The Arrow McLaren Racing team members started making plans as soon as Pato O’Ward took the lead at the Milwaukee Mile.
Upset that NASCAR announced it will race in Mexico City next year, beating IndyCar to bring O’Ward to his home country, O’Ward has spent the weekend criticizing IndyCar’s leadership for missing the opportunity.
To make a point, a team employee rushed to the “Pato Shop” — a merchandise truck for IndyCar’s most popular driver — and bought one of the $149.99 sombreros. The 25-year-old from Monterrey, Mexico, wore it to his victory news conference.
Runner-up Will Power immediately commented, “We really should be in Mexico City, not NASCAR.”
O’Ward responded with, “Pato who?”
O’Ward really wants to race in his home country, but NASCAR secured a race date for next June, and O’Ward fears there might not be space left for IndyCar.
The situation heated up when IndyCar CEO Mark Miles mentioned that the Mexico City promoters feel the series and O’Ward are not popular enough to get more than a lease agreement to hold the race themselves.
This upset O’Ward, who has built a strong fanbase and is likely the second most popular driver in Mexico after Formula 1’s Sergio Perez.
O’Ward’s response was winning at Milwaukee on Saturday. It was his third win of the year and his first on an oval since Iowa Speedway in July 2022.
This year, his other wins were on a street course at St. Petersburg (where he was promoted to winner after Josef Newgarden’s disqualification), the road course at Mid-Ohio, and now the Milwaukee oval.
The three wins in one season are the most for an Arrow McLaren Racing driver and came just hours after Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, his F1 teammates, took the top two spots in qualifying for Sunday’s race in Italy.
O’Ward led 133 out of the 250 laps and said he didn’t let the situation in Mexico City distract him.
“No, I was chilling in the morning, I was chilling in the afternoon. I was just here for business,” O’Ward said.
The victory took attention away from the championship race between points leader Alex Palou and Will Power, who started the race 54 points behind Palou.
But Power finished second, reducing Palou’s lead to 43 points with two races left, both on ovals.
“Palou is a serious contender, man,” Power said. “Nothing can rattle that guy. Very tough to go head-to-head with him.”
Conor Daly, who was without a ride earlier this season but was hired last month to finish the year with Juncos Hollinger Racing, finished third, marking JHR’s first-ever podium. It was Daly’s first podium since 2016, and he celebrated by pouring the champagne all over his face.
“It feels amazing,” Daly said. “We had a lot of bad luck, and I think a lot of people were wondering if I was the guy to do it. They gave me the car to do it. I want to do well in the series.
My goal is to be on the podium in this series, and it’s been far too long since I’ve been on the podium. It’s nice to get another one.”
