Pato O’Ward – Syndication Server

O’Ward crushes pole dry spell with Arrow McLaren 1-2 at Thermal

On Monday, Pato O’Ward was deep in his feelings about the poor state of his qualifying performances, coming off a shocking run to 23rd in St. Petersburg. Saturday at The Thermal Club, the Arrow McLaren driver put a pole position dry spell dating …

“Maybe I figured out how to drive quickly again,” O’Ward told RACER with a smile.

O’Ward was joined in the demonstration of speed by new teammate Christian Lundgaard, who locked out the front row for Arrow McLaren and Chevy (1m40.1245s).

Entering the Firestone Fast 12, eight Hondas dominated the mix, but it was the Bowtie that got it done as the best from Honda was Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou in third (1m40.3092s), who had the Andretti Global duo of Colton Herta in fourth (1m40.3978s) and teammate Marcus Ericsson in fifth (1m40.7435s). Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi completed the Fast Six (1m41.0359s) and bookended the session for Chevy.

The shock of qualifying came from Team Penske, which saw all three of its drivers fail to make it out of the opening round. With the 27-deep field spit into two opening knockout sessions, the majority of IndyCar’s fastest drivers were in the first group where all three Penske drivers were located. Once it was over, the trio of Josef Newgarden (P17), Will Power (P21), and Scott McLaughlin (P25) were left with a lot of overtaking to do during Sunday’s 65-lap contest.

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Qualifying got underway with McLaughlin spinning on his opening lap on Firestone’s primary tires as the field was met with 84 degrees and perfect blue skies.

In the final minutes, the group was led by David Malukas and Conor Daly, but as the rest of the field headed out on alternates to take their shots, the session ended with a transferring six led by Palou, Felix Rosenqvist, Scott Dixon, Marcus Armstrong, Malukas, and Kyle Kirkwood.

The second group with the remaining 14 drivers faced 85-degree weather and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing’s Louis Foster was the first to set a fast lap. On the quicker alternate tires, O’Ward jumped ahead to first as the clock wound down to 2m30s.

It would shuffle as the best six to transfer was led by Lundgaard, Herta, O’Ward, Rossi, Louis Foster, and Ericsson.

Moving onto the Firestone Fast 12, things got serious in the final 90 seconds as Palou took command ahead of O’Ward, Lundgaard, Ericsson, Rossi, and Herta.

Positions seven through 12 were locked in with Armstrong, Kirkwood, Rosenqvist, Foster, Dixon, and Malukas.

In the Fast Six, Rossi sat on pit lane until the last moment as Palou went fastest until the McLaren drivers jumped ahead and locked out the front row.

O’Ward working on qualifying form to rectify poor performance

Pato O’Ward doesn’t like where he finds himself when it’s time to qualify the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy. The young Mexican has five IndyCar Series pole positions to his credit, but the last came nearly three years ago on the Mid-Ohio road course, …

Pato O’Ward doesn’t like where he finds himself when it’s time to qualify the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy.

The young Mexican has five IndyCar Series pole positions to his credit, but the last came nearly three years ago on the Mid-Ohio road course, and after a dismal start to the season where he qualified 23rd, it’s the one aspect of his game that needs immediate improvement.

“My qualifying was horrible at St. Pete. It wasn’t even bad; it was horrible,” O’Ward told RACER. “And then to top it off in horribleness, we got completely screwed by someone else’s crash with having a puncture. Considering that we were dead last, about to be lapped within like 20 laps and still made my way to 11th, [it] was good, but we can’t start so far back.

“I was the fastest car in terms of race pace the whole race, so it’s not like the speed was missing. But bad qualifying is really penalizing you in IndyCar, and then if you top it off with a puncture, some bad luck to start the race where you just can’t even go through your tire strategy, it all snowballs.”

