Pato O’Ward is raring for an opportunity to carry an IndyCar Sequence race in entrance of a mass of passionate followers in his dwelling nation of Mexico.
The 25-year-old, who is certainly the game’s hottest driver as his legion of followers flood grandstands with flags and even encompass his transporter all through a race weekend, has been persistently outspoken about taking North America’s premier open-wheel championship to the opposite facet of the Rio Grande.
There hasn’t been an IndyCar presence in Mexico since 2007, which got here below the Champ Automotive period at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
NASCAR lands Mexico race first
And now, IndyCar has been crushed to the punch as soon as once more by NASCAR.
As Motorsport.com earlier reported, NASCAR will race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico Metropolis subsequent 12 months. The occasion is scheduled for June 14-15 in 2025, the identical weekend the IndyCar Sequence will probably be at Gateway. The observe structure for NASCAR will characteristic 14 turns, however will skip Turns 5 and 6, going proper at Flip 4 as a substitute of left. Past that change, it is going to observe the structure utilized by F1 within the Mexican Grand Prix.
When Motorsport.com first heard rumblings of the chance that NASCAR was headed to Mexico, it was through the IndyCar weekend of the Detroit Grand Prix in early June. It was then O’Ward shared some ideas on the topic, together with the enjoyment for his pal and Cup Sequence driver Daniel Saurez, who, like O’Ward, hails from Monterrey, Mexico.
“I am tremendous completely satisfied for Daniel that he is gonna be capable to have that,” O’Ward informed Motorsport.com.
“You recognize, they [NASCAR] clearly are very properly conscious of what Latin communities can carry to a sequence.”
O’Ward, a six-time race winner and driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, additionally prolonged ideas not relenting attempting to get IndyCar again to Mexico, with hope of it counting in the direction of the championship and never turning into a non-points exhibition just like The Thermal Membership earlier this season.
“For us, it is above my pay grade, man,” he mentioned. “I do not know, like I am going to push for it as a lot as I can, nevertheless it’s not my determination to make. I actually hope at any time when they [IndyCar] do determine to make that call to go to Mexico, I will probably be very upset if it is not a part of the factors system for the precise championship.”
Plans for the long run
Again in February of 2022, Mark Miles, the president and CEO of Penske Leisure Company that owns IndyCar, shared that Mexico was a spot he “may think about” the sequence racing. On the time, he mentioned, “I believe our technique is that we’ll proceed to focus our racing in North America. For these of you in Mexico Metropolis, you will know that we all know that Mexico is in North America!”
Miles went on so as to add, “We have lengthy seen Mexico as a market the place we may think about racing. We have to seek out the suitable place below the suitable circumstances, however we’re interested by racing in Mexico if we are able to put all of the items collectively.”
Within the time since these feedback by Miles, IndyCar appeared extra seemingly headed to an exhibition race in Argentina till a presidential election final December modified the course of that chance. In the meantime, there was little recognized of any motion of the IndyCar’s management persevering with to push for a doable long-awaited return to La Ciudad de los Palacios.
“Ask Penske”
Throughout an IndyCar media name on Tuesday, Motorsport.com requested Graham Rahal his ideas on why IndyCar isn’t in Mexico.
“I believe it’s best to ask Penske Leisure that query, not me,” Rahal mentioned.
Then Rahal, who gained his first-ever Atlantics race in Mexico (Fundidora Park) in 2006 earlier than ending fourth at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez the next 12 months within the step as much as Champ Automotive, succinctly shared his need to see IndyCar entertain extra races exterior of the USA (the one present spherical past the nation’s border takes place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada).
“I am all about worldwide growth,” Rahal mentioned. “So, you recognize. Yeah.”
