Tag: Pato O’Ward

O’Ward Wants Win from Pole

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Pato O’Ward has won poles. O’Ward has won races. He has never won a race where he started on the pole. He wants to win the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix tomorrow. Badly.

“I’m determined to make it happen tomorrow,” he declared.

O’Ward took his first oval pole today with a blistering first lap of 202.932 mph, and he averaged 202.621 mph for the two laps.

For the second week in a row, David Malukas qualified on the provisional pole and had to wait to see if any of the last 10 drivers to make their runs could top his 201.922 mph average.

Last week, Alex Palou, the last driver out, beat Malukas for the pole. This week O’Ward by just under seven tenths of a mile per hour.

A somewhat subdued Malukas said, “We’re gonna get there.”

Series champion Alex Palou will start fourh tomorrow.

Nolan Siegel posted the fast speed in the first group of qualifiers, then Josef Newgarden went to the top spot six drivers later. His time there lasted just five more runs until Malukas bumped him down. Malukas survived eight attempts until O’Ward’s scorching laps.

Notes and Quick Thoughts

All three Mclaren cars qualified in the top 10. Christian Lundgaard starts third, and Nolan Siegel rolls off seventh tomorrow.

Andretti Global dominated qualifying and the race last year with Kyle Kirkwood on the pole and Colton Herta winning the race, but they didn’t have the pace today. Kirkwood qualified 13th and Herta15th.

Christian Rasmussen qualified 16th, but will start 25th after serving an engine change penalty. It will be fun watching him come up through the field.

I can’t imagine the frustration David Malukas is going through to come so close to his first career pole and lose it at the last minute. He doesn’t have another chance for six months at St. Pete.

Silly season rumors continue to swirl. Herta going to F2 seems to be gaining momentum. He told FOX sports that he didn’t know if he will be in the number 26 next year.

I still think IndyCar needs to revamp oval qualifying and have the order based on practice speeds instead of point standings. I don’t think it would have changed much today as O’Ward would have been the last driver on track, and Malukas would have gone sixth from last. Still, with the points leader somewhere mid-session, there could be more drama.

Cars are back on track at 3:30 Central for high line groups, followed by a full practice at 4:30 Central. Both sessions are on FS2.

Race Day at Portland

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Good morning from Portland International Raceway.

Today’s Schedule: Times Pacific.

10:06 am- Indy NXT Race 35 laps or 55 minutes FS1

11:30 am Driver Introductions

12:22 am Green flag- Bitnile.com Grand Prix of Portland 110 laps FOX

Weather- 85 degrees at green flag, climbing to 92 degrees by the end of the race. Track temperature should be around 117 degrees at the start of the race and climb.

Only seven drivers will start on the alternate tires, including the first three starters. All team Penske cars are starting on alternates, and Andretti starts two of their drivers, Kyle Kirkwood and Marcus Ericsson, on the red tires.

My initial pick of Christian Lundgaard still seems pretty solid despite his grid penalty, but I am going to hedge a bit and make Felix Rosenqvist my co choice to win.

Crowning a Champion?

Alex Palou’s chances of clinching the series championship depend on where Pato O’Ward finishes. O’Ward can get a maximum of 53 points today. Plaou needs to end the day with a lead of 108 points. If O’Ward gets max points, Palou needs to finish second. Pato needs to outscore Palou by 14 points to keep the title alive for two more weeks.

Milwaukee Under Water

Heavy rains in Milwaukee have flooded Wisconsin State Fair Park, home of the Milwaukee Mile where IndyCar will race in two weeks. The park is closed today.

I hope everyone in Milwaukee stays safe, and the waters recede safely.

I will be back after the race.

Quick Thoughts- Toronto

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Pato O’Ward won the race by stopping. His Arrow McLaren team called him in to ditch the alternate tires on the early caution on lap 3. The strategy put him in position to take the lead on lap 57, then assume it again on lap 62 after everyone else cycled through their final stops. O’Ward dodged the colliding cars of David Malukas and Felix Rosenqvist on lap 88. I thought he may have had slight contact with one of them.

