Pato O’Ward Scores Team Chevy it’s First Win of the IndyCar Season in Race One at Iowa Speedway

By Marlee Ressa | @motorsportmarlee

NEWTON – There were a couple of surprises in the first race of IndyCar’s doubleheader at Iowa Speedway. For one, after a season dominated by Honda, driver of the No.5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, Pato O’Ward was able to turn the tide with today’s win.

“This was a very important win for Team Chevy,” O’Ward stated, “I’m glad it was an all Chevy podium.”

The two other Chevrolet drivers on the podium were Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden and Will Power, who placed second and third. “I think they just finally got a good result, is what I would say for Chevrolet,” Newgarden answered when asked whether Chevrolet showed strength today in its win over Honda. “We have had potential to win a race all year,” teammate Power added, “It was just a strange year.”

Newgarden led 232 of the 275 laps, but ultimately lost to O’Ward who blended ahead of him coming out of the pits. “The guys did an awesome job with the pit stop,” Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan said, “Newgarden for some reason decided to pit when he pit, we stayed out and Pato pushed as much as he could to close that gap and then on the sequence we ended up beating him out.”

“Pato spun this morning coming out of the pits because he was trying to leave as fast as he could,” Kanaan continued, “and I think he found the limit, and today he won the race. It was all him today on that pass.”

Another surprise in the racing today in Iowa was that the second lane remained open throughout the race. There were questions going into the doubleheader about the availability of the second lane and whether the two races would consist of single-file racing. Today’s race proved that IndyCar can have double lane racing at Iowa Speedway.

“Yeah, it's rubbered in,” Power said of the second lane, “It could actually help the race tomorrow. It will already be rubbered in. Everyone will have seen that you can run two lanes. Everyone will run two lanes, so essentially it will be just better racing.”

This shift in the availability of the second land was also noted by O’Ward, who last year had been highly critical of the lack of on-track passes. “With new tires, you can run a lot higher than I thought,” O’Ward considered, “I think tomorrow – With now a race under our belt, people are going to try to get a little bit more confident up there and see if they can make it work.”

As he completed his 100th race start in his IndyCar career, O’Ward won on the same track that he won on in his 50th race start. “First time I [have done] a repeat [win] at a track, so that's a cool milestone for myself,” stated O’Ward, “Super happy for all the guys and gals at Arrow McLaren. We've been working really hard.”

“It's my first win [as Team Principal],” Kanaan celebrated, “This kid is unbelievable… We're here to win, and he has this team around him, and he delivers when it needs to be delivered.”

Both O’Ward and the Team Penske drivers will look to repeat today’s success in race two as current IndyCar Championship standings leader, Alex Palou, starts from pole position.

Photo Credit: Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski