Report: NASCAR 'has inquired' about Pato O'Ward's availability for Mexico City race

Next year, NASCAR is going to Mexico and taking the Cup Series and Xfinity Series. They might land Pato O’Ward, too. The Mexican IndyCar star and Most Popular Driver in the sport has an interest in competing in Mexico City in a stock car.

Here’s the catch, IndyCar has a race weekend at Gateway the same weekend as the Mexico City races for NASCAR. So, how is that going to work out?

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Pato O’Ward is a McLaren driver. He was set to possibly get seat time with the F1 team in Singapore. However, he’s skipping that to be a groomsman for Felix Rosenqvist in his wedding.

According to Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, NASCAR has asked about O’Ward’s availability for Mexico City. With interest from the driver himself, could we see a deal be worked out?

#NASCAR has inquired on Pato Who’s availability/interest in running Mexico City next June. #IndyCar races Gateway that weekend so I think the only fair solution is a Larson-Pato swap with waivers in hand.

— Jenna Fryer (@JennaFryer) September 2, 2024

Of course, that second bit about NASCAR and IndyCar swapping Pato O’Ward for Kyle Larson is a joke from Fryer. But could you imagine?

It feels like American motorsports are starting to come together. Larson racing at the Indy 500 may have sparked an interest across stock cars and open-wheel racing in more crossover.

The crowd in Mexico would be rabid with both Daniel Suárez and Pato O’Ward in the Cup Series race next season. Heck, put Andrés Pérez de Lara, current ARCA Menards Series points leader, in the Xfinity Series race as well.

Pérez earned Rookie of the Year honors in the 2023 NASCAR Mexico Series season, making the Championship 4 in the playoffs. There is a lot of talent coming out of the country and the NASCAR races there should reflect that and give some of these drivers an opportunity.

Pato O’Ward in NASCAR?

So, how would Pato O’Ward do in a NASCAR race? Well, it’s hard to tell until he gets into a car. But there have been other drivers in recent years from many different disciplines that have tried out stock car racing lately.

Perhaps the most successful of these outsiders is Shane van Gisbergen. But there have been F1 champions. Jensen Button and Kimi Raikkonen have given it a go. Sports car drivers like Joey Hand have impressed.

Pato is an open-wheel driver. However, he has sports car experience. As a teenager, O’Ward won the IMSA championship in the Prototype Challenge. He is also a two-time Daytona 24 Hours winner, claiming a victory in the PC category in 2017 as well as LMP2 in 2022.

It would be great if NASCAR can work out a deal to get Pato O’Ward in a car for Mexico City. Being able to see a talent like O’Ward in the Cup Series would be special.