In most cases when you’d been robbed of two consecutive victories to start a season – one lost to a mechanical issue and another to a caution – you’d be disconsolate.
It’s easy to look on the bright side when it comes Pato O’Ward’s start to the campaign, though – the two second-place finishes translate to his best-ever start to an IndyCar season as he leads the points leaving Texas.
At Texas, O’Ward was always in the lead group, and he and Josef Newgarden quickly marked themselves out as the drivers to beat. It had already looked that way in practice as other drivers noted the pair’s ability to regularly use the high line whenever it was required, regardless of tyre life during a stint. Others struggled with that.
They were so good that they lapped the field, leaving rivals stunned and shocked.
Newgarden described a situation whereby he and O’Ward had gone in separate set-up directions mid-race which gave Newgarden understeer and livened O’Ward’s car up to the point where he erased a two-second gap to Newgarden, created by Penske’s undercut strategy, and had pulled away by over seven seconds by the time the next caution came.
A gentleman's battle. 👊 pic.twitter.com/vPr5NGHnkX
— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) April 4, 2023
O’Ward was on a run when the final caution came out for Romain Grosjean’s crash and ended the race under another yellow flag. But O’Ward’s chosen to be upbeat despite the lack of a victory in two races where he’d arguably deserved a double.
“It’s been a hell of a start to the year,” he tells The Race.
“I don’t know if there’s another way to put it, the guys gave me a frickin’ rocket ship.
“We showed that, multiple times throughout the race.
“The racing gods had other ideas with the yellow flags, that definitely doesn’t take away from the work that everybody has put in with just how good we showed up. We gotta be so proud of that.
“We gotta just keep doing what we’re doing, it’s been a great start to the year, and we just gotta keep going.”
It would be remiss to avoid digging into O’Ward’s oval form at this point.
O’Ward’s IndyCar oval record
Starts: 16 Average finish: 4.69 Average finish at Texas: 6.6 Wins: 2
Podiums: 6
It’s staggering that a driver who didn’t even really watch oval races growing up and had only a handful of junior starts on ovals could start his IndyCar career in such a way on ovals.
Asked by The Race what it is about his approach to ovals that has helped him be so successful, he replies: “I’ve always said I think it’s because we [McLaren] have some of the best oval packages, we have an oval package as good as anybody’s.
“Obviously the approach to a road and street course is different to how you approach an oval.
“You have to be more aware and mindful in an oval, just because of the risk that you have and the very little time that you have in the compressed schedule to get something sorted out if things go bad.
“I’ve really enjoyed the idea of trying to perfect a different skill. It’s obviously a lot different, and I don’t really know what it is, I’m learning as I go.
“My first time at a superspeedway was Indy but my first few laps here at Texas was frickin’ terrifying, it’s a superspeedway bullring. It’s like Iowa, but way faster.
“You just feel a lot of compression in your body, it does take some time to get used to it because of the speed.”
Texas in particular is the closest thing O’Ward has to a home circuit as his campaign to persuade IndyCar into a visit to his native Mexico has so far been unsuccessful.
Losing out on the victory will have been extra painful as he had been running a scheme to help Texas and Mexico natives to score tickets for the race. He had helped secure packages for fans to buy suite access, and given away grandstand seats to anyone who bought an item of merchandise from his website (of any cost).
He spent every free minute he had at Texas – it’s a busy schedule but there’s fewer sponsor and media events to worry about than at many other races – showing fans around the garage, introducing himself and giving various tours.
Some joked he had done more for getting the attendance up at the event than the venue itself, although Texas Motor Speedway and Penske Entertainment put in renewed efforts to help in this department this year.
“I don’t have a home race so to be able to give people the opportunity for my fellow Mexicans to come out and support is a no-brainer for me,” he says.
“I have to say, it’s going to be a lot bigger than what I thought I could have pulled. Packing out three suites, 64 people in each one, 192 people, and I’ve given away over 600 grandstand tickets.
“I see every single order that comes in and it’s a really good mix. A lot of people local here in Texas, San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, a lot of people from all over Mexico. It’s a really good mix.
The hometown crowd. 🧡🤩 pic.twitter.com/SC1l0pTPj3
— Arrow McLaren IndyCar Team (@ArrowMcLaren) April 3, 2023
“I understand it’s an effort for people to come and support, for the life I carry on, I travel, I understand it’s more than just getting a ticket.
“It’s the food, the flight, the car ride, the hotel, the tickets. It’s not just coming to the race and I wanted to give everybody a chance or at least give them a reason to second-think it, like, ‘Hmm, is this deal too good to pass on?’
“I’m not going to make any money out of it, but I’m glad I’m not losing a lot of money out of it and that we’re going to have a lot of people here, a lot of guests, and to me that has a lot of value.”
If you follow O’Ward and Arrow McLaren on social media you see a fun-loving joker who’s light-hearted and always ready to make people laugh.
But when it comes to something like the challenge of oval racing, he’s proven that underneath that light exterior is a driver who is thoughtful and driven in his bid to perfect his craft.
He’s also astutely aware of the world around him and conscientious that many of his fans have lacked the opportunity to see him race anywhere near their homes.
Because of this, it’s a shame he wasn’t able to reward those attending and watching with a win, taken out of his hands by the late caution. But the championship lead and a boatload of momentum aren’t bad rewards for the bridesmaid’s position.
Keyword: Double heartbreak can’t take shine off IndyCar’s early standout