ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – Pato O’Ward can live with his IndyCar salary put on blast, but he would have preferred to have some company.
“I would’ve loved for everybody else’s contracts to be leaked,” O’Ward told reporters Friday before turning his first laps at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener. “That would’ve been ideal.”
Instead, it was the Arrow McLaren star’s contract extension that made headlines recently after being included in the lawsuit McLaren Racing has filed against Alex Palou (the Indy Star reported the court filing).
Citing Palou’s decision to spurn the team in favor of staying at Chip Ganassi Racing, Arrow McLaren gave O’Ward the security of a two-year extension will pay him $4 million in 2026 and $4.2 million in ’27. It also includes an extra $2 million bonus to “uplift” his current deal, which the No. 5 Dallara-Chevrolet driver signed in May 2022.
So has the $4 million annual salary (which equates to a cool million for each of his four career wins) been noticed within the IndyCar industry, particularly drivers who might be entering contract years?
“Well, it’s $5 million-plus with the uplift,” Josef Newgarden told NBC Sports with a smile before Friday practice. “There’s the number. It is undeniable the health across some segments of this sport. There’s no doubting it. And I think it’s really encouraging for everybody. I think there’s a lot of positive momentum that can be injected into the sport. I think IndyCar’s in a great place, and I see teams in a great place, and I think that’s good for everybody.
“I don’t think (O’Ward’s contract extension) hurts anybody.”
It clearly seems good for IndyCar drivers across the board. O’Ward’s deal sets a rare concrete benchmark in auto racing, a sport where salaries usually are state secrets.
Many stars could be in line for raises in their next deals – which might ease the sting that undoubtedly some were feeling when they learned how much less they were getting than O’Ward.
Graham Rahal, who also has four career victories, has poked fun at the deal on social media and said Friday it was “laughable how different our base pays are, but that’s fine.
“That was awesome for him,” Rahal said. “From what I at least know or have seen, I think McLaren’s pay is an anomaly compared to every other team, and I don’t really know how that works, but it’s not up to me. I mean some teams are running off that (amount) as a budget.
“Good for Pato. It’s great for him, and it is good for the sport. When I came into this sport (in 2007), there were a lot of guys not making money. Like making zero and not being able to pay the insurance bill every year, and it is changing in the right direction. But hopefully for the younger guys, that will change the market and help some of them get a little better off.”
I’m not buying breakfast anymore @PatricioOWard. https://t.co/o3yWgPHkGR
— Graham Rahal (@GrahamRahal) February 28, 2024
O’Ward doesn’t believe his salary is at the top of a driver market that includes six-time champion Scott Dixon, two-time champions Newgarden, Will Power and Alex Palou.
“I think my number got there because there’s a handful of other people that are quite a bit higher,” O’Ward said. “So I know mine’s the only one that got leaked, but it definitely is not the only one of that realm. I think it’s good for the sport, and it shows us that the series is healthy.”
The extension would put O’Ward in line with many drivers in the NASCAR Cup Series, which underwent a salary reset coming out of the Great Recession after stars’ annual salaries had soared into the eight figures during the mid-2000s.
Arrow McLaren teammate Alexander Rossi said though salaries are “known-ish amongst the paddock,” having a number confirmed brings a layer of benefits.
“I think it shows the value of drivers in IndyCar,” Rossi said. “It shows that the teams appreciate the guy that can go out and get the job done, and it’s great for the greater driver market. So, he’s done a very good job. He’s earned that.”
If the market for accomplished IndyCar drivers were to begin skyrocketing, the onus would fall on teams to wrangle the cash. While making a case Friday for the series to invest more in marketing and promotion, team owner Michael Andretti said increasing driver salaries were part of “taking IndyCar to an elite level.
“It’s really good for drivers right now,” Andretti said. “I don’t mind paying these guys as long as we can afford paying. I’d love to see them make 10 million bucks a year, but it’s just got to be justified.”
It also begs the question playfully posed by O’Ward: If it benefits them, why don’t drivers have their salaries uniformly publicized as in other major professional sports?
That would be much more likely if there were collective bargaining in auto racing, which lacks the unionization that has driven the salary explosions in the NFL, NBA, Major League Baseball and the NHL.
And then there’s the fact that teams fueled by corporate sponsorship make participation in auto racing unique.
Rossi noted there are three tiers of drivers in racing: Those being paid, those who drive virtually for free and those who buy their rides through sponsorship or other means.
“This is the only sport on Earth where you can pay to be a part of it, and people don’t want that to be out there,” Rossi said. “You’re not going to go pay to be a quarterback for the Packers. It’s not a thing, right? Everyone there is getting paid to do the job, and in motorsports, that’s not the case. So that’s why it’s always been kind of a taboo thing to talk about just because there is such a separation.”
