IndyCar's Pato O'Ward hopes to compete in 2025 NASCAR Mexico City race
IndyCar star Pato O’Ward wants to compete in his home country of Mexico but would have to join NASCAR to make that happen. While speaking to Marshall Pruett of Racer, O’Ward said he would love to compete in the NASCAR Mexico race in 2025, but he has an IndyCar race at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway that same weekend (June 15).
“I would love to,” O’Ward told Racer. “I’m really bummed. I wish we could have done it as soon as the first time, which is next year, but it’s when we go to Gateway, and obviously my priorities lie in IndyCar, but I would love to do the next one. That’s the race I would do absolutely. I don’t really have interest doing another race. I want to do that one, and I think it’d be cool.”
O’Ward is from Monterrey, Mexico and has pushed for an IndyCar race in the country McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told Racer he would support O’Ward’s desire to compete in a NASCAR Cup Series race. But the 25-year-old driver would love to organize a NASCAR Cup Series appearance on his own instead of asking for help.
Why Pato O’Ward wants to race in Mexico
“I don’t want to lay this on Zak’s shoulders,” he said. “I have enough authority where I can make it happen myself; I don’t want him to do all the work. It’d be a really good thing for Hendrick and for Chevy to hear from me, because that’s obviously where the very big interest comes from, going to the event, being part of it, driving the car. As soon as it was announced, my first thought was, ‘I need to ask Zak if I can have Rick Hendrick’s number.’
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“I love to race at home and it’s some of the best fans in the world. They’re so passionate. You see how successful the Formula 1 Grand Prix is there and it’s definitely a dream of mine to race in front of Mexican fans there.”
O’Ward has driven in 86 IndyCar races and has earned seven wins. In his Indianapolis 500, O’Ward has earned four top-10 finishes in five starts. This year, O’Dowd finished second in the Indy 500 behind Josef Newgarden.