Known for his lighting reflexes and rabid race-day performances, the ongoing struggles in qualifying is an admittedly strange development for one of IndyCar’s fastest drivers. O’Ward took three wins last year and tore through the field at St. Petersburg, but he’d have better odds of securing more podiums and victories if he was able to consistently fire the No. 5 Chevy into the first few rows during time trials.

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“I don’t want to get too greedy, because I do think things can always be worse, but if I could have qualified 10th, and I could have missed the crash, it’s a different conversation,” he said. “Just qualifying has been a struggle for me, even last year, and I don’t know why. I can’t pin quite pinpoint why I’ve struggled so much, because I’ve always been the other way around.

“Qualifying has always been the best, and then in the race, we can’t carry it through, but then I keep finding myself really battling through the races to get to the podium and to win races. We just need to get to where we want to be, which is the first five cars. I don’t know why this is happening.”

O’Ward does wonder whether the tail-heavy hybrid Dallara DW12 chassis has been part of the problem. For a driver who makes his speed with a fast-reacting front axle—and deals with oversteer in a flash—the change in weight distribution to the tune of 105 new pounds at the back of the cars just might be an issue for O’Ward to accept and overcome. Due to the rearward weigh bias, sliding the cars, which O’Ward has mastered, has become a perfect way to spin.

“I think [about] how I ran my cars in qualifying — with that little edge that you can deal with for a lap or two… It just doesn’t seem to be possible with the hybrid,” he said. “I’ve had to have the car in a somewhat different window for qualifying and it’s definitely been a struggle to feel like I can get the most out of it. I just haven’t quite gotten there.

“Obviously, when you don’t have all the confidence in the car because it bites left and right, when you do this and you do that, you just … you can’t extract the lap time, you know? We’ve had instances with the hybrid car where I’ve put it on the front row, but it’s not something that’s consistent for me. It’s an area I really want to make sure that we nail sooner rather than later.”

Tire deg the life of the party at Thermal Club

A disjointed Friday practice session made it hard for IndyCar Series teams to do long runs on Firestone’s black-banded primary tires and the softer red-banded alternate compound, but some of the fastest drivers at The Thermal Club were able to offer …

“Oh, it’s still a cheese grater,” said Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward. “We just need to look at the data, really. I think it was a bit different for each of our cars. The common denominator is that the deg (tire degradation) is going to be big. I would see it like an Iowa — like an old Iowa kind of thing, I would say, but [on a] road course.”

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Most drivers completed short runs in the three- to five-lap range on the primaries, and maybe one or two hard laps on alternates to close the day. With Sunday’s 65-lap race expected to see a need for primary tires to last between 10-15 laps between pit stops, teams have a lot of knowledge to gain on how long the primaries can last before losing most of their grip.

“I think this track in general makes anything hard to drive, with the lack of overall grip and how Pato said — it ruins tires pretty quickly, so there’s a lot of deg,” said Andretti Global’s Colton Herta. “That makes it difficult to get a lap together. I think the overall performance of the tires, red and black, are a little bit better than what we saw in St. Pete, so that should be a little bit better in that sense. But it’s still going to be interesting, right? On the reds, you’re looking at one, maybe two laps in qualifying. It puts a lot of pressure on us to get it done on that one- or two-lap tire.”

IndyCar and Mexico to re-engage on potential 2026 race

Penske Entertainment and the promoter of the Mexico City Grand Prix intend to re-engage early in 2025 to discuss the possibility of bringing the NTT IndyCar Series to the home country of its most popular driver, Pato O’Ward. The Arrow McLaren star, …

The Arrow McLaren star, who was overwhelmed with support from adoring fans last weekend (pictured above) at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez as he took part in Free Practice 1 in the McLaren MCL38-Mercedes normally piloted by Lando Norris, would be the main attraction for a Mexican IndyCar event.

Talks have been held in the past, which led to suggestions O’Ward lacked the star power to draw a meaningful crowd and no agreements being formed. But with O’Ward’s ongoing spike in followers, and the prospect of Red Bull Formula 1 driver and national hero Sergio Perez nearing the end of his grand prix career, an IndyCar event with O’Ward as the centerpiece could benefit the series and promoter in new and compelling ways.

