mexico City!  Go around it to the east on the new by-pass that starts at Tula.

From Arizona and California, some experienced Carreraistas cross the border at Nogales, AZ, and then follow the coastal route before turning toward Guadalajara and Mexico City.  It's at least 150 miles shorter than going through Laredo, Texas.  Expect to pay a lot in tolls.  This route also connects with the new bypass around Mexico City.

We know of no one who goes down through El Paso or other border towns, but the roads from El Paso (Ciudad Juárez) to Zacatecas and into central Mexico are excellent. 
A couple of fellows from Texas like to use the route through Brownsville and down along the Gulf of Mexico toward Veracruz. The roads are slow and rough in some areas, but this route has the big advantage of avoiding Mexico City.  The seafood is also cheap and excellent (only eat steaming hot seafood).

It is also possible to go down the Pacific coast of Mexico, through romantic places like Acapulco, Ziahuatanejo, and Puerto Escondido.  Add several days driving time for this scenic, twisty drive!

Check the weather before you leave.  Tropical storms often hit southern Mexico in October.

AVOID MEXICO CITY
All roads lead to Rome and Mexico City, but you really do not want to go through either, especially Mexico City, with your tow truck and racecar.  First, there are days that you cannot drive your car or truck in Mexico City, based on the last number of your license tag.   Second, to enter Mexico City in the morning on a workday, you need a special permit.  Third, it is illegal to take a truck or trailer on most of the freeways and elevated roads in the city.  Fourth and most importantly, the police are underpaid.  An Escalade pulling a racecar with Texas plates is an immediate $500 “fine,” paid in cash on the spot.  Make sure that in the negotiations you get an escort out of town, so you won’t get busted buy another patrol car two miles down the road.
The only other option is to go through this city late at night (1:00-3:00 AM) with a full tank of gas and a guide who is the cousin of the chief of police.  Even then you must stay off the road called Viaducto.

This is why the Coyote Convoy goes around Mexico City.

CROSSING THE BORDER - THE JOY OF BUREAUCRACY
Obtaining your tourist card (visa), and the tourist permits and windshield stickers for your vehicles at the border is pretty easy, if your paper work is in order. It does require patience, however.

Bring the original title and/or current registration for your racecar, tow truck, and trailer.  Nothing else, like a photocopy or affidavit, will suffice. 

The basic rule is: one foreign visitor can bring only one vehicle into Mexico.  Thus, one of your two vehicles (racecar or tow truck) must be titled in the name of another member of your travel party.   (The trailer goes with the truck, as one unit.)  If your vehicle is leased or financed, you should have written permission to bring them into Mexico.

It takes an average of two hours to get your personal tourist card and vehicle permits. Think DMV.  These are the four big steps in the process:
1. Obtain your tourist card (visa) at the Immigration Office at border crossing.  Show your passport, fill out the visa (tourist card) form, and have it stamped. 
2. Pay $22 for the tourist card at the closest bank window and change some dollars for pesos.
3. Step over to the photocopy booth to have copies of all your documents made—passport, driver’s license, car title or registration, and your new tourist card.
4. Stroll down the hall to the “Banjercito” window (looks like a bank window, because it is) to get the tourist permits and stickers for your vehicles.  There is usually a line. 

You do not need to say anything, as the clerks know how to do it.  Give them your passport, driver’s license, tourist card, vehicle title or registration, and credit card, and one copy of each, except your credit card.  After a lot of punching info into their computer, they will print a green form and ask you to sign it in three places.   The green form has a vehicle sticker on it that goes on the inside of your windshield behind the rear view mirror.

Save all the documents they give you and keep them in the tow truck.  Do not lose the green permit, as you will need it to exit the country.   The permits may also be checked along the way! 

You may also register your vehicles via the Internet or at certain Mexican consulates, like Chicago, LA, Sacramento, Phoenix, Austin, etc.  To use the Internet, learn how to disable your popup blocker in your browser, and then go to www.banjercito.com and click on "tramites."  Find the English version.

Remember where you got your car stickers when you crossed the border, because you must return to this place before you leave Mexico to have the stickers removed.  Do not go across the bridge into the USA without having these stickers removed and getting a receipt.  At some border crossing there are roadside booths where the stickers can be removed.  Do not remove the sticker until the attendant tells you to.

Going across the border in Nuevo Laredo is highly recommended because the people there know La Carrera Panamericana and they will bend over backwards to get our cars and trucks across.  Things may be much different at other border crossings, like Nogales, Ciudad Juárez, and Matamoros.  And each place has slightly different rule about obtaining vehicle permits.

