Being a racer in 2024 doesn’t just mean showing up at the track and competing in an event. It means building a fan base, attracting sponsors, and doing a ton of legwork to establish yourself as the kind of viable asset every team – or racing series – wants to have.
In the IndyCar Series, Pato O’Ward is the perfect example of a driver who is doing everything he can to build his personal brand… and the series could learn a lot from the Arrow McLaren racer.
Pato O’Ward: “Many people don’t want to suffer losses”
Speaking to streamer Ash Vandelay and journalist Elizabeth Blackstock during their weekly motorsport stream “The Elizabeth + Ash Show,” Pato O’Ward explained the risks he took in building his personal brand and the similar risks IndyCar should take to raise its own profile.
Of all the IndyCar drivers racing in 2024, O’Ward has the second-largest social media following with 689,000 Instagram followers, surpassing the IndyCar Series’ 669,000 followers and second only to former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean’s fan base.
How did this come about? Well, O’Ward has been very diligent about cultivating his brand and encouraging his fan base to come in droves.
Born in Mexico, O’Ward has a natural appeal to an already passionate national fan base, which he uses to his advantage in exceptional ways. He is the only driver to arrive at each racetrack with his own merchandise booth. In certain markets, O’Ward fans can purchase seats in designated Pato grandstands or suites. He brought Pato TV to Mexico to broadcast IndyCar races live. In 2023, he also began experimenting with hosting track days for his fans and sponsors, where they have the opportunity to interact with O’Ward in person at, for example, the Circuit of the Americas.
No other driver does that – and as O’Ward explained on the Elizabeth + Ash Show, “I think a lot of people don’t want to take a loss, and that’s what stops them from taking action.”
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“I’m not an expert,” he said. “I’ve spent thousands of my own money.”
When O’Ward bought up a suite to sell the tickets back to his fans, he admitted that he didn’t make much money doing it – and that this wasn’t his only failure.
“I remember watching IndyCar racing on open TV in Mexico a few years ago and obviously paying for that out of my own pocket,” O’Ward said. “Nothing came of it, so that was a lot of money thrown out the window.”
“But you don’t know until you try. I would say that’s how I do a lot of (brand building).
“Maybe you try something and it doesn’t work, but it makes a difference, it opens the door to another idea.
“I just try to have fun with what we offer and what people want to be a part of.”
However, O’Ward would not write off these experiments entirely, as overall they contributed to the growth of his fan base and he was able to achieve some overall return on his investment.
“It’s grown massively year over year, and that’s what I hope for,” he admitted. “But I can’t tell you what (worked), because there were definitely a lot of casualties in a lot of those (experiments).”
“But there have been victories for others too. It’s about empathy.”
He stressed that his whole family is behind him and supports him, going to races, helping him come up with ideas or managing the creative side of his brand. He relies on them when the going gets tough, when he’s faced with “logistical stress and hassles” that he says other people would rather ignore.
The success of these efforts is cumulative, he notes – and it is important not to give up too soon.
“Year after year you get an idea of what is worthwhile and what is not,” he said.
However, his constant experimentation is what has earned O’Ward such a loyal following. It’s what makes fans flock to every IndyCar race, with Mexican flags and custom sombreros bearing O’Ward’s trademark. Even when something doesn’t work, fans have the distinct feeling that O’Ward is at least attempt.
The effort is a breath of fresh air for the IndyCar series, which can sometimes be stagnant with its old cars, tried-and-true entourage of tracks and general promotional woes. It can lead to the feeling that IndyCar doesn’t quite know what the fans want, while with O’Ward, you at least sense that he’s willing to try three things that fail to find one that succeeds.
“It’s important to try something new when you have the opportunity,” O’Ward said. “It helps you grow.”
Read more: Loud engines, racing in South America: Pato O’Ward believes IndyCar can challenge Formula 1