“Discussions regarding an IndyCar race in Mexico City have been positive and we look forward to continuing the conversation,” a Penske Entertainment spokesperson told RACER of its interest to host a race in 2026. “Pato’s presence this past weekend underscores the intense interest from fans and the massive and still growing star power he brings forward.”

American open-wheel racing paid its last visit to Mexico in 2007 with the former Champ Car World Series — Sebastien Bourdais won the race and celebrated his fourth consecutive CCWS title in what would prove to be the series’ final season. NASCAR also raced at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the 2000s and is set to return in 2025 with its premier Cup Series.

After a long absence, F1 has been the marquee series at the revised circuit since 2015 and brings one of the series’ largest crowds on the calendar. F1 has one more race on its contract with the promoter before a new agreement to continue in 2026 and beyond will be required. Whether those negotiations to continue with F1 would interfere with courting and welcoming another significant open-wheel series in IndyCar is unclear.

O’Ward set for IndyCar and Formula E demos in Mexico

Pato O’Ward is set to appear at Formula E’s Mexico City race in January, where he is understood to be driving his Arrow McLaren IndyCar in a demonstration run, as well as sampling NEOM McLaren’s Formula E car. The move is part of a continued effort …

The move is part of a continued effort to increase collaboration across McLaren’s extended racing portfolio, and was teased by Formula E on social media on Monday, and subsequently confirmed by RACER.

O’Ward has been the most notable of McLaren’s roster to branch out across disciplines – others being the team’s former Extreme E drivers Emma Gilmour and Tanner Foust, as well as David Malukas and Tony Kanaan, all of whom have sampled historic sports cars and grand prix cars in demonstrations in recent seasons.

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News of O’Ward’s planned Formula E visit comes after his latest free practice outing for McLaren’s Formula 1 team at last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix, which took place at the same venue as the Mexico City E-Prix – Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez – although the Formula E uses an alternate track layout to the Formula 1 race.

O’Ward has also expressed an interest in competing in the upcoming NASCAR Cup series race in Mexico City – a sentiment something McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has echoed, with him expressing an interest in seeing the seven-time IndyCar winner competing in the Daytona 500 at some point.

O’Ward made his second F1 free practice appearance in Mexico City last weekend. Steven Tee/Motorsport Images

While IndyCar continues to explore the possibility of a race in Mexico City, nothing is on the immediate horizon. If it were to transpire, Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles stressed to RACER last month that it would be an “NTT IndyCar championship points race” and not as part of a standalone international series, which had been mooted.

Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez was last a part of the American open-wheel picture between 2002-2007, when it hosted the Champ Car World Series.

McLaren’s Formula E driver lineup comprises 12-time race winner Sam Bird and Taylor Barnard, who became both the youngest starter and youngest podium finisher during a stand-in stint last season when he filled in for Bird during a brief injury layoff. The season begins in Sao Paulo, Brazil on December 7.

O’Ward has a taste for more F1 after ‘chaotic and crazy’ Mexico FP1

Pato O’Ward describes his FP1 outing at the Mexico City Grand Prix as “a dream come true” after completing a clean and competitive session on Friday. McLaren ran O’Ward as part of its rookie practice requirements, with the IndyCar star taking over …

Pato O’Ward describes his FP1 outing at the Mexico City Grand Prix as “a dream come true” after completing a clean and competitive session on Friday.

McLaren ran O’Ward as part of its rookie practice requirements, with the IndyCar star taking over Lando Norris’ car for the opening session of the race weekend. With the FP1 appearance being the first time O’Ward has driven at his home race, he says his final tally of 21 laps and a best time just over 0.3s off teammate Oscar Piastri was a strong return after a lengthy red flag.

“I thought it was a great FP1,” O’Ward said. “We got through a very intense running plan, especially with such a chaotic and crazy practice session.

