IndyCar is largely considered a North American championship, with races being held across the United States and one yearly event in Canada.
The series has held other international races in the past, but has not left North America since 2013 when it contested a race in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
CEO of Penske Entertainment Mark Miles spoke with Motorsport.com recently at the Autosport Business Exchange about the viability of future international IndyCar events.
“We’re getting past Indiana and the Midwest,” said Miles. “One of the strategies, vis-a-vis our future calendars, is to get to big, hot, important metro areas in the country.
“It won’t happen overnight, but if we add one of those a year for three to five years, I think that will impact the overall fanbase for us in an important and positive way.
“We’re working on exactly how to take advantage of the opportunity, but it opens an opportunity because we’ve decided to end our North American championship when the NFL regular season games start [in September].
“That means we’ve got a long off season at the end of the year. And we know we have significant fans internationally.
“We think of the NTT IndyCar Series championship as North America – the US, we’ve been in Canada, we’ll add Mexico one of these days. But that’s that.
“Flying to Europe or the Middle East or South America we don’t think is part of that championship for now. But the possibility of events in the offseason for the current championship going abroad I think is exciting and I think there is some kind of opportunity there.”
Still working towards Mexico
Separate from potential exhibition events in the offseason, IndyCar continues to work towards bringing a championship race to Mexico City.
Significant efforts have been made in recent years to organize an event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the track where Formula 1 and other series regularly compete.
An deal was thought to be very nearly completed for a race to be added to the 2026 calendar, but that fell through just as IndyCar was finalizing its full schedule in September.
IndyCar’s desire to race in Mexico stems in part from the popularity of Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward, who brings swarms of Mexican fans to many races throughout the year.
It is that potential fanbase that Miles hopes to be able to tap into as he continues to work towards making the event a reality.
“We wouldn’t go to Mexico City or Mexico if we didn’t think we would have a phenomenally successful event that is a credit to the brand of IndyCar and helps propel the brand,” continued Miles.
“The first thing I think about is: At that venue, will it be enormously successful? Related to that is: In a huge city, a huge metropolitan area, can we have an impact?
“You can get lost in New York City if you don’t have the right partners and if all the ingredients aren’t put together just right.
“We’ve got to have a great event, got to have an impact in the market. I do think we have, with Pato [O’Ward] and others, a fanbase that wants us there. I think it will come.”
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