Pato O’Ward Makes Large Pitch for Thrilling New Arlington Race

It’s a secure guess Pato O’Ward hopes ticket gross sales for the inaugural INDYCAR Grand Prix of Arlington weekend are the identical because the trajectory of his first pitch earlier than the Texas Rangers-New York Yankees’ sport Wednesday, Aug. 6 at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas – excessive.

O’Ward threw the ceremonial first pitch earlier than the sport as a part of in-market promotions surrounding tickets going on sale Wednesday for the brand new INDYCAR race weekend March 13-15, 2026, in North Texas. The landmark race weekend is fueled by a first-of-its-kind partnership between INDYCAR, the Dallas Cowboys and REV Entertainment, the official occasions accomplice of the Texas Rangers.

“It feels like home,” mentioned O’Ward, a local of Mexico who attended highschool in Texas. “The closest I’ve to house presently. I find it irresistible. I all the time have.

“Everything is bigger here. Everything is greater here. It really is an amazing place to be a part of. I spent a lot of time in Dallas in 2019. I have friends here who live here. They’ll for sure be here for the race.”

The INDYCAR Grand Prix of Arlington’s 2.73-mile short-term road circuit might be seamlessly built-in into one of many nation’s most vibrant leisure districts within the coronary heart of the Metroplex, winding round AT&T Stadium, house of the Dallas Cowboys, along with the present and former properties of the Texas Rangers, Globe Life Field and Choctaw Stadium.

O’Ward, driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, obtained a take a look at a part of the circuit Wednesday and was impressed. There had been two distinctive features of the monitor that caught his eye.

“One of my favorite parts is it’s going to be a two-sided pit lane like the Detroit Grand Prix,” O’Ward mentioned. “The hospitality extends out on prime of the monitor, the one hospitality that we’ll legitimately be driving below. That’s going to be a extremely cool expertise for the people who find themselves there.

“I feel like the fan experience here is going to be like nothing we’ve seen. It’s a formula for having a great event.”

But O’Ward additionally is aware of advance preparation and simulation modeling might be important for fulfillment on the Arlington circuit as a result of no groups could have a guide of setup data to attract from as a result of the monitor is new and short-term.

This could possibly be a very powerful prerace monitor stroll of 2026, too.

“It’s a challenge, not just for the drivers but for the teams,” O’Ward mentioned. “Whoever rolls off the strongest, the preparation goes to repay over the weekend.

“You can see the layout, but you can’t see the pavement changes, the undulations. We feel that. That’s all things you need to explore when you go out (on track). You need to be confident in the car to put the lap time in. When you don’t have that, sometimes it’s a struggle. If you explore well, it will pay off.”

The new Arlington race additionally appears to pay dividends for NTT DATA, the sequence sponsor and a know-how accomplice of Arrow McLaren. The firm’s North American headquarters are within the Dallas suburb of Plano, Texas, making this a particular race for the corporate and its workers.

In reality, NTT DATA officers accompanied O’Ward to the Rangers-Yankees’ afternoon sport.

“We have a big office and employee presence here,” mentioned Vikesh Gumpalli, senior vice chairman of know-how options and gross sales for NTT DATA. “Being a neighborhood resident right here for almost a decade and a half, it’s actually thrilling to have INDYCAR come again to the DFW-North Texas space. There are quite a lot of race followers on this metropolis.

“We are very focused around elevating the INDYCAR SERIES fan experience.”

To purchase Grand Prix of Arlington tickets, click here. For extra details about the brand new occasion, go to, www.gparlington.com.