“I would have loved to have some more chance perhaps on the hard [tire] to prepare for the soft, but with having what we did, I can feel pretty pleased with what I got out for myself and with all the information that I was able to gather for the team, because they’re obviously in a pretty important title fight and I’m obviously here … to help that they stay where they are.

“A dream come true, I saw the Mexican flags, I saw floating Pato faces in certain areas; it was really cool.”

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O’Ward admits he was under very strict instructions from McLaren due to the data the team needed to gather, but focused on being consistent over trying to display his raw pace potential.

“‘Pato, don’t shunt the car!’ Pato if you try and go too fast I’m going to scream at you!’ and, ‘We need information,’ [were the messages], and this information is extremely important to what the weekend is going to look like,” O’Ward said.

“It was very clear that I had to prioritize everything that was needed from me in terms of gathering information, being consistent, but it’s quite difficult. When you don’t know this car, you don’t know this track much, you’re trying to learn for yourself, but you’re also trying to stay as consistent as possible for the team, for all the data that they’re gathering, but I’m very pleased with it.

“I think we gathered everything that we needed to in a pretty chaotic session, and I think they’re pretty happy with the job that I did. I certainly am, so I can’t wait to drive this car again. Hopefully I get to drive it sometime before the year ends. That would be cool.”

O’Ward primed to aid McLaren’s title tilt — and enjoy the moment — in Mexico FP1

Pato O’Ward is looking forward to a special opportunity for him to run in FP1 on home ground at the Mexico City Grand Prix in the midst of McLaren’s Formula 1 championship battles. McLaren leads the constructors’ championship by 40 points from Red …

Pato O’Ward is looking forward to a special opportunity for him to run in FP1 on home ground at the Mexico City Grand Prix in the midst of McLaren’s Formula 1 championship battles.

McLaren leads the constructors’ championship by 40 points from Red Bull and 48 from Ferrari, while Lando Norris is 57 points adrift of Max Verstappen in the drivers’ standings. Against that backdrop, O’Ward — an Arrow McLaren racer in IndyCar — will drive during the F1 weekend in Mexico City for the first time when he takes part in the opening practice session, and he says the competitive picture only adds to his anticipation.

“I’m just so excited to be there,” O’Ward told RACER. “I’m excited to enjoy the experience of that grand prix weekend without just being there to walk around — I will actually get to drive the car at least once! So that’s pretty special.

“I haven’t really had the chance to do that in a professional manner in so many years. The stage doesn’t get any bigger than Formula 1 and it’s really a great opportunity for me to be there with the team and obviously help them any way I can to get everything sorted out for Lando and make that as smooth as possible, but also get what I need out of it and really get to enjoy it. That’s my main goal — I want to enjoy that as much as possible.

“I feel like naturally you would expect it to, but I don’t feel the extra pressure really. I think it’s cool. I actually think it’s the other way round — I think it’s fantastic that I’m going to get to drive the constructors’ championship- leading car. That’s awesome. I’ve never had the chance to do that, so that’s a first!”

O’Ward has been in the UK preparing for his FP1 outing and says he feels more at home in F1 machinery due to the amount of running he now has completed with McLaren.

“I was there for three weeks, I had four sim days, I had TPC testing in Silverstone — that was really enjoyable but I only got a couple of hours in the dry, then it was extremely wet. So still enjoyable but not the same –you can’t lean on the car the same, obviously,” O’Ward said. “But I’m excited for Mexico. I’m excited for what it can bring to me as a professional, and really seeing what it’s going to be all about. The car’s a missile right now, so I’m looking forward to driving that.

“I feel very comfortable. I would say after the Abu Dhabi test last year I got to really lean on the car and it just feels a lot more like home. Mexico is slightly different just because of the altitude and the grip levels and all that stuff, but in a way I think it’s going to be less of a step than what it usually is because of the altitude and the grip. So I think I’m in for some really good fun, and I’m looking forward to showing up well for myself and the team.”

