Patricio O’Ward’s first opportunity to show what he can do in an Indy car will come Thursday, when the newly crowned champion in Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires will test with Harding Racing at Sonoma Raceway.

Harding Racing announced today the driver evaluation test for the 19-year-old driver, who clinched the Indy Lights crown Saturday with a race victory for Andretti Autosport at Portland International Raceway. The championship earned O’Ward a $1 million scholarship for guaranteed entry into three Verizon IndyCar Series races next season, including the Indianapolis 500.

“That’s what this year has been all about, showing what I can do in a race car,” O’Ward said. “I’m a little nervous about the Indy car test, but I’m way more excited than nervous. I just want to get in the car.”

Harding Racing, which intends to run two cars next season after being the Verizon IndyCar Series’ only one-car, full-time team this year, will make an announcement after the test about who will drive for the team in the season-ending INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma on Sunday, Sept. 16.

“We’ll make a decision after the test,” Harding Racing president Brian Barnhart said. “We’re certainly trying to establish and define what our plans for 2019 will be.”

This season, the Indianapolis-based team has used Gabby Chaves in the No. 88 Harding Group Chevrolet for 13 starts and Conor Daly for three. Chaves’ best finish was 14th (twice). Daly's best finish was 13th (at Toronto). Colton Herta, O’Ward’s Indy Lights teammate who finished second in the Indy Lights standings, also tested an Indy car for Harding at Portland on Aug. 3.

“We’ve said since the middle of the season, unfortunately with the results that we had that we found ourselves in a points position that wasn’t going to contend for a top-10, so we decided to utilize the rest of the season to evaluate drivers and give some people opportunities and get a better understanding on the race team, get a different perspective in terms of engineering, communication and setup,” Barnhart said.

“In doing so, we’ve run Conor on both a street circuit and a road circuit as well as a superspeedway. We had the opportunity to test Colton Herta because we said we wanted to give some of those young guns in Indy Lights an opportunity. That’s exactly what we’re going to continue with. We’re going to give Pato O’Ward a driver evaluation test at Sonoma, and we’re excited about that.”

O’Ward, who celebrated Saturday’s victory by donning a sombrero to honor his home country of Mexico, had an exceptional Indy Lights season with nine victories and nine poles.

“I’ve been waiting for this opportunity for so long,” O’Ward said. “It’s like icing on the cake after winning the championship. I’m really fortunate and grateful for the opportunity that Harding Racing has given me to test an Indy car. Hopefully, something is there. I don’t know what to expect from the car. All I hear is good things, so I couldn’t be more excited to go to Sonoma.”

Barnhart is impressed by O’Ward’s resume. The Monterrey, Mexico, native had seven wins and finished a close second to teammate Aaron Telitz in the 2016 Pro Mazda Championship presented by Cooper Tires. The following year, he and James French teamed to win the Prototype Challenge title in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship before returning full time to the Mazda Road to Indy this year in Indy Lights.

“In Pato, you see a guy who’s got a tremendous personality, a very effervescent, outgoing personality,” Barnhart said. “You also see a guy who is very fast. As he got into Andretti equipment, he’s demonstrated the ability to be exceptionally fast. He’s won a lot of races and sat on a lot of poles. He’s clearly very capable of going fast and being competitive in whatever he drives.”

The INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma airs live at 6:30 p.m. ET Sept. 16 on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.