IndyCar’s Pato O’Ward throws first pitch at Rangers game ahead of 2026 Arlington GP

ARLINGTON — Think traffic can be rough at times around the Arlington ballparks? Just wait until the professionals quadruple the speed limits next year.

“Randol Mill Road,” IndyCar racer Pato O’Ward said Wednesday in reference to a street adjacent to Globe Life Field. “We’re going to be hitting like 185 [mph].”

O’Ward, who threw out the first pitch before Wednesday’s Texas Rangers game vs. the New York Yankees, will return to the city next spring for the first-ever Grand Prix of Arlington. The IndyCar Series event will be held March 13-16, 2026 and the circuit will loop in and around both Globe Life Field and AT&T Stadium.

Rangers

Tickets for the event officially went on sale Wednesday morning and can be purchased here. O’Ward said that he had not yet taken a full tour of the 2.73 mile course but is a fan of the features.

“The hospitality extends out on top of the track,” O’Ward said. “It’s the only hospitality that we will legitimately be driving under. That’s going to be a really cool experience for the people that come out and are there.”

The 26-year-old is a native of Monterrey, Mexico but his family moved to San Antonio — where he attended the Texas Military Institute — when he was young. He won his first race in the NTT IndyCar Series at Fort Worth’s Texas Motor Speedway four years ago and has spent extensive time in Dallas between international trips. He currently ranks second in the IndyCar Series standings and finished fifth last season.

O’Ward met Rangers manager Bruce Bochy and outfielder Alejandro Osuna — a native of Ahome, Mexico — in the Texas dugout before Wednesday’s game.

“I love Texas, I always have,” O’Ward said. “Everything is bigger here, everything is greater here … I’ve got friends here that live here and they will for sure be here for the race weekend.”

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