The Mexico City Grand Prix is renowned for its party atmosphere and incredible support for Sergio Perez. O’Ward is not expecting a similar reaction but keen to see the interest he receives.

“I don’t know what to expect, really,” he admitted. “Every year has obviously gotten bigger, I don’t know here that has gotten to. I don’t know where that level is right now. I always gauge it when I go to Mexico. It’s felt like after the Indy 500 this year there’s been a shift in that regard, like there’s been a big step in recognition in a sense.

“More just concentrated in Mexico rather than everywhere else — I’m still kind of a nobody in the F1 paddock, to be honest! People that know about motorsports obviously know when I’m walking around, but all the Netflix growth for sure has no idea who anybody is besides the 20 [F1] drivers. So it will be interesting.

“I’m curious to see the stadium section because every time Checo goes through there I hear everybody just screams, and I can hear it from the box. Obviously I don’t think it will be the same for me when I go through there, but maybe some people will be like ‘Hey!’ I think that will be really cool.”

Brown keen to see O’Ward crossovers beyond F1

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says he would like to see Pato O’Ward driving other races such as the Daytona 500 as well as his Formula 1 runs. O’Ward has been confirmed to be making his next FP1 appearance for McLaren at his home race in Mexico City …

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says he would like to see Pato O’Ward driving other races such as the Daytona 500 as well as his Formula 1 runs.

O’Ward has been confirmed to be making his next FP1 appearance for McLaren at his home race in Mexico City next month, in what will be the first time he’s driven during an F1 weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Brown says the 25-year-old has got the attributes to drive in different categories and suggests there could be a similar crossover to the one that sees Kyle Larson running with McLaren at the Indy 500.

“He’s one of our reserve drivers, we want him to get through the IndyCar season,” Brown told the Dale Jr. Podcast. “He’s tested our Formula 1 car a bunch — he’s a huge talent and it will be massive news in Mexico, which is great.

“Obviously there was the whole fiasco a week or two ago and I’m going to be wearing my ‘Pato who?’ hat this weekend for some fun! But he’s huge. When I go to Mexico — Formula E races there, Formula 1 — I’ve got people shouting at me, ‘Bring Pato! Bring Pato!’ So it will be great to put him out in Free Practice 1 — that will be big news.”

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Brown said he is still hopeful of O’Ward being involved with the NASCAR event in Mexico, although schedule conflicts appear to preclude it happening next year.

“If we can get him in the Xfinity race, that would be cool. I love that stuff. So I’d love to see Pato do that,” he said. “Right now it conflicts — I don’t know what the schedule will look like on ’26 but maybe that. Talking through what else can we do with Hendrick Motorsports? Maybe there’s something… Pato at the Daytona 500 — how cool would that be?”

O’Ward has already shown an interest in running the Mexico City NASCAR race, previously telling RACER’s Marshall Pruett he is eyeing a ride in 2026.

“I would love to,” O’Ward said. “I’m really bummed. I wish we could have done it as soon as the first time, which is next year, but it’s when we go to Gateway and obviously my priorities lie in IndyCar, but I would love to do the next one. That’s the race I would do absolutely. I don’t really have interest doing another race. I want to do that one, and I think it’d be cool.”

O’Ward overpowers Penske brigade in first Milwaukee win

Pato O’Ward drowned out the noise caused by Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles and drove to the front with the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevy Saturday night in Wisconsin to win his third race of the season in commanding style. Last Sunday, O’Ward …

Last Sunday, O’Ward started 22nd and finished 15th as his team was lost at Portland, and six days later O’Ward was hunting for victory, leading 133 of the 250 laps as his squad made an epic turnaround.

“It’s all about, ‘What are we missing?’” O’Ward said. “We’re not going to get it right all the time, but specifically this year has been really tough just to feel like I have something to fight with. It was nice to bounce back like this, you know, after a solid qualifying effort and then really putting it together in the race. It all definitely came together for us.”