IMPORTING VEHICLES WITH A F.M.A.D PERMIT
If you do not have a title to your racecar, have a huge tow truck, or have all the vehicles in one name or the company’s name, you should import your vehicles by going through the Mexican Federation of Auto Sports (FMAD) and hiring a licensed Mexican customs broker.  Do not confuse this process with what was described above–the tourist car permits and stickers.  These two processes are very different.  You will use one or the other, not both. 

Here’s the FMAD process:
1.  Register for the race, and then download and fill out the application for the FMAD vehicle permits and your racing license.  Express mail these applications to the FMAD office in Mexico City with the required payment.  (You need only apply, not pay for the racing license, at this point.)
2. Secure the services of a Mexican customs broker in Laredo.
3. FMAD will verify that you have entered the race, and will send the approved permits to the Mexican customs broker who you have selected.  They will also send you a copy.
4. You go to the broker’s office on the U.S. side of the border on October 14-15.
5. The broker’s staff member jumps in your truck, takes you across the border (over the commercial bridge), and handles the transaction.
6.  The broker’s staff person hands you the paper work, jumps out of your truck, and you head down the highway to the custom checkpoint at “Kilometer 30.”  After your papers are checked there, you are free to head south.
The FMAD permit costs around $150 each for the racecar, the truck, and the trailer (a total of $300).  You must also apply for the FMAD rally license issued by the same organization ($280).  See the Entry page for information on contacting FMAD, or go to www.femadac.com.mx.

The services of a licensed Mexican customs broker will cost between $300 and $1500, because it is a negotiable fee for service.  You must also provide the broker a list of all the spare parts, extra tires, and equipment and their cost that you are taking into Mexico—and that you will return to the USA when the race is over.

If you use a customs broker, you must stop at his office in Nuevo Laredo on the way back to the USA to reverse the process above, or he will forfeit his bond that guarantees the return of your vehicles and spare parts.  He will not be happy if you fail to stop.

HOTEL ACCOMMODATIONS
When you register for the Pan Am, a hotel reservation for a double room is automatically made in the name of the listed driver of the racecar for the eight nights of the race (October 22-29).  This room is paid by the entry fee.  If you plan to arrive in Tuxtla a few days early, as most do, it will cost you more.

Since most competitors will arrive in Tuxtla before October 21, they will need extra or early hotel accommodations.  Most will probably will need an extra room for their support crew.  If so, email your needs to moni@lacarrerapanamericana.com.mx.  You may call 1-310-860-6959.   Make sure that you send her a clear message about your room needs long before the event.  She will confirm your reservations and accept your money, but she will not tell you the names of the hotels until right before the race.  Hint: try to make your travel plans early and avoid changing them.

In 2009, the Carrera Office charged $150 for each extra night in or along the way, taxes included, or $1200 for a room during the event (tent. October. 21-28).  Rooms in luxury hotels costs around $150 extra.  There may be an increase this year.  Note:  Once you pay the Carrera Office for your hotel rooms, there will be no refund or transfer of the rooms to someone else.

The North American Coordinator has nothing to do with making or changing hotel arrangements.

GASOLINE AND FOOD WHILE TRAVELING
PEMEX gas stations are plentiful on most major highways in Mexico. Most stations carry non-leaded 87 octane regular (green pump) and non-leaded 92 octane premium (red pump).  Quality is OK.  Diesel fuel is also generally available.

Take enough cash and buy pesos at the border, since most stations do not accept credit cards.  Regular was about 7.8 pesos a liter or around $2.60 a gallon last year.  If the attendant cleans your windshield, tip him a peso.  Sometimes it is necessary to tip the bathroom attendant 2-3 pesos, but it is worth the money.  The bathrooms are a lot cleaner!

There are small restaurants along the roads and at the larger PEMEX stations throughout most of Mexico.  If the place looks clean, then it's probably OK.   Just eat hot food and drink from a can or bottle.  A case of bottled water in your truck comes in handy. 

Remember do not brings guns or drugs into Mexico.  Mexican jails are not nice places.
The Mexicans that you meet along the way, especially the children, will be friendly and curious about you and your vehicles.   Everyone will try to be helpful if you are having a problem.  However, if you spend the night at a motel, it's best to park your rig inside a locked or guarded compound.  Most of the better motels have one.

And yes, getting there is half the fun!  It is always an adventure!
Viva la Carrera!