"You're going to get your a** kicked": Daniel Suarez warns IndyCar star Pato O'Ward of NASCAR switch

Daniel Suarez has warned IndyCar driver Pato O'Ward that adjusting to life in NASCAR would be easier said than done. Suarez made his comments while addressing whether their Mexican compatriot Sergio Perez, who is without an F1 seat in 2025 with Red Bull having sacked him, should compete in a one-off NASCAR Cup Series race.

Suarez, who pilots Trackhouse Racing's No. 99 Chevy in the Cup Series, admitted that Perez is an "amazing" racer, but switching to a completely different discipline like NASCAR would be a "big risk" for him. The 33-year-old then revealed how he'd had the same conversation with IndyCar's only Mexican driver, O'Ward.

"I had this conversation with Pato… and you don’t have time to prepare, and they’re going to just throw you in there. Chances are that you’re going to get your a** kicked because these guys, we do it every weekend," Suarez said via SpeedFreaks on YouTube. [7:36 onwards]

In 2016, Daniel Suarez won the Xfinity Series title with Joe Gibbs Racing, making him the first foreign-born racer to win a national NASCAR title. The nine-season veteran has yet to witness similar success in the Cup Series, with only two wins to his name.

Pato O'Ward, who won IndyCar's junior series, the Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) title in 2018, has been relatively more successful in converting the success in the premier open-wheel class, with seven wins in six seasons with Arrow McLaren.

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Pato O'Ward makes his feelings known about competing in the NASCAR Xfinity race in Mexico City

Pato O'Ward at the F1 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix 2024 - Source: Getty

It has been a dream of Pato O'Ward to race in front of his home fans in Mexico. However, IndyCar doesn't yet race there and F1, his dream series, does, but he hasn't been able to find a seat in the pinnacle of motorsport. As a result, he has been pushing IndyCar since 2021 to secure a race in Mexico on its racing calendar.

In mid-2024, NASCAR announced a Mexico City race as part of its 2025 calendar. O'Ward was disappointed with this development as he believed NASCAR "beat us (IndyCar) to the cake".

Ahead of the 2025 season, reporter Bob Pockrass asked the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy driver about his chances of competing in the NASCAR Xfinity race in Mexico City.

"I would say in 2025 they're slim because until I get my Indy 500, until I get my IndyCar Championship, my full focus is on IndyCar. But I think once I've done that, I've told Zak (Brown, McLaren Racing CEO) that I'm open to scouting out some cool opportunities in NASCAR here in America," Pato O'Ward said.

O'Ward has had a decent start to his 2025 season. He had a shockingly poor P23 result in the qualifying session at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg but gained 12 positions during the race to emerge as the Biggest Mover and finish in P11.

The Mexican driver outdid himself in IndyCar's second race of the season at the Thermal Club. He secured pole position in qualifying and led 51 laps of the 65-lap race before losing the lead to three-time champ Alex Palou and finishing in second place.