He was chased home by Team Penske’s Will Power, who was 1.8s in arrears in the No. 12 Chevy and the charging Conor Daly, who rocketed from the back of the field in 25th to secure an important third for Juncos Hollinger Racing in the No. 78 Chevy and give the Bowtie a sweep of the podium.

Last week’s polesitter Santino Ferrucci motored the No. 14 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevy to fourth and championship leader Alex Palou held on to secure fifth in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

With his second-place result, Power carved 11 points off of Palou’s lead, which went from 54 to 43 points with two races left to go.

“Shrinks a little more,” Power said. “Another 10 points would have been great. Almost had him there, but just too good. I should say pleasant surprise but well deserved, Conor driving all the way. Shows it doesn’t matter where you qualify. Even my spotter said during that run, ‘Conor already has passed half the field around the outside,’ so the outside works. For Ricardo (Juncos) and that team, couldn’t be happier. Super excited to see that.”

IndyCar’s return to the Milwaukee Mile had a little bit of everything as polesitter Scott McLaughlin led the first 80 laps, was passed by Linus Lundqvist who led 19 tours, and when it mattered, O’Ward kept working and went from running at the tail end of the top five to winning the first of the Hy-Vee Milwaukee doubleheaders.

Behind him, a few drivers had memorable nights, including Lundqvist, who let Palou by to take fifth and duly finished sixth. Ed Carpenter Racing’s Christian Rasmussen improved from 23rd to 11th in his second IndyCar oval race, and at the opposite end, the Andretti Global team misfired with all three cars as Marcus Ericsson and Josef Newgarden tangled and crashed (27th place); Kyle Kirkwood hit some of his crew members and had a drive-through penalty (12th); and Colton Herta’s wheel fell off, which led to receiving a penalty for emergency service in a closed pit and a rare 30s stop-and-hold for unsafe conduct as a result of leaving the pits without the left-front wheel secured (22nd).

The cartoon anvils especially hurt Ericsson, who was running in the top three, and Herta, who had a top five in hand.

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The 250-lap race got off to a disorderly start which was waved off on its first attempt, but polesitter Scott McLaughlin was clear into Turn 1 as Lundqvist took second from Malukas. Daly tore through the field and was up to 14th — 11 spots.

After 10 laps, McLaughlin held 1.1s over Lundqvist and 1.8s on Malukas.

By 20 laps, McLaughlin was preparing to lap the last-place car and had 0.9s over Lundqvist and 2.0s on Malukas. Herta took fourth off of O’Ward.

Lap 26 and McLaughlin lapped Pietro Fittipaldi and Lundqvist was 0.1s behind.

On lap 30, Lundqvist was 0.7s down and Malukas a further 1.1s shy of McLaughlin.

While stuck behind Fittipaldi on lap 35, Lundqvist’s gap swelled to 3.0s before he finally got by.

Lap 40 and it was a 2.2s and a 4.1s deficit for Lundqvist and Malukas.

Eight laps later, Lundqvist went to the lead after McLaughlin was slowed by traffic. Lundqvist eventually had 1.1s over McLaughlin and 1.8s on Malukas.

The first stops came at lap 60. Lundqvist was running 4.1s to the good on McLaughlin and 5.1s on Malukas.

O’Ward pitted from P5 on lap 61. Alex Palou ducked in from P14. Two laps later, Herta was in from P4. McLaughlin and Malukas pit on lap 65.

Lap 66 and Lundqvist and Newgarden pit — a slow right-rear tire change for the leader ensued. Power finally came in a lap later.

McLaughlin retook the lead with Lundqvist behind him on lap 68.

Two laps later, 0.5s separated McLaughlin and Lundqvist as O’Ward and Herta held P1 and P2.

Newgarden appeared to kiss the wall on exit of Turn 2 on lap 72.

Herta finally moved past O’Ward for the lead on lap 77.

Caution flew at lap 83. Katherine Legge spun off of Turn 2 and didn’t hit anything.

