HAMPTON, Ga. >> Mexican motorsports great Adrian Fernandez was disappointed to be compared to current IndyCar star Pato O’Ward in the discourse between IndyCar and its drivers over the series being beaten to a race in Mexico City by NASCAR.

“It’s never good to compare, especially two different eras,” Fernandez told The Associated Press on Sunday at Atlanta Motor Speedway. “It’s not fair to compare. We have three good drivers internationally right now. There is plenty of space.”

NASCAR last week said it would hold the first Cup Series championship event outside the United States when it runs next June at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, the same venue that currently hosts Formula 1 and held the 2007 CART season finale.

IndyCar drivers were incensed that NASCAR beat them into Mexico, where the series at its height built a strong following throughout the country.

Most bothered by NASCAR’s announcement was Mexican driver O’Ward, who watched as NASCAR spotlighted Daniel Suarez for its announcement. O’Ward is IndyCar’s most popular driver and he and Suarez are both from Monterrey.

In the confusing explanation as to how NASCAR got to Mexico City ahead of IndyCar, Mark Miles, the CEO of Penske Entertainment, intimated that the Mexican promoters had voiced skepticism that O’Ward could carry an international event.

While that sentiment was once said, it happened very early in O’Ward’s career. And the Mexico City promoters said they never heard another word from IndyCar after that.

Now in his fifth full IndyCar season, O’Ward is probably second only to F1 driver Sergio Perez in popularity in Mexico. However, Miles intimated the promoters suggested O’Ward was no Hernandez, an 11-time winner who competed in all four runnings of NASCAR’s Xfinity Series stops in Mexico City.

O’Ward is now selling a line of “Pato Who” shirts and hats on his online merchandise store.