O’Ward has won two of the last three races and has cut Alex Palou’s lead in the championship to 99 points with four races to go.

The 90 lap race was one of the best of the year. Three cautions in the first 30 laps scrambled pit strategies and made it a thinking man’s race, but in between the yellows, fans saw some excellent racing. There were many battles throughout the field. I don’t recall ever seeing Toronto as racy as it was today.

New Faces on the Podium

Rinus VeeKay returned to the podium for the first time in three years. He finished second after O’Ward won the pit stop battle. The result isvindication for VeeKay, who could not find a ride until just before the season began. It is also a win for Dale Coyne Racing. DCR cars usually hover near the Leaders’ Circle cut line, but VeeKay has the 18 solidly in 11th place. VeeKay has recorded seven top 10s and two top fives in 2025.

Kyfffin Simpson has come close, but today he finally earned the elusive podium. Simpson drove from 13th to third as he held off Colton Herta, who had fresher tires. Simpson has had a solid season. He is 14th in points in his sophomore campaign.

A Tale of Two Seasons

From the opener at St. Pete through the Indianapolis 500, IndyCar races were as uninteresting as I ever remember, There were few cautions, and they all occurred very early in the races. The racing was processional, and drama came only when there was a pit stop miscue.

At Detroit, someone finally remembered to turn on the IndyCar racing switch. The last seven races have been amazing. Timely and untimely cautions, incredible racing for position, and victories in doubt until the end have produced a great summer of action.

There are sadly just four races left for 2025, and let’s hope the trend continues.

FOX

While the network pulled out all the stops for the Indianapolis 500, I am finding their broadcasts a bit tedious. Today a they were once again in commercial when a major crash happened, important pit stops were missed, and not much mention was made of O’Ward’s near miss at the end.

Towards the end of the race there was a one lap break between commercials.

The last two weekends we have seen a tiny peek at a pit stop timer. I saw it once today. If you have it, use it consistently. I would rather the pit stop timer overused than the current overuse of onboard cameras. I wnt to see side by side racing, not the view from a cockpit.

Notes

Finally, a good result for Marcus Ericsson. Ericsson finished fifth, between teammates Herta and Kyle Kirkwood. The 2023 500 winner has had a tough year with disqualifications and unfortunate happenings on track.

Tam Penske’s dismal season continues. Scott McLaughlin left the pits with the left rear wheel not mounted properly and crashed in turn 3 on the out lap. It is the third time this season he has been the first car out of the race. Josef Newgarden once again got caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, as he ended up underneath the car of Jacob Abel. Will Power finished 11th, but he had several incidents of contact throughout the day.

David Malukas salvaged a top 10 after a disastrous final pit stop and a collision with two laps to go. Malukas began to exit the pits before the right rear tire had been secured. He stopped and the crew pulled him back, but the time lost nearly ruined the day.

Kirkwood thought that he threw away the pole yesterday. Today he may have thrown away a win. Team strategy had him in a good spot to contend, but he was spun coming in for his last stop and had to fight his way back to sixth. While he regained third place in the standings Kirkwood is 173 points behind Palou.

Results

Thanks for following along this weekend. One more race this month, then a short break.

Quick Thoughts- Iowa Race 1 Makes the Case for a Return

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Its IndyCar future still remains uncertain, but Iowa Speedway put on a very good race today as we saw a new season winner and Chevrolet may have saved their season.

Chevrolet took a sledgehammer and smashed their losing streak into a million pieces. Pato O’Ward led the three Team Penske cars across the finish line in Race 1 at Iowa Saturday. It was O’Ward’s first win of the season as well as the first win for Chevrolet.

Arrow McLaren is just he third team to score a victory in 2025, and O’Ward is just the fourth driver to win a race.

O’Ward got past Josef Newgarden during the final pit stops and held on through two yellow flags and a restart after a red flag. Today’s finish was the closest at Iowa since 2007.

Quick Thoughts

Team Penske had their best day of the season. Newgarden won pole and led 230 laps. Will Power finished third and Scott McLaughlin ended the day in fourth after starting last. Still, there is probably frustration in nthe Penske camp that the victory eluded them.