McLaughlin and Sting Ray Robb pitted under yellow on lap 87, creating an eventual leading pack of McLaughlin, Robb, Herta, O’Ward, Rossi, Malukas, Romain Grosjean, Ferrucci, Palou, and Lundqvist.

The restart came on lap 95. The lapped Armstrong was behind McLaughlin and was looking to get by.

Ferrucci took fourth from Rossi on lap 97. By lap 105, McLaughlin was 1.8s up on Herta and 2.5s clear of O’Ward. Palou ran P7 and Power, P10.

O’Ward tried to pass Herta into Turn 1 on lap 110 and three laps later finally sealed the deal on the Andretti car to take P2. The McLaren chased down and passed McLaughlin on lap 118 — the Penske on tires 20 laps older after not pitting.

Go get him? Message received.@PatricioOWard to the LEAD at Milwaukee pic.twitter.com/2PgKdaMh9W

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) August 31, 2024

Lap 120 and O’Ward led McLaughlin by 1.1s and Herta by 1.3s. At halfway the leader was driving away with 2.3s on McLaughlin, then 4.1s by lap 127 (and 5.0s on Herta).

Newgarden came in at lap 131 having been buried in traffic. McLaughlin was inexplicably still out, 10.2s behind O’Ward, on lap 133.

Palou and Power pitted together on lap 135. Ferrucci took P2 from McLaughlin two laps later before the Penske driver finally pitted on lap 138, along with Lundqvist — the RLL team suffering a slow stop.

Herta pitted from P3 on lap 140. Ferrucci was in a lap later.

O’Ward had 7.6s on Newgarden and 8.1s on Marcus Ericsson by lap 145. Palou was running P3 with Power in P4.

Ericsson and Newgarden tangled out of P2 and P3 on lap 146. They came together in Turns 1 and 2. Championship leader Palou inherited P2.

The restart came at lap 157 and O’Ward led Palou, Power, McLaughlin and VeeKay. Ferrucci forced his way by Rossi for P6 on lap 160, then took P5 from VeeKay a lap later. He took P4 from McLaughlin on lap 165.

O’Ward was leading Palou by 0.8s, Power by 1.7s, and Ferrucci by 9.1s on lap 170. He stretched it to 1.7s over Palou, who had Power charging behind, 2.2s back from the leader, by lap 180.

Lap 185 and Rossi, Palou, Dixon, Herta and others pit. O’Ward pits and the caution comes out one lap later. Herta came in on lap 187 to have a left-front wheel and tire installed after his fell off upon leaving the pits. He fell to P17.

Lap 190 and Power, who hadn’t yet pitted, was in the lead ahead of Daly, Lundqvist, O’Ward, Lundgaard and Ferrucci on the lead lap, with Palou and McLaughlin the first of the lap-down cars, having gone down a lap while pitting moments before the caution happened.

Power and Daly and Lundqvist pitted on lap 193.

Lap 194 and the leaders were then O’Ward, Ferrucci, Power, Lundqvist, Lundgaard and Daly on the lead lap, with Palou as the first lap-down driver.

Wave-arounds for lap-down cars happened on lap 197. Palou, McLaughlin and the rest were now back to the lead lap.

On the lap 203 restart, Daly charged to P4. Palou got up to P6 with Power in P3.

Grosjean slowed on track and was yelling on the radio on lap 205 as Herta sat on pit lane for a stop-and-hold.

O’Ward stretched his lead to 2.4s on Ferrucci, 2.8s on Power, and 3.6s on Daly by lap 210. Power and Daly fire by Ferrucci on lap 221. Ferrucci was then down to P4. Palou then got by Lundqvist for P5. On lap 224 he took P4 from Power.

A lap later, O’Ward held 1.0s over Power and 2.0s on Daly. Palou was 2.8s behind.

Lap 227 and Ferrucci took P4 back from Palou.

Rossi took P7 from McLaughlin on lap 235.

