Roger Penske’s IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward and his aversion to NASCAR seem to know no bounds. Earlier, the Papaya driver was highly skeptical of the double-header weekends. In his eyes, it is something that strips away IndyCar’s spotlight. When SPEED on FOX host Kevin Harvick tried to correct him about the same thing, he wasn’t convinced. Instead, he gave back to him passive-aggressively.
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Pato O’Ward shares unwilling message about NASCAR collaboration
During their latest episode, the duo tried to reason with O’Ward about his intentions with the sport. Buxton went first, as he said:
“IndyCar and NASCAR doubleheaders are a great idea because it shouldn’t be about anyone other than the fans. It has to be about what’s right for them and how the championship can maximize welcoming new fans to a racing product that we all adore.”
Harvick agreed and tried to reassure Pato O’Ward of his role as an entertainer for the fans of the sport.
“We have, I would say, the most educated race fans in our country that love sprint car racing; they love midgets, they love NASCAR, and they love IndyCar. That’s why this weekend is important to American motorsports.”
Buxton also recounted that since NASCAR had the better momentum, and that it was naturally more popular than IndyCar. He’s right about that on every count. Michael Jordan’s lawsuit brought NASCAR to a bigger audience, albeit in a negative manner. But the sport has made a successful turnaround since then and is now widely popular among the public.
23XI Racing’s success comes from BOTH Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin.@KevinHarvick | @wbuxtonofficial pic.twitter.com/WJvZCAji2l
— SPEED on FOX (@SPEEDonFOX) March 3, 2026
Most of all, Jordan is becoming the biggest PR entity for NASCAR. His team 23XI Racing has won three races in a row, and through his interviews, fans are flocking to the tracks to watch NASCAR.
This year, NASCAR and IndyCar are trying to give fans more and more of an American racing spectacle. First, they collaborated on Sunday for the Truck Series race doubleheader at St. Petersburg with the IndyCar season opener.
Now, the two series are joining hands once again at Phoenix. Pato O’Ward was initially critical of this idea and wanted to put an end to this move. However, his recent post on social media was a passive-aggressive jab:
“I stand corrected; I’m so happy to be here with NASCAR this weekend,” O’Ward commented, replying to Jeff Gluck’s post summarizing NASCAR and IndyCar viewership data.
On first glance, it seems like O’Ward is simply saying it because Gluck proved that IndyCar did not lose viewership to NASCAR. However, fans were quick to connect it to Kevin Harvick and Will Buxton’s rebuke of his comments about NASCAR.
IndyCar does not have a hero like Jordan yet. For O’Ward to blame NASCAR for that does not sound convincing. After all, he can’t force NASCAR fans to shift to IndyCar and he can’t bring IndyCar fans back to the sport if they do not like the racing action there.
However, Kevin Harvick also raises a very important point for the fans and the community itself during his monologue.
A chance to end the pointless rivalry
Motorsports, in its essence, is a celebration of high speed and those daring enough to perform at that level. What O’Ward suggests lists a very important issue—rivalry between motorsports series.
Looking at it from the perspective of a fan, there is no reason for any rivalry between the two motorsports. Formula 1, NASCAR, and IndyCar are not different sports. They are not like the NFL and the NHL.
They are different sheep from the same flock. It’s like the US Open and the French Open. Both tournaments serve the same purpose: to bring together tennis fans.
Buxton beautifully tries to unite the fans with his plea to stop the unnecessary rivalry between these series.
“NASCAR versus IndyCar, Formula 1 versus everyone. And what benefit did it bring to anyone? Zero. We’re race fans, pure and simple. Our appreciation of the daring and skill of race drivers should never have become so fiercely divided.
“With national and international recognition of motorsport and racing drivers on the up now more than at any time in the last few generations, it is a moment to come together to applaud racing and racers of all championships and at all levels.”
His words strike true in the current context. If fans come together to celebrate racing, the sport can accomplish more than what it can currently. By clashing their ideals and appreciation, the fans are diminishing the importance of each sport.
Sure, NASCAR and IndyCar are inherently different. One is more popular than the other, but that doesn’t mean that the drivers have to show any animosity towards each other’s race.
To bring fans together and unite the motorsports community, it is necessary to show them the true spectacle of racing.
NASCAR and IndyCar have taken a positive step to make this spectacle come true with their latest advances.
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