O'Ward learning from the setbacks as pursuit of elusive IndyCar title continues

One year ago, Pato O’Ward was sitting second in the standings with a 105-point deficit to overcome and six races left to try and catch Alex Palou.

After the same 11-race span in 2026, the Arrow McLaren driver is closer to Palou with 94 points to find, but has fallen to fifth in the championship. He also has seven races, one more than in 2025, to use in his quest to be crowned as IndyCar’s best driver of the season.

The driver of the No. 5 Chevy has experienced all manner of emotions over the course of the year to date, and being beaten by new-ish teammate Christian Lundgaard on several occasions hasn’t helped to lighten the mood on the bad days. But O’Ward has taken to turning inward and trying to learn from the negatives.

“It's been a year to really test my patience, and that’s been hard to deal with sometimes, but it can also make you stronger if you approach it the right way,” O’Ward told RACER.

“I obviously expect excellence from myself, and I try and maximize every single little bit that I can.”

The Mexican’s flawless performance at Mid-Ohio, where he capitalized on Lundgaard’s mistake to secure his first win of the season, was a reminder of his capabilities at a time when he was searching for his first podium of the season. More are needed, and soon, if he’s going to have a chance of staying in the title fight.

“This year, I've been very pleased with what I've delivered driving-wise, week in, week out,” O’Ward said. “For the people that pay attention, there's been a lot of mishaps that, sadly, a lot of the times I can't control. I can only maximize what I'm dealt, and I feel like Mid-Ohio was a great way to put the execution together.

"Even coming off Road America... the execution was there, but sadly we got caught by the freaking yellow, but man, I was so fast there. So I had so much confidence coming into Mid-Ohio, knowing that in the past we we've been strong there, and I really wanted to make it a good weekend, because I knew we could.”

O’Ward heads to Tennessee this weekend for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at Nashville Speedway which, in all likelihood, will play a pivotal role in whether he stays in the hunt for the championship. His oval skills, coupled with the winning potential he demonstrated last year at Nashville, could shrink the gap to Palou if the Chip Ganassi Racing driver continues to encounter issues during his attempt to win a fifth title.

“Nashville, I feel like there’s some unfinished business," O'Ward said. "Last year, we were controlling that quite well [before suffering a tire failure], so I want to get back there and I'd love to win that race.

"The doubleheader in Milwaukee is going to be a big points weekend, so we need to make sure that we're good there. We've got Portland coming up, which I've qualified well there. I haven't quite had the best of races there, so it'd be nice to have a smooth, smooth race to really fight for that podium.

“And hopefully we can win at Markham, new track, and Washington D.C., new track, which is going to be crazy. So I'm excited, man. I really trust that my guys have been working so hard on the pit stops, and I know it has been a very big challenge for them this year, because we all want to fight for this championship.”