Two laps later, O’Ward became mired in traffic and Power pulled up to his tail. By lap 240, O’Ward stretched the lead again to 0.8s on Power and 2.3s on Daly just in time to take a comfortable win on lap 250.

RESULTS

O’Ward setting sights on running NASCAR’s Mexico race

IndyCar’s loss could be NASCAR’s gain. Pato O’Ward, the series’ most popular driver, hails from Monterrey, Mexico, and has been pushing IndyCar’s owners at Penske Entertainment for years to organize a race in front of his adoring fans. Unfortunately …

IndyCar’s loss could be NASCAR’s gain.

Pato O’Ward, the series’ most popular driver, hails from Monterrey, Mexico, and has been pushing IndyCar’s owners at Penske Entertainment for years to organize a race in front of his adoring fans.

Unfortunately for O’Ward, IndyCar’s ongoing absence from the Mexican market, reinforced by short-sighted comments delivered by Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles, who positioned O’Ward as lacking the popularity to warrant a Mexican IndyCar event — which he attempted to walk back on Saturday — means the 25-year-old will need to look outside of the NTT IndyCar Series to make that dream happen.

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown told RACER from the Monza Formula 1 race that he would support O’Ward’s desire to compete in the NASCAR Cup event at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, and thanks to the team’s relationship with Team Chevy and NASCAR powerhouse Hendrick Motorsports, whose Indianapolis 500 entry for Cup champion Kyle Larson was run by Arrow McLaren, there are a number of starting points for a conversation on getting O’Ward into a car at the home of the Mexican Grand Prix.

A conflict between the June 15 date in Mexico and next year’s IndyCar race at World Wide Technology Raceway in Gateway would make it impossible for O’Ward to take part in the 2025 event, but he’s looking to 2026 as the time to make it happen.

“I would love to,” O’Ward told RACER. “I’m really bummed. I wish we could have done it as soon as the first time, which is next year, but it’s when we go to Gateway, and obviously my priorities lie in IndyCar, but I would love to do the next one. That’s the race I would do absolutely. I don’t really have interest doing another race. I want to do that one, and I think it’d be cool.”

Fellow Mexican Daniel Suarez from the Trackhouse Cup team will be a big draw, and with O’Ward added in, NASCAR would have an easy time marketing the race.

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“Me and Daniel racing together would be the best situation,” O’Ward added. “I got to meet Rick Hendrick, got to work with Kyle Larson, and I think he’d be really excited about the idea.”

Rather than asking his Arrow McLaren team to do the planning, O’Ward likes the idea of organizing a NASCAR Cup drive on his own.

“I don’t want to lay this on Zak’s shoulders,” he said. “I have enough authority where I can make it happen myself; I don’t want him to do all the work. It’d be a really good thing for Hendrick and for Chevy to hear from me, because that’s obviously where the very big interest comes from, going to the event, being part of it, driving the car. As soon as it was announced, my first thought was, ‘I need to as Zak if I can have Rick Hendrick’s number.’

“I love to race at home and it’s some of the best fans in the world. They’re so passionate. You see how successful the Formula 1 Grand Prix is there and it’s definitely a dream of mine to race in front of Mexican fans there.”

O’Ward’s many fans expended plenty of derisive words for Miles throughout Saturday, to the point where it risked overshadowing the first of two Milwaukee IndyCar races and the championship fight that’s taking place. Turning the page and finding a solution to get IndyCar to Mexico is where he’d like to see the conversation turn.

“I’m just one voice, right?” he said. “Seems like I’m the strongest voice today, because of where I’m from and what we’re talking about. But the reality is that I’m not the only one that shares this opinion. I want the series to become better, and rather than taking it as an attack, [IndyCar] should really look into ‘why?’ Why are people saying this, and why has, ‘Why aren’t we racing in Mexico?’ been a theme of conversation for the last three years? Maybe we should look into what [we] can do to make it better. Let’s find a way to make this happen. I like to make [things] happen. I don’t like to talk about it and never do anything.”