Pato O’Ward made it clear early on this season. He wasn’t happy with his current contract at Arrow McLaren SP and was almost as unhappy with his first three finishes this year.
The team had some internal conflicts over the first part of the 2022 season, as O’Ward put it on the broadcast. Sunday’s win at the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama should help aid in those efforts.
“It sucks to be at war within your own team, so I’m glad there’s been very positive talks for the future,” O’Ward said on the NBC broadcast after the race. “And man I wanted to do it for these guys, Arrow McLaren SP, Team Chevy, they’ve swept this year so far, so I think it’s great for them.”
O’Ward and his Arrow McLaren SP team came up big on pit road during the final round of green flag pit stops. The pair of himself and Rinus VeeKay’s No. 21 Ed Carpenter came down pit road at the same time.
The quick stop for the No. 5 team ended up setting O’Ward up with a race win.
“Yeah man, I was tired of being 10th, 11th and fifth so I said let’s get a win under our belts so we can claw our way back into this championship fight,” O’Ward said.
Alex Palou and VeeKay secured podium finishes on the day, and the defending champion put himself back atop the IndyCar point standings.
Going into the series’ stint at Indianapolis, the top four drivers are separated by just 10 points, and we all know what happens in May.
The tour will return to the track for its next race on Saturday, May 14 at the Indianapolis Road Course. The broadcast will start at 2:00 p.m. CT and can be seen on NBC.
NTT IndyCar Series Results
Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
Barber Motorsports Park
Sunday, May 1, 2022
1. Pato O’Ward
2. Alex Palou
3. Rinus VeeKay
4. Will Power
5. Scott Dixon
6. Scott McLaughlin
7. Romain Grosjean
8. Graham Rahal
9. Alexander Rossi
10. Colton Herta
11. Simon Pagenaud
12. Marcus Ericsson
13. Takuma Sato
14. Josef Newgarden
15. Christian Lundgaard
16. Felix Rosenqvist
17. Devlin DeFrancesco
18. Jack Harvey
19. Conor Daly
20. David Malukas
21. Helio Castroneves
22. Kyle Kirkwood
23. Dalton Kellett
24. Jimmie Johnson
25. Callum Ilott
26. Tatiana Calderon
NTT IndyCar Standings
After Race 4 of 17
1. Alex Palou 144
2. Scott McLaughlin -3
3. Josef Newgarden -9
4. Will Power -10
5. Pato O’Ward -30
6. Scott Dixon -31
7. Rinus VeeKay -38
8. Romain Grosjean -43
9. Marcus Ericsson -60
10. Colton Herta -65
11. Simon Pagenaud -75
12. Alexander Rossi -82
13. Takuma Sato -83
14. Christian Lundgaard -87
15. Felix Rosenqvist -88
16. Helio Castroneves -89
17. Jimmie Johnson -93
18. Conor Daly -94
19. Kyle Kirkwood -98
