Pato O´Ward out of Harding Steinbrenner Racing

[Joeremi]

I swear, that it's not me!


What did you expect to hear from Michael, who called B.Herta "part of the family"? Yes, Colton was leading the championship, but why did he crashed multiple times that weekend? Why Pato, who was chasing - didn't? Why O'Ward earned 9 wins, 9 poles and clinched the championship in his debut year, while Herta earned just 3 poles, 4 wins in his second year in the same equipment as Pato's? Why at Sonoma Pato made the top six in qauly and finished 9th in the race while Herta was 19th in qualy and finished 20th in the race despite additional day of testing at the track?


Because Pato is much faster, than Colton. You just can't deny the facts. I'm tired to repeat this over and over again.


No hate or any negative for Colton, it's the system itself, when guys like P.Fittipaldi are enjoying solid mexican sponsorship, while guys like O'Ward are always on the werge of ending their careers because of lack of money.

I don't think you're tired to repeat this over and over again. You seem committed to it.

[Jakester]

Tecate was blowing a reported 9million on the LBGP after they dropped Adrian. I would hope they could help Pato out with some cash.

I seriously doubt Tecate was paying $9MM/year for the official beer title at Long Beach. Perhaps a total from all their years of sponsorship, but not per year.
That would be more than Toyota was spending on race title sponsorship.

[nospheratez]

I don't think you're tired to repeat this over and over again. You seem committed to it.

You're more than welcome to contrargue any points that I made.

[ndcrs]

I am sure he will have a ride for a few races this year.. He has that bonus to use

serious question: who still has something to give him?

[Joeremi]

You're more than welcome to contrargue any points that I made.

I already did. Nobody is interested in hearing me repeat it ad nauseum.

[Joeremi]

serious question: who still has something to give him?

I just don't see it. It'd be great if he could use his bonus for a couple rides, but he can't build his own car.

[Hitokiri]

serious question: who still has something to give him?

Coyne and Rahal have both done three cars before. Juncos still has a seat open and Carlin has half a seat open since Charlie is only doing a partial season.

[Joeremi]

Isn't Enerson the other Carlin driver?

[RHRfan#1]

hasn't been confirmed for any races, but will be testing at COTA

[E Nasty]

The Tecate deal with Long Beach is probably largely funded by the local distributor so that most likely isn't going to help O'Ward outside So Cal.

The ongoing background chatter from Pruett and Miller suggests to me that O'Ward was signed on the basis of his Lights scholarship and whatever else he could scrape together, Harding providing the rest for that entry with Steinbrenner sorting out the Herta side. Harding's divorce has him shutting off the money flow so O'Ward can stay and risk having his scholarship money wasted in a shoestring entry that could disappear at any moment or go somewhere that can put it to good use for a quality May entry and whatever else he can do. This does not seem like O'Ward failed to come through for HSR as suggested earlier in this thread.

I'll predict we'll see a single car entry called Steinbrenner Racing before the green flag drops at Indy.

[TimmyZ1]

The Tecate deal with Long Beach is probably largely funded by the local distributor so that most likely isn't going to help O'Ward outside So Cal.

The ongoing background chatter from Pruett and Miller suggests to me that O'Ward was signed on the basis of his Lights scholarship and whatever else he could scrape together, Harding providing the rest for that entry with Steinbrenner sorting out the Herta side. Harding's divorce has him shutting off the money flow so O'Ward can stay and risk having his scholarship money wasted in a shoestring entry that could disappear at any moment or go somewhere that can put it to good use for a quality May entry and whatever else he can do. This does not seem like O'Ward failed to come through for HSR as suggested earlier in this thread.

I'll predict we'll see a single car entry called Steinbrenner Racing before the green flag drops at Indy.

Is this whats causing Hardings issues? The divorce? Its still sucks but its a little more understandable.

[Joeremi]

So Harding was the sponsor for O'Ward at Harding? Man what a mess. Technically that does mean Pato's funding dried up, but it's weird that it was his own car owner who bailed.

[Teej]

Isn't Enerson the other Carlin driver?

Enerson definitely tested for Carlin, but I'm not sure if they have announced a race deal?

[Hitokiri]

Urruita said that he and Chaves were both screwed over by Harding. I wonder if O'Ward knew of this or not. For the longest time the question of what Chaves role in all of this was was asked without given a direct answer. People just speculated that Chaves had been kicked out of his role driver by O'Ward but there was never a formal announcement on the team on this. If it was true that there were other offers on the table for O'Ward I wonder what made him feel safe in trusty Harding especially after all that had happened.

