NASCAR made a bold move about a week ago and added Mexico City to the 2025 Cup Series calendar. NASCAR had never raced out of the United States for a points-paying Cup Series race in the modern era. However, they still beat IndyCar to it, who have raced in Mexico before.
Arrow McLaren’s Mexican driver, Pato O’Ward was furious and couldn’t believe that IndyCar was beaten by NASCAR for a championship race in his country. NASCAR driver, Daniel Suarez was questioned about O’Ward’s popularity in Mexico amid the outrage, and Sergio Perez was the one to come out on top.
“@PatricioOWard is as popular as me, but not as much as @SChecoPerez in Mexico”@Daniel_SuarezG addresses the ongoing controversy regarding a possible IndyCar race in Mexico. #NASCAR pic.twitter.com/EYvXsNEkC5
— Peter Stratta (@peterstratta) September 7, 2024
The No.99 driver when asked about O’Ward said, “I think he’s just as popular as mentioned. Not as popular as Checo Perez. I think Perez I’d definitely the one leading the group with having a lot of Formula 1 races in Mexico. He’s been doing an amazing job. He’s definitely the lead of the Mexican drivers that are doing good things internationally.”
Perez led the way for the Mexican GP to make its way back into the F1 calendar. There’s a lot of support for Perez in North America, and Liberty Media capitalized on the opportunity by introducing the Mexican GP.
Not only for F1, but Perez’s popularity is equally important for Red Bull. The Milton Keynes outfit can sell the merchandise in the American region because of Perez’s popularity. The 34-year-old also brings in loads of Mexican sponsors like Telcel.
Meanwhile, IndyCar has been in talks with the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez management regarding the possibility of a race. Penske Entertainment CEO, Mark Miles suggested that Mexico is a part of internal discussion every year, as per ABC News. However, they have struggled to make a breakthrough with IndyCar not being as popular as F1 per the Mexican track promoters.
