The subject of IndyCar taking a visit south of the Rio Grande has been a scorching subject since NASCAR introduced plans in August to have a race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – the identical monitor the place Formulation 1’s Mexican Grand Prix is held.
That inventory automobile occasion will happen throughout 14-15 June subsequent yr on a shortened 14-turn structure, with drivers going proper at Flip 4 as an alternative of left, skipping Turns 5 and 6 of the total configuration.
It is going to be NASCAR’s first points-paying Cup Sequence race in Mexico Metropolis, with the Xfinity Sequence beforehand racing on the monitor 4 occasions between 2005-08.
There hasn’t been an IndyCar presence in Mexico since 2007, which got here below the Champ Automotive period on the Hermanos Rodriguez circuit.
“We have been in discussions with IndyCar,” stated Alejandro Soberón, the president of Mexico Metropolis GP promoter CIE.
“They had been right here earlier than in Mexico. Subsequent yr, NASCAR is coming to Mexico. They are going outdoors america for the primary time. There’s quite a lot of pleasure. It is a utterly completely different sort of race and championship.”
One other component that bolsters probabilities for an IndyCar return is the surge of curiosity in Pato O’Ward, a Mexico native from Monterrey who drives for Arrow McLaren.
Race winner Sebastien Bourdais, Newman Haas Lanigan Racing
Picture by: Dan R. Boyd / Motorsport Pictures
25-year-old O’Ward, who received three IndyCar races this previous season and likewise got here inside two corners of profitable the Indianapolis 500, accomplished his first FP1 working of the 2024 F1 season at his residence occasion final Friday as one in every of two required younger driver periods.
Sliding into the cockpit of Lando Norris’s MCL38, he completed simply 0.3s behind team-mate Oscar Piastri after logging 21 laps within the one-hour session.
It was shared that O’Ward obtained related help as Sergio Perez, the one Mexican who competes full-time in F1, with over 3,000 followers attending a latest sponsor look on the Plaza Reforma 222 shopping center in downtown Mexico Metropolis.
“We’ve got arrange conversations with IndyCar in January to consider 2026,” Soberón added. “In fact, Pato is a giant consider all that.”