*sighs*


I guess it's probably one of those things that either people do not know or will never talk about.

[dakinca]

Tin foil hat idea; Pato drives for McLaren a few races before Indy to help get the team ready, and partners with Alonso at Indy.

[Joeremi]

I'm surprised someone else thought of it. I had that tin foil thought, too, but it sounded too crazy to post!

[JoeyofthePrius]

Enerson definitely tested for Carlin, but I'm not sure if they have announced a race deal?

They haven't announced anything yet, but the Motorsport article about Pato O'Ward (https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...rding/4335995/) suggested that Enerson would be taking some of the races in the 23 and might be in a third car at the Indy 500

[Teej]

They haven't announced anything yet, but the Motorsport article about Pato O'Ward (https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/n...rding/4335995/) suggested that Enerson would be taking some of the races in the 23 and might be in a third car at the Indy 500

Just saw a pic from one of my Facebook IndyCar sites that had RC sitting in a Carlin car with # 31 on it. They said he must've decided on his race number. It may not be official, but in my book, that's close enough!

[E Nasty]

Is this whats causing Hardings issues?

That is the way I've interpreted the non-stories from Pruett and Miller. I would also guess the financial implications of a big dollar divorce mean Harding's been advised to neither sell or continue funding his part of the team.

[E Nasty]

So Harding was the sponsor for O'Ward at Harding? Man what a mess. Technically that does mean Pato's funding dried up, but it's weird that it was his own car owner who bailed.

Semantically it means Pato's funding dried up. O'Ward has the same amount of personal funding he had when HSR announced him full time for 2019. He saw a deteriorating situation and sought a release to take what funding he brings somewhere that will put it to more effective use.

[Joeremi]

What Pato clearly doesn't have is any funding from Mexico, which is an huge problem for a young Mexican star in the making. I understand we're in a different world now with sponsors (and politics), but it's still messed up.

[Defender]

Tin foil hat idea; Pato drives for McLaren a few races before Indy to help get the team ready, and partners with Alonso at Indy.

The problem with the McLaren idea is that at this moment they appear even less prepared than Harding. This whole situation reeks of Mickey Mouse-like desperation. It is not a good look.

[Indy499]

As always with Indycar all hype and excitement about car counts in the silly season is just that...silly. It always settles within 1-2 of the leader circle number.

[Hitokiri]

As always with Indycar all hype and excitement about car counts in the silly season is just that...silly. It always settles within 1-2 of the leader circle number.

Are you really blaming Indycar? Why? It looks like the only one doing the hype job was Harding.

[uscman3]

In response to the Urrutia tweet, I was able to speak with him so he could elaborate more on what he shared yesterday. He feels he was also wronged by Harding Steinbrenner Racing during the 2017-18 offseason.

Link

[ThisIsRDG]

In response to the Urrutia tweet, I was able to speak with him so he could elaborate more on what he shared yesterday. He feels he was also wronged by Harding Steinbrenner Racing during the 2017-18 offseason.

Link

Good write-up. Great to hear Santi's side of the story. I had been hard on him for talking to his local press about a ride for last season, but now I see why he was so confident. I'm starting to feel really bad for all of these people that Harding seemed to burn. I really hope we see Pato again soon.

[brundle]

You're more than welcome to contrargue any points that I made.

Contrargue???? Spike??? Where are you???

[The Gary Møøse Show]

In response to the Urrutia tweet, I was able to speak with him so he could elaborate more on what he shared yesterday. He feels he was also wronged by Harding Steinbrenner Racing during the 2017-18 offseason.

Link

Thanks.

[Sea Fury]

In response to the Urrutia tweet, I was able to speak with him so he could elaborate more on what he shared yesterday. He feels he was also wronged by Harding Steinbrenner Racing during the 2017-18 offseason.

Link

He says they had a contract. Is he in a position to sue Harding?

[Hitokiri]

He says they had a contract. Is he in a position to sue Harding?

In the same tweet he also talks about a "handshake". I remember talks that were supposedly sealed through a handshake before but that was as far as it went. Suddenly the driver went somewhere else without notifying the owner. Of course I'm talking about Ed Jones and Dale Coyne. Didn't Stefan Wilson claim he had a handshake agreement to run the Indy 500 before Alonso came along? I mean....I hope for sake of Urrutia that the contract was something written at least on a napkin or something.