IndyCar: Patricio O’Ward still does not have a ride for the 2019 season

By Asher Fair | Mar 5, 2019

SONOMA, CA - SEPTEMBER 15: Patricio O'Ward of Mexico driver of the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet during practice for the Verizon IndyCar Series Sonoma Grand Prix at Sonoma Raceway on September 15, 2018 in Sonoma, California. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /

With only a few days until the 2019 IndyCar season is scheduled to begin, 2018 Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward still does not have a full-time or a part-time ride.

After winning the 2018 Indy Lights championship driving for Andretti Autosport, Patricio O’Ward made his IndyCar debut in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway as the driver of the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet.

The 19-year-old Mexican put on quite an impressive show at the 12-turn, 2.385-mile (3.838-kilometer) Sonoma Raceway natural terrain road course in Sonoma, California, as he qualified in fifth place before going on to finish in ninth.

His fifth place qualifying result was Harding Racing’s best qualifying result ever, and his ninth place finish in the race was the team’s best finish of the season. Just a few days later, Harding Racing announced that they would partner with Steinbrenner Racing for the 2019 season to field two entries on a full-time basis.

It was announced that O’Ward would drive the #8 Chevrolet, which became the #8 Honda a few months later when the team announced that they would be switching from Chevrolet engines to Honda engines for the 2019 season.

It was also announced that Colton Herta, who drove for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing in the 2018 Indy Lights season and finished in second place in the championship standings behind O’Ward, was set to drive the #88 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Chevrolet, which became the #88 Honda, for the 2019 season.

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But only one of these two drivers is set to compete for Harding Steinbrenner Racing this season, and that driver is Herta, who also made his IndyCar debut in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway and drove his #88 Harding Racing Chevrolet to a 20th place finish after starting in 19th.

A few weeks ago, O’Ward and Harding Steinbrenner Racing parted ways, leaving the driver who recorded nine victories, 13 podium finishes, 15 top four finishes and 17 top seven finishes throughout the 17-race 2018 Indy Lights season without a ride for the 2019 IndyCar season.

The 18-year-old Herta then went on to top the speed charts in three of the four Spring Training test sessions at Circuit of the Americas, and he topped the cumulative Spring Training test session as well, proving that O’Ward could have been lethal behind the wheel of the #8 Harding Steinbrenner Racing Honda as a full-time driver in the 2019 season had his deal to drive the #8 Honda on a full-time basis this year not fallen through.

Meanwhile, the 2019 season is scheduled to get underway on Sunday, March 10 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, and O’Ward still does not have any kind of ride lined up for the 2019 season. Practice for this race is scheduled to begin on Friday, March 8.

By winning the 2018 Indy Lights championship, O’Ward earned a $1 million scholarship that guarantees him an entry in three races throughout the 2019 season, including the 103rd running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May.

Andretti Autosport team owner Michael Andretti stated that he offered O’Ward a deal to compete in eight of the 2019 season’s 17 races for the team but that O’Ward rejected this offer. However, O’Ward clarified by saying that he simply did not accept the offer, not that he rejected it, so that he could pursue other options, potentially involving a full-time ride.

However, with just a few days remaining until the 2019 season is scheduled to get underway, O’Ward still does not have a full-time ride lined up for the season, and nothing more has been said about the eight-race deal that he was reportedly offered by Andretti before the news about his departure from Harding Steinbrenner Racing was publicized.

In terms of O’Ward landing a full-time ride for the 2019 season, time is ticking, if not already up. In terms of him landing a part-time ride for the 2019 season, it may just be a matter of time before we know what is going to happen.

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In how many races will Patricio O’Ward drive throughout the 2019 IndyCar season, and for which team or teams will he drive throughout it? With the season scheduled to get underway in only a few more days, expect these questions to at least be somewhat answered in the very near future.