McLaren’s Zak Brown clears Pato O’Ward’s path to NASCAR in 2025

IndyCar's Pat O'Ward wants to race in NASCAR's June 15 race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.674-mile racetrack in Mexico, his home country. However, he has an IndyCar race at the World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway on the same day.

O'Ward's boss, Zak Brown, is ready to allow the McLaren Racing driver to miss his IndyCar race on one condition. The latter has to secure a ride in the NASCAR Xfinity Series on June 15.

"Zak Brown says if Pato O’Ward can get an Xfinity ride for Mexico City he’d allow him to miss Saturday at Gateway," said Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press, confirming the news. "Gateway, meanwhile, is not moving off that June 15 date."

If Pat O'Ward receives his NASCAR pass, he is most likely to pilot the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports car. The Chevy has made 10 Xfinity appearances in the last two years. Within that span, the team has delivered three poles, six top-5s, seven top-10s, and a pair of runner-up finishes. This year, Hendrick Cars.com is on an all-year sponsorship deal with the No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports entry.

"I don’t want to lay this on Zak’s shoulders,” O'Ward said in an interview (via On3). "I have enough authority where I can make it happen myself; I don’t want him to do all the work. It’d be a really good thing for Hendrick and for Chevy to hear from me, because that’s obviously where the very big interest comes from, going to the event, being part of it, driving the car. As soon as it was announced, my first thought was, ‘I need to ask Zak if I can have Rick Hendrick’s number.’"

O'Ward, who drives the No. 5 machine in his fifth full-time NTT IndyCar Series, won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the Prototype Challenge class in 2017, the Rolex 24 At Daytona twice, and a Prototype Challenge class at 12 Hours of Sebring. He also bagged the INDY NXT by Firestone Championship back in 2018.

Pat O'Ward reflects on NASCAR beating IndyCar with its international leap

Pat O'Ward was surprised when IndyCar failed to beat NASCAR in hosting their first-ever race in Mexico. Speaking of this, 6-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon said,

"I think that’s a massive miss. I don’t know how that happens."

"They beat us to the cake," O’Ward said (via AP News). "I 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. You need to understand that these people save up their money to go to these events."

Instead of O'Ward, Daniel Suarez of Trackhouse Racing will be the Mexican driver starting his engine in the Quaker State 400 at the Atlanta Motor Speedway on September 8th (Sunday). Will O'Ward be able to clinch a similar opportunity in Saturday's Xfinity Series race, i.e., the Focused Health 250? Only time will tell.