Bill Beilharz' incredible Black Stude won it all in 2008. Can he do it again? (photo from 2008 Carrera Panamericana)

The 2010 LaCarrera Panamericana, the great Mexican Road Race and a frequent bucket-list staple for our readers, kicks off today with a full roster of competitors. Drivers and crews from all over the world are squaring off in a vintage field heavy with purpose-built Studebakers, Porsches, Alfas, BMWs, Volvos, Mustangs and even two Mercedes 300 Gullwings(!). This year the seven day race begins in Tuxtla Gutierrez and ends in the beautiful colonial mining town of Zacatecas. More than 100 drivers and their service crews will cover 2,000 miles of speed and transit stages through mountains and plains and huge elevation changes. It’s absolute chaos but more fun than you are allowed to have in the States.

Doug Mockett's Olds is a serious contender in the Turismo Mayor class this year. Angelica Fuentes, Scuderia inductee and one of the best navigators in the sport is his secret weapon. (photo taken from Pike's Peak 2010)

There are some great contests this year. Doug Mockett and Angelica Fuentes are coming off of a Vintage Modified win at Pike’s Peak with their Oldsmobile to do battle with Bill Beilharz’ “Batmobile” Studebaker that won the 2008 race after an incredible 180-plus MPH high-speed run in the last leg of the race. Former F1 driver Jochen Mass is a star in the Mustang-heavy C. Our friends Martin and Conrad are re-running their incredibly fast Alfa “El Taxi Perdido” and looking to dice it up in the Historic A+ 4 cylinder class.

The truly odd Finnish rock stars, The Leningrad Cowboys, are back for 2010 in a 1965 Mustang fastback. They are tweeting and updating their site from the road with professional photography and more media savvy than most of the race teams can summon.

For more information and the best available coverage you need to check out Gary Faules’ excellent Carrera blog. He aggregates news and scores from several drivers and gives great color and photos for the race all week long, always a pleasure to read.

Wish everybody a very safe race and enjoy the coverage.

Martin Lauer and Conrad Stevenson's "El Taxi Perdido" rolls through the finishing arch in the 2009 race. The Historic A+ class is hotly contested this year. These guys are very fast and have one of the best crews in the race.