Kyle Kirkwood had his worst day of the year. He crashed in practice this morning, then he hit the wall during the race. Kirkwood dropped to third in the points standings.

Nolan Siegel had a great run spoiled by his crash on lap 257. he had a top ten all but clinched.

The yellows seemed to come just in time for pit stops or just after a pit cycle had been completed.

The red flag was appropriate as the wall needed to be repaired. Just happened at a bad time for the leader. O’Ward said he wasn’t worried about the restart after the red flag.

Compared to 2024’s races, this Iowa race was not quite up to the old Iowa races, but it was much better than last year. There were passes, mad dashes off pit lane, and a fight for the lead most of the second half of the race. Let’s hope for more of the same tomorrow.

Weather in Iowa is usually brutally hot. While today was warm, it was definitely the most comfortable I have ever been at this track. Tomorrow’s weather will be similar to today’s.

Tomorrow’s race begins at 12;20 pm. FOX comes on the air at noon Central.

Thoughts on Thermal Qualifying

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Photo by Penske Entertainment

A front row lockout, but not by Andretti, and a Fast Six we are not likely to see again highlighted today’s qualifying session for the Thermal Club Grand Prix.

Pato O’Ward is on pole, and teammate Christian Lundgaard will start alongside tomorrow.

I expected a front row lockout might come from Andretti, who had three fast cars during the practices and advanced all their cars to Round 2. Lundgaard had been quick all weekend, but O’Ward had been lagging somewhat. It was a matter of Pato finally getting comfortable with the car.

“I knew if we could get the car to my liking, I would get it done,” O’Ward said. “I’ve got to thank the guys. We turned it around. We dialed it in after Q1 (first qualifying segment) because I was somewhat happy with it but not perfect. Just made a little bit of an adjustment and as soon as we went out in Q2, I said, ‘I’ve got this.’”

If the McLaren front was a surprise, a bigger shock is that none of the Penske cars advanced out of round 1. Newgarden is their highest starter in 17th. Not since 2021 has the first Penske car started lower than 15th.

Notes

I can’t remember the last time that Will Power failed to advance out of Round 1 on consecutive weekends.

Shout out to Louis Foster. The rookie qualified 10th, ahead of Scott Dixon.

Round 2 will probably hold up as one of the best second rounds of qualifying this season. Marcus Armstrong missed the Fast Six by 0.0728 of a second.

The top four in the Fast Six are separated by less than half a second.

I was glad to see FOX show what tire each driver was on, but the graphic was up for just a few seconds in the middle of each round. The tire graphic is going to be important information for viewers throughout the day tomorrow, and it needs to be up the entire race.

Results

Sebring Test Day 1- O’Ward Tops Charts

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Photo- Penske Entertainment

First, it was a fun to see IndyCar on track again. Second, it was a very busy day at Sebring as all teams went through the first day of the final test sessions before the St. Pete season opener. Third, and most important- Fans, get a spotter’s guide and study it carefully. Drivers are on different teams, and even drivers who are with their 2024 teams have different liveries. It took me quite a while to pair drivers with car numbers and liveries.

The ECR (or is it ecr?) cars stood out with their yellow and black and yellow and gray schemes.

Alexander Rossi. Photo by @lankyturtle

Pato O’Ward had the fastest time overall on the day with Marcus Armstrong second. Conor Daly took the 78 Juncos Hollinger racing machine to 4th place.

O’Ward told the media after the session

“Oh, man, it’s the best feeling in the world; it’s the best job in the world. I was so excited to come back to Sebring and get into an INDYCAR SERIES car, getting to work with the engineers again. It definitely feels like home, and it’s a second family to me. So always excited to get rolling.”

Conor Daly. Photo by @vincent1701

My camera was balky today and I am still figuring out how to extract my photos. I assure you; they are the best I’ve ever taken.

Testing continues tomorrow. with today’s afternoon group going out in the morning, and the morning group finishing the day.

Today’s combined times:

Floersch Tests IndyNXT; IndyCar Grid Still in Limbo

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HMD Motorsports announced last week that Formula 3 driver Sophia Floersch will drive in today’s Indy NXT test at Barber Motorsports Park.

