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 System 1’s Mexican Grand Prix is held.
That inventory automobile occasion will happen throughout 14-15 June subsequent 12 months on a shortened 14-turn structure, with drivers going proper at Flip 4 as a substitute 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 instances between 2005-08.
There hasn’t been an IndyCar presence in Mexico since 2007, which got here underneath 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 have been right here earlier than in Mexico. Subsequent 12 months, NASCAR is coming to Mexico. They are going outdoors the USA for the primary time. There’s loads of pleasure. It is a utterly totally different kind of race and championship.”
One other ingredient that bolsters possibilities 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 Photographs
25-year-old O’Ward, who gained 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 classes.
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 comparable 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 arrange conversations with IndyCar in January to consider 2026,” Soberón added. “After all, Pato is an enormous think about all that.”
