Second Thoughts: INDYCAR as Support Series Makes Sense for Phoenix
📖 Full Retelling
Pato O’Ward loves him some INDYCAR. So it is understandable that he's slightly frustrated ahead of the INDYCAR-NASCAR Cup weekend at Phoenix. "I'm sick and tired of INDYCAR being, like, the support race," O’Ward told me and other INDYCAR beat reporters during his media session last Friday morning in St. Petersburg. In the same conversation, O’Ward said, "It is a good thing" and "I’m neutral," on the opinion of whether there should be more races with INDYCAR and NASCAR Cup racing on the same weekend at the same spot. "If they added more, great. If they don't add more, great," O’Ward said. "I don't really care." If there were more, that could be a problem. Having one celebration of the two biggest U.S.-based motorsports series seems like a good move. It makes it special. And to the point O’Ward is making, maybe it would be smart to take NASCAR to a traditional INDYCAR market and have it be the support series. But that’s looking down the road. When it comes to what makes this weekend cool, it makes sense to look back. The last attempt at a NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend (sorry, Doug Boles) wasn’t all that special. O'Ward's personal experience is from the Brickyard weekend, where INDYCAR ran Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, followed by Cup the next day. My guess is that adds to his frustration. There wasn’t a great buzz about the overlap that weekend. INDYCAR’s big race at Indy is the Indianapolis 500. And Cup cars on the IMS road course didn’t generate a whole lot of juice. This weekend will be different because both series have spent decades racing at Phoenix. INDYCAR has a long history at this track. This will be the 65th race on the 1-mile oval. It hasn’t raced at Phoenix since 2018, so the fans in that area are looking forward to another competition. Hopefully, this one will be better if the upper lane can get rubbered in (they will have a specific high-lane practice Friday). INDYCAR will run laps five or six seconds faster than the Cup cars, so tho
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- No Data Available - BROWSE BY SPORTS & TEAMS PLAYERS SHOWS PERSONALITIES TOPICS Built on NASCAR Cup Series NASCAR Cup Series Second Thoughts: INDYCAR as Support Series Makes Sense for Phoenix Updated Mar. 4, 2026 1:37 p.m. ET share facebook x reddit link Bob Pockrass FOX Motorsports Insider Pato O’Ward loves him some INDYCAR . So it is understandable that he's slightly frustrated ahead of the INDYCAR- NASCAR Cup weekend at Phoenix. "I'm sick and tired of INDYCAR being, like, the support race," O’Ward told me and other INDYCAR beat reporters during his media session last Friday morning in St. Petersburg. In the same conversation, O’Ward said, "It is a good thing" and "I’m neutral," on the opinion of whether there should be more races with INDYCAR and NASCAR Cup racing on the same weekend at the same spot. "If they added more, great. If they don't add more, great," O’Ward said. "I don't really care." Pato O'Ward tired of INDYCAR being "support race" to NASCAR Cup. If there were more, that could be a problem. Having one celebration of the two biggest U.S.-based motorsports series seems like a good move. It makes it special. And to the point O’Ward is making, maybe it would be smart to take NASCAR to a traditional INDYCAR market and have it be the support series. But that’s looking down the road. When it comes to what makes this weekend cool, it makes sense to look back. The last attempt at a NASCAR-INDYCAR weekend (sorry, Doug Boles) wasn’t all that special. O'Ward's personal experience is from the Brickyard weekend, where INDYCAR ran Saturday on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, followed by Cup the next day. My guess is that adds to his frustration. There wasn’t a great buzz about the overlap that weekend. INDYCAR’s big race at Indy is the Indianapolis 500. And Cup cars on the IMS road course didn’t generate a whole lot of juice. This weekend will be different because both series have spent decades racing at Phoenix. NASCAR Cup driver Kyle Larson celebrat...
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