NASCAR finally expanded its horizon by getting a Mexico City race in the 2025 Cup Series race. This would be NASCAR’s first points event in international waters. This was a long time coming as NASCAR has continuously shown interest in expanding its reach outside of the US. Another party that had similar plans was IndyCar. However, NASCAR beat them to capturing a fertile market starving for more motorsport events.

Xfinity and Cup races will be hosted at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the same track that annually hosts the Formula One Mexico GP. With NASCAR’s addition, the track already has two big events. Does a third one make any sense? Would people spend so much money? First the NASCAR races in June, then F1 in October. Where is the room for an IndyCar event? According to IndyCar star, Pato O’Ward, there aren’t any! However, O’Ward is a man with a plan, who suggested an alternate game plan.

NASCAR beats IndyCar in a race to Mexico

The Arrow McLaren driver was in shock when NASCAR made it official, as were many from the IndyCar fraternity. O’Ward had previously said, “They beat us to the cake. Strongly believe that we’re not only late, but I strongly believe that there isn’t more room in Mexico City. Like, not only did they beat us there, but now that is not an option for IndyCar.” On the other hand, Mark Miles, the leader of Penske Entertainment, which owns IndyCar, appeared surprised by the backlash regarding Mexico City. He said, “Mexico remains a market of heavy interest, and we believe there will be an amazing IndyCar race weekend there sooner rather than later.”

IndyCar has previously raced in Mexico, first in 1980 and 1981, and then from 2002 to 2007 at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez. However, O’Ward believes they now need an entirely new track. In a recent video by Dirty Mo Media, he said, “If we just want to be present in Mexico we don’t need to be in Mexico City. Like Monterrey used to host a cart race back in the day. Obviously, there’s a lot of money that has to go into the track in order to host an INDY car race. But like Monterrey is huge and people would go it would be like it’s something different to the Formula one. I think people would also be like we’ll it’s a different track. It’s going to be a bit of a different vibe.”

The Monterrey native, O’ward, is also a reserve driver for the McLaren Formula One team and believes that a venue change can be a differentiating factor. Of course, he’s suggested his home track. However, that is not the only reason he’s probably suggesting it. The series competed in Mexico from 2001 to 2006 at Parque Fundidora in Monterrey. This is also the home track of NASCAR’s Daniel Suárez. However, the circuit would require significant upgrades to host a major league event again. Which, according to promoters, will be more expensive than building a track from scratch.

Although a venue change is a decent idea. Competing with two massively popular events is still going to be challenging. “But I do think NASCAR beating us to lunch is going to make it that much harder to make it like that event that we want to see like oh my god! I still think it’s possible but like we want to see an INDY 500 level event. We don’t want to see like just another INDY Car race,” O’Ward added. 

Another IndyCar star has reservations about this plan

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Also hailing from Mexico, Salvador de Alba, the reigning NASCAR Mexico champ who’s now racing in Indy NXT, doesn’t buy the idea that Mexico City can’t handle three international races. According to him, even if an alternate track were to be selected, there isn’t any ready-to-go racing there tomorrow!

To his point, he said, “At the moment, I think none of them. It has to be rebuilt, a racetrack,” de Alba said. “But we have a pretty good racetrack in Monterrey, which is Pato’s hometown. Guadalajara is also a big city, which is my hometown, but we don’t have a big racetrack. But I’ll do whatever it takes to have IndyCar in Mexico.”

O’ward believes that IndyCar should have initiated their international expansion way sooner to avoid such problems. He hit out at the stakeholders for their sloppiness. He said, “To me, Latin America should be the focus of where we go. But I think the way they (IndyCar leadership) do things is not with urgency. At some point, I get it. If you’re impatient, you could end up being too antsy getting to where you want to go.”

Although what’s done is done now. IndyCar needs a new plan! What would that be? Only time will tell. Meanwhile, are you excited about the NASCAR race there next year? Let us know in the comments below.