The IndyCar Iowa doubleheader weekend produced much excitement during the first race. Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward fought off Josef Newgarden to get his first P1 of the season. Newgarden was just a little over two-tenths off from O’Ward on the oval track.
Leading 33 of the 257 laps around the “fastest short track”, the popular driver from Mexico scored a close victory that was nothing short of incredible. This is his second win at the Iowa oval with his first being in 2022. The race was another show of the tight rivalry that Josef Newgarden and Pato O’Ward have.
”Yeah. First time I do a repeat at a track, so that’s a cool milestone for myself. Super happy for, first of all, all the guys and gals at Arrow McLaren. We’ve been working really hard. But the guy we’re chasing down keeps winning a bunch of them.
“Also very happy for Team Chevy. This was important and very deserving for Team Chevy. I’m glad it was an all-Chevy podium.
“Yeah, for my race, I started getting creative. They’re just such long races. There’s time to get your car in the window, start getting creative on where you want to place it. So yeah, we got moving in that second restart, and as soon as I got to Josef, he’s one of the guys that when you’re behind him, he tries to outsmart you, definitely. He’s been running ovals for more than I’ve been in the series. That experience only comes with laps, and he’s also very strong here, so I knew that we had to be perfect.
“We capitalized on that in lap. I think I went a little bit over the limit and risked a bit more than I was planning to, but all in all, it actually worked out because he was right on our gearbox on that 3 and 4 when we came out. Yeah, great pit stop, and did my job to secure us that overcut, and that’s pretty much what gave us the win today.”
Rivalries push you to be better
The McLaren IndyCar driver knows how Josef Newgarden operates and runs on ovals and capitalized on the knowledge. He was not only looking at running a consistent strategy but at ways to outrun his Penske rival. This has positively helped the Mexican become a better driver.
“I mean, he’s the guy that I’ve been most around, especially to win races. If it wasn’t for him, I would have a lot more wins. But he’s a tough competitor. I think this year for him has been quite different to what it’s been in the past. I see him very differently, to be honest, like his attitude and everything is definitely not the Josef that I’ve always praised, I would say.
“But I’ve studied him. I know how to race him. He gets what he gives. If he was flirting with fire there, then that’s what he got, and that’s what I was going to give him because you get to these points in your career, and for me especially today when I was behind him, I said, today is the day that’s going to change because obviously he’s got a lot more experience than I do, but I think over the years, I’ve grown to realize that I’m pretty handy, at least in certain ovals, and I believe our package is very strong, and it’s important to capitalize when we can get those wins.
“We were super close in Gateway and we’ve been so close there, and now here, we’ve won here before, but it was kind of given to us when Josef had a failure there that 50th race for me that I won here. I said, you know what, today we’re going to — I knew I had all the pieces in place to outright beat him at his own game. Yeah, that’s what we did today, and it obviously is a great feeling to go into tomorrow and know that we’ve got a car that we can fight our way forward and battle our way and see what we can make happen.”
Making moves towards the championship
All eyes were on Pato O’Ward and Josef Newgarden out front and the fight for championship points. At the end of the first race, the driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet has gained 20 points.
Slowly chipping away at the gap between him and the points leader, Pato O’Ward commented on the consistent season that Alex Palou has been having and what that means for the No. 5 team.
“In racing, anything is possible. There’s been some weird, weird stuff that happens. I think if weird stuff happens even more in INDYCAR, that makes sense.
“But the guy just doesn’t have any bad races, and a bad race for him is like fifth. Otherwise he’s on the podium.
“We’ve just got to keep chipping away at it. I’ve been as consistent as I’ve ever been. I feel like I’ve been laying low, and that usually means you’re staying out of trouble. But it’s tough to be podium contention and qualifying, top 3 every single weekend.
“This year for me, qualifying specifically, it’s been horrible. I find my ways in recovery drives like almost every weekend, which it’s fun to try and do it when you know you’ve got a car that can go get it, AKA Mid-Ohio, but there’s other scenarios where you’re like, we’ve really got nothing to fight with, and that’s where you’re just like — you’re just hoping that you stay out of trouble and you try and capitalize on people’s mistakes when people are making mistakes.
“I think the name of the game for us this year has been really the consistency that we’ve had but also capitalize when you need to, and I think today was an important day to be able to do that.
“Tomorrow we’re starting a little bit further back, but seeing how the restarts are working and that second lane, I think we can make our way forward and start getting the leaders a little bit nervous.
“I’ve never doubled up. I know we’ve only got one double weekend this year. There’s a few drivers that have in the grid, so I’d love to be a part of that list.“
The second race in the doubleheader weekend in Iowa will be the one to watch for. With a different starting grid, anything can happen. For Pato O’Ward, this could be a chance to gain two victories in one weekend.
