Will Buxton adores Pato O’Ward, but he might not agree with the No. 5 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren driver.
O’Ward opposed the idea of doubleheader weekends — events that hold both INDYCAR and NASCAR at the same venue, in the same time frame.
“Tired of INDYCAR being treated like a support race,” O’Ward said. “INDYCAR shouldn’t become a sideshow.”
That’s often what happens when there are doubleheaders at places like St. Petersburg, which hosted the INDYCAR season opener on Sunday morning and a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race on Saturday. Plus, there’s this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, with INDYCAR’s Good Ranchers 250 on Saturday (3 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app) and NASCAR’s Straight Talk Wireless 500 on Sunday (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX and the FOX Sports app).
However, Buxton, the FOX Sports INDYCAR play-by-play announcer, sees these doubleheaders as an “opportunity.”
“An opportunity for INDYCAR fans to fall in love with NASCAR and for NASCAR fans to fall in love with INDYCAR,” Buxton said on Monday’s episode of “SPEED With Harvick And Buxton.”
“[It’s] for race fans in both camps to gain a new understanding and a new respect for championships which they might never have watched, or always believed that they shouldn’t. Want people to remember you? Play the best damn gig of your life. INDYCAR simply has to do what it does best, and that’s be the fastest racing on earth. That’s how you make fans. And that’s how INDYCAR becomes the headliner.”
“Look, I love Pato,” Buxton added. “I love that he’s honest, and he speaks from the heart. And while I know exactly where he’s coming from, I think there’s a bigger picture to look at here.”
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Double-headers mean more eyeballs, more fans, more chances for Tyler Reddick fans to fall in love with Alex Palou and vice versa.
“INDYCAR and NASCAR double headers are a great idea, because it shouldn’t be about anyone other than the fans,” Buxton said. “It has to be about what’s right for them, and how the championship can maximize welcoming new fans to a racing product that we all adore. And the best way to do that is to simply get on with what INDYCAR does the best: putting on a show. The fastest racing on earth.”
INDYCAR will have the platform to do that this weekend at Phoenix.
