IndyCar: Don’t pin Patricio O’Ward’s ride loss on George Steinbrenner IV

By Asher Fair | Mar 8, 2019

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

When Patricio O’Ward lost his full-time IndyCar ride with Harding Steinbrenner Racing for the 2019 season, many fans were quick to blame George Steinbrenner IV, which was clearly an unjustified knee-jerk reaction.

Patricio O’Ward was set to compete in IndyCar on a full-time basis in the 2019 season for the first time in his career after making his first career start in the series this past September in the season finale at Sonoma Raceway driving the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet.

The 19-year-old Mexican won the 2018 Indy Lights championship by recording nine victories, 13 podium finishes, 15 top four finishes and 17 top seven finishes in his 17-race rookie season driving for Andretti Autosport, and he recorded an impressive ninth place finish after starting in his fifth in his IndyCar debut.

Harding Racing, owned by Mike Harding, partnered with Steinbrenner Racing, owned by George Michael Steinbrenner IV, to form Harding Steinbrenner Racing shortly after the 2018 season ended, and O’Ward was confirmed as one of the team’s two drivers.

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Colton Herta, who finished in second place in the 2018 Indy Lights championship standings behind Herta, was confirmed as O’Ward’s teammate. He also made his IndyCar debut in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway.

With Harding Steinbrenner Racing announcing a few months later that they were set to switch their engine manufacturer from Chevrolet to Honda for the 2019 season, O’Ward was set to drive the #8 Honda while Herta was set to drive the #88 Honda. But a few weeks ago and less than one month before the scheduled start of the season, O’Ward and the team parted ways. Instead, he is set to drive for Carlin in 13 of the season’s 17 races, which was confirmed yesterday.

The moment when O’Ward lost his ride with Harding Steinbrenner Racing for the 2019 season, fans immediately blamed Steinbrenner, the 22-year-old son of New York Yankees part-owner and co-chairman Hank Steinbrenner.

This could not possibly have been more unjustified.

First of all, look at Harding Racing’s history of bamboozling drivers. The 2018 season was the team’s first season as a full-time team in IndyCar, yet by the time it ended, they had already promised two drivers rides and not delivered on their promises.

Santiago Urrutia was promised a full-time with the team for the 2018 season. He has still not yet made his IndyCar debut. Gabby Chaves was promised a full-time ride with the team for the 2019 season when he was replaced by Conor Daly for select races in the 2018 season. He does not have a ride of any kind lined up for the 2019 season.

But by all means, blame Steinbrenner, who had nothing to do with Harding Racing in any way whatsoever when either of these occurrences unfolded.

In addition and perhaps most notably, O’Ward is not Steinbrenner’s driver; Herta is. In Herta’s rookie Indy Lights season, the 2017 season, three drivers drove for Andretti Autosport. He was technically the team’s fourth driver, as he drove for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing, the team formed by a partnership between Michael Andretti’s team and that of Steinbrenner.

In the 2018 season, O’Ward signed with Andretti Autosport to become one of their three drivers. Again, Herta was the team’s fourth driver, and he drove for Andretti Steinbrenner Racing.

Steinbrenner has been invested in the 18-year-old Valencia, California native, whose ride with Harding Steinbrenner Racing for the 2019 season was never in doubt, for several years. This is not the case when it comes to O’Ward.

But by all means, blame Steinbrenner for what could, at this point, be described as almost an “expected” action by Harding Racing in letting O’Ward go; after all, they’ve now done something along these lines three times in the last year or so.

Let’s face it; as cliché as it sounds, it boils down to jumping on the bandwagon and blaming the “spoiled rich kid” as opposed to looking at the indisputable facts.

To keep it simple, at just 22 years old, Steinbrenner has money, and lots of it. After all, we are talking about the family that has owned the Yankees for nearly a half-century.

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But he very well could have stuck with baseball and added to his family’s legacy when it comes to the 27-time World Series champions. Instead, he is carving out his own legacy by investing in a team in IndyCar, a North American open-wheel racing series that is on the rise and can use all the help it can get, especially from big-name individuals, to stay on that rise.

Unfortunately, this doesn’t matter for many fans when it comes to making the “spoiled rich kid” the scapegoat, even if that “spoiled rich kid” has a chance to do wonders for the future of the sport and hasn’t done anything to suggest otherwise at this point.

Even when he has nothing to do with what goes wrong, of course he is going to be blamed for it. What else would you really expect? It’s absurd, but it’s pretty much inevitable, especially in this day and age.