Floersch, 23, has driven in Formula 3 and has also driven in the European Le Mans Series. In 2018 Floersch suffered a spine fracture in a horrific accident in Macau when her got airborne and landed outside the track after tearing through the catch fence. She underwent a 10 hour surgery and made a full recovery.

Floersch is exploring her options for 2025and has not signed with any series.

IndyCar Grid- Still 5 Seats Open

Filling the IndyCar grid for 2025 will come down to who has the cash. There are two open seats at Dale Coyne Racing, two at Juncos Hollinger Racing, and one opening at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

While no drivers have been formally announced for the second car at Meyer Shank Racing, the third Chip Ganassi Racing seat, or the second car at PREMA, it is presumed that they are all spoken for.

Available drivers include Rinus VeeKay, Linus Lindqvist, Conor Daly, Jack Harvey, Sting Ray Robb, Devlin DeFrancesco, Jamie Chadwick, and Katherine Legge.

Robb and de Francesco have money, and they could possibly help find a teammate.

Coyne might try to cobble together a rotating lineup as he did last season, but the charter rules limit each entry to three drivers a season.

I think VeeKay, Robb, and Lundqvist have the best chance at landing full time rides, while the others we may see in part time roles. It would be a shame not to see Jamie Chadwick make her IndyCar debut this season.

Pato on a Roll

The Pato O’Ward frenzy at the Grand Prix of Mexico this past weekend was quite a sight to behold, and it made the absence of an IndyCar race in Mexico even more of a glaring schedule omission. I am hopeful the race will happen in 2026, and there is now more room for optimism.

Several credible sources are reporting that O’Ward will run some demo laps in an IndyCar during the Formula E weekend at the circuit in January.

Quick Thoughts on Mid Ohio

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Photo by Kyle McInnes

A rather dull race turned quickly into a great 20 lap duel to the end as Pato O’Ward held off Alex Palou by about half a second. Officially oit os O’Ward’s second victory of 2024, but the first time he has won on track. He was awarded the St. Pete victory after Josef Newgarden’s disqualification.

What a brilliant call by the 5 crew to pit a lap early.

No one is happier to see six oval races coming up on the schedule than Newgarden. He has had two consecutive road course finishes in the 20s. Newgarden is 146 points behind Palou and appears to be out of the championship, but given his record on ovals, he has a chance to get back into the chase. Palou has b=ever won on an oval.

It’s great for the series to have its most popular driver win a race. It has been since Iowa race 2 in 2022 that O’Ward last crossed the finish line first.

The hybrid seemed to perform weel except for Scott Dixon’s issue. Both Palou and third place Scott Mclaughlin said that they enjoyed using it more than they thought they would.

Kyle Kirkwood continues to be the most consistent driver in the series. he scored another top 10 today, finishing eighth, after his worst qualifying of the season. Kirkwood nis now sixth in points.

David Malukas had a tough day after stalling at the start and then on his first pit stop. If he continues his outstanding qualifying, he will gat a top five result this year.

O’Ward mentioned how hard it is pass at Mid-Ohio. The results bear that out. The top five finishers started 2nd, 1st, 6th, 4th, and 5th.

I will have a more detailed analysyis tomorrow. I need to head back to Indianpolis. Thanks for following along this weekend.

O’Ward Tops Practice 2

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Pato O’Ward led the morning practice at Mid-Ohio with a lap of1:05.9862, edging Graham Rahal by 0.0423 seconds. Five teams placed a car in the top five:

Teams were allowed to use alternate tires this morning because the rain yesterday didn’t allow for a good read on how the red tires would work with the added weight.

Colton Herta brought out a red flag when he slid into the tire barrier in turn 12. Kyffin Simpson later stalled his car and caused another stoppage. The hybrid system which is supposed to allow drivers to restart their cars without assistance is not operational because of a software glitch. It is one of the teething problems of a new technology I suppose. Several drivers had off course excursions as they adjust to the added weight of the hybrid unit..

Indycar qualifying begins at 3 pm Eastern.

Results