At the tricky oval of WWT Raceway at Gateway, Pato O’Ward had multiple performances that could have resulted in the young driver’s first IndyCar win.
In each of the weekend’s doubleheader races, O’Ward placed his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet at the head of the field, and even led nearly half of the laps on Saturday’s race. But in each case, a close battle on pit lane resulted in a lost chance at the elusive win.
The consecutive podium finishes have done well for his confidence, but have also left him wanting more.
“We had a great weekend,” said O’Ward after the doubleheader races. “Our objective was to come in and try and score two podiums, and we did that. It would have been great to score a win. We’re so close.
“This Arrow McLaren SP #5 Chevrolet was very strong right out of the gates. We were super, super competitive. We’re knocking on the door, man. We’re very close, and we’re going to keep pushing.
“I know our time will come.”
Sunday’s race in particular was a battle of strategy, as hot track conditions led to nearly non-existent passing while at speed on the tricky oval.
The chance for victory came down to a race off pit road with reigning series champion Josef Newgarden, which ended up being a remarkably tight, side-by-side struggle all down the service road.
After narrowly losing the position, O’Ward was simply not able to run close enough behind the cars in front to make an attempt at the top spot.
The tight battle lost him the race, but earned him the respect of his rivals, which have unanimously praised the young driver’s talent and fairness behind the wheel.
When asked if he had any chance of making the pass for the win on Sunday, O’Ward said, “It would be great to say I did, but honestly, I was really struggling.
“Whenever I got the countdown to 10 laps to go, I was pushing, pushing, pushing to get close to him and try and strike, but I just couldn’t quite do it.
“The asphalt on the track was quite a bit hotter, so that makes it quite a bit tougher with big trains of cars. We got to the back of the pack, and we kind of got stuck there.”
The pair of podiums this weekend means that O’Ward now has four top-five finishes in the nine races run so far this year, and sits third in the points standings behind Scott Dixon and Newgarden.
The young Mexican driver was also named the Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year for his strong performance that led to a sixth place finish in the famous race.
His talent does not just show through on the ovals either, as he has led laps in five different races so far this season, and narrowly missed out on a win at Road America.
With a few more races on the calendar in his first full season in IndyCar, O’Ward still has time to earn his maiden victory before the year is out.
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