{"id":27351,"date":"2021-05-14T15:43:25","date_gmt":"2021-05-14T19:43:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27351"},"modified":"2021-05-14T15:43:25","modified_gmt":"2021-05-14T19:43:25","slug":"pato-oward-headlines-generation-clash-coming-to-detroit-gp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/pato-oward-headlines-generation-clash-coming-to-detroit-gp","title":{"rendered":"Pato O’Ward headlines generation clash coming to Detroit GP"},"content":{"rendered":"

Detroit<\/em>\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u00a0IndyCar racing returns to Belle Isle this June after a COVID-19 gap year, and fans will be treated to an intergenerational war.<\/p>\n

Like tennis in the twilight of the Federer-Nadal era, a new group of young guns\u00a0is hungry to take their place atop a podium that has been dominated by 40-somethings Scott Dixon and Will Power. Eager to spoil the crowning of a new prince are three drivers from NASCAR, Formula One\u00a0and Australian Supercar who want to put their own mark on their new sport.<\/p>\n

\"IndyCar<\/p>\n
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Hollywood couldn\u2019t write a better script.<\/p>\n

One of the series’ young standouts, 22-year-old Mexican Patricio \u201cPato\u201d O\u2019Ward, was in town Tuesday previewing the Detroit Grand Prix and the sport\u2019s future.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Ward is the total package. Blindingly fast on track, he is a telegenic, bilingual bridge to a broader Hispanic demographic the racing industry covets \u2013 both in the U.S. and south of the border where IndyCar could expand its U.S. and Canadian base.<\/p>\n

More:<\/strong>\u00a0Detroit Grand Prix to allow limited attendance in Belle Isle race’s return<\/a><\/p>\n

Last weekend in Texas he became the first Mexican driver to win an IndyCar race since Adrian Fernandez in 2003. O\u2019Ward\u2019s appearance in Detroit on Tuesday created a buzz across the Hispanic community as the Monterrey, Mexico native held a news conference sponsored by the Michigan Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and hosted by Taqueria El Nacimiento restaurant in Detroit’s southeast Springwells neighborhood.<\/p>\n

IndyCar\u2019s engaging new star then held a Zoom call with students from three area high schools: Casar Chavez Academy, Detroit Cristo Ray\u00a0and Western\u00a0International. In the wake of the Detroit GP\u2019s announcement last month of partnership\u00a0with NXG Youth Motorsports to bring young, minority, urban racers into the sport, O\u2019Ward is an instant role model for a new generation.<\/p>\n

He idolized Dixon and Power growing up \u2013 the 40 year-olds have amassed 87 wins and six titles (five of them by Dixon) between them over the last two decades. But while O’Ward was thrilled to be racing against his idols, he is not intimidated\u00a0by them.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s great giving them the headaches they don\u2019t want,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Along with fellow Gen X phenoms, 21-year old Colton Herta and 24-year old Alex Palou, O\u2019Ward is causing plenty of pain.<\/p>\n

Each has a win in the first four races of the season with O’Ward winning at Texas Motor Speedway in his family’s adopted\u00a0home state.\u00a0The Arrow McLaren team driver is second in points only to\u00a0Dixon\u00a0as the series enters the crucial\u00a0month of May with two races at Indianapolis\u00a0Motor Speedway, including the sport\u2019s crown jewel: the Indy 500 on Memorial Day weekend.<\/p>\n

But as the upstarts chase Dixon and Power they are also aware of hungry veterans in their mirrors. NASCAR champ Jimmy Johnson is a rookie in IndyCar this year. As\u00a0is 35-year old Formula One veteran Roman Grosjean and 27 year-old Australian\u00a0Super Car champ Scott McLaughlin. All want to add an IndyCar championship to their trophy cases.<\/p>\n

\"IndyCar<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe\u00a0have a great mix of young, old, and in-between drivers and it\u2019s as competitive\u00a0as IndyCar has ever been,\u201d O\u2019Ward said. \u201cThe qualifying sessions are so competitive \u2013 26 guys covered by just one second.\u201d<\/p>\n

He then adds a third name to the veteran\u00a0list, Juan Pablo Montoya. The\u00a01999 IndyCar champ (then called the CART series) and Indy 500 winner will join O\u2019Ward\u2019s Arrows McLaren team at the 500 this year (though not in Detroit).<\/p>\n

\u201cMontoya is someone who I looked up to. I look forward to learning from him as much as I can,\u201d O\u2019Ward said. \u201cBut the goal is still to beat him even though he is a teammate.\u201d<\/p>\n

The 22-year old has been racing since he was 6\u00a0and has seen a career of ups and downs while driving\u00a0on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. He has the business outlook\u00a0of a seasoned entrepreneur.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf your career didn’t\u00a0end four or five times on the way up, then it wasn\u2019t hard enough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He is bullish on the future of IndyCar, including urging a race in Mexico City where he thinks the series could see its biggest audiences.<\/p>\n

\u201c(IndyCar)\u00a0has got\u00a0so much potential. We’re nowhere near it,\u201d he said. \u201cSo\u00a0I’m doing my best to speed that process up. Its such a great category, people\u00a0just have to watch one race and they are hooked.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear is June 11-13. Tickets go on sale May 20.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Detroit\u00a0\u2014\u00a0\u00a0IndyCar racing returns to Belle Isle this June after a COVID-19 gap year, and fans will be treated to an intergenerational war. Like tennis in the twilight of the Federer-Nadal era, a new group of young guns\u00a0is hungry to take their place atop a podium that has been dominated by 40-somethings Scott Dixon and Will […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27351"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27351"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27351\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27352,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27351\/revisions\/27352"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}