Pato O'Ward too unpopular to attract IndyCar to Mexico?

The Mexican is today, and by far, the most popular driver in the peloton. Present in the championship on an ad hoc basis since 2018 and full-time since 2021, the one nicknamed "the ninja", for his ultra-fast reflex movements at the wheel, attracts many fans behind him on all the circuits of the calendar. You only have to hear the cheer of the crowd when he took the lead of the Indianapolis 500 at the start of the last lap and compare it to the relative coldness emanating from the same stands once Josef Newgarden (Team Penske) took the lead again to convince yourself of O'Ward's appeal, in a country that is nevertheless furiously patriotic and which should have, at first glance, encouraged the native son!

In Mexico, it is not uncommon for Pato O'Ward to be the most sought-after driver of the Grand Prix weekend in Formula 1, despite the presence in a car Sergio Perez's cutting edge, at Red Bull. All the ingredients had to be brought together to find theIndyCar in Mexico in the coming years. However, this is the NASCAR, a championship in which the Central American country is represented by Daniel Suárez, who will set up shop next June at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez in the capital. An announcement greeted with astonishment and a hint of defeatism by the driver of the Dallara-Chevrolet No. 5.

New battle won by NASCAR?

"NASCAR has beaten us to it. I firmly believe that not only are we behind, but there is no more room in Mexico City.", O'Ward told the IndyStar, the Associated Press and NBC Sports. “You have to understand that these people save up all year to go to these events. If an IndyCar race were to be held there, it would be competing with Formula 1 or NASCAR. I don’t think there’s any way you could have an IndyCar weekend there. You’d probably have to have it in Monterrey. It’s a different venue, different demographics, and you’d have to put a lot of money into Fundidora Park [where CART raced at a time when two American open-wheel races were held in the country bordering the United States to the south].”

A sentiment shared by championship leader Álex Palou. The Spanish driver does not understand how IndyCar can be overtaken in a market that has been committed to its cause since 2021 and the presence of Pato O'Ward among the drivers who could play for the title in the last race of the season, in Long Beach: “Everybody is passing us, left, right. It’s very frustrating. We should have been there, 100%. I know it’s not easy, but I think we knew Pato was a great driver in 2021 when he was fighting for the championship. He’s grown since then, so we’re five years behind, and now NASCAR is passing us.”

What if it was O'Ward's fault?

Mark Miles, president of Penske Entertainment, parent company of IndyCar, was expected to speak on the subject, on the sidelines of the Milwaukee weekend. And the least we can say is that his initial speech was not a model of the genre to calm the reactions of his drivers, quite the contrary! “It’s clear that Pato is not as famous as the last known Mexican rider [Adrian Fernandez]. O’Ward is gaining ground, and he’s on some billboards. He’s probably going to complain that I didn’t involve him (in the conversations) and that he should be the one to close the deal [to go to Mexico]. I think Pato is a star, but in the conversations we had in 2021, I’m convinced that the Mexican organizers were convinced that it wasn’t the right time.”

Such a statement encompasses almost all of the difficulties that have been attributed to IndyCar management since Roger Penske took over the championship in late 2019. While the "Captain" helped it survive the Covid-19 crisis, the championship has been in a period of stagnation since then. And Miles' speech, which evokes the year 2021, also shows that modern IndyCar does not necessarily manage to make quick decisions in the spirit of the times. Yes, it is true that Pato O'Ward may not have been an interplanetary star in 2021. But it is very difficult to believe that in three years, the conversations could not have taken a different direction, given the popularity of the now 25-year-old driver.

In the paddock, some observers then learned that Ricardo Juncos, co-owner of Juncos Hollinger Racing, had presented himself to the Mexican promoters as the holder of the IndyCar rights for the whole of Central and Latin America, and therefore the only intermediary through which to go. A surprising decision, since Juncos has never hidden his desire to bring the championship to Argentina, his native country. The controversy that swelled during the past weekend in Wisconsin (and which led to a very nice "Pato Qui?" marketing campaign from the driver's communications team following his victory on Saturday) seems to have had the merit of giving a boost to IndyCar, which immediately relaunched discussions with Mexico City, and other intermediaries, known to the locals, this time.

Too little, too late

But once again, IndyCar shines with a reaction that is too late, which will make it the third choice in terms of motor sports in the Mexican capital. This time, the championship is no longer in a position of strength, and should accept any date proposed, under penalty of being met with a refusal. A path that has been all too familiar over the last ten years, and which has seen many races come and go on the calendar, due to an inability to market them in the right way. And in recent days, Mark Miles has notably explained that we should no longer hope to see IndyCar on old tracks like Watkins Glen or others, in favor of new urban circuits, in new markets. These same new markets that have either been promised to us without seeing them, since 2012, or have hosted one, two or three races before disappearing, such as Baltimore for example...

Pato O'Ward and the Mexican fans deserve a home race, we hope their wish is granted. And ideally not in an "international championship" decoupled from the American championship, which would only see two or three exhibition races per year, as Mark Miles has wanted for several years. The days when IndyCar went to Australia, Japan and Mexico seem a long time ago...

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