INDIANAPOLIS — If Pato O’Ward wins his first Indianapolis 500 this weekend, he won’t do it in the car he originally expected. After O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet got hit following Alexander Rossi’s crash in Monday’s practice, both cars will be replaced for Sunday’s race.
O’Ward, who will begin the race sixth, drove this car in both of his wins in 2025. O’Ward hopes to get on track for Friday’s Carb Day practice despite shaky conditions to get readjusted to this car.
“Every car is different,” O’Ward said. “Every car has its little differences to one another regardless of the setup being the same or not,” O’Ward said. “There are differences. … I mean, ultimately I’m not actually worried too much about me with the car, I’m more worried about (how) there’s a lot of new pieces on the car that you want to get some running on to just let it kind of settle in. That’s the most important part.”
Entering his seventh Indy 500, all with Arrow McLaren, O’Ward has twice come agonizingly close to winning the race. He hasn’t won a race or been on the podium yet this year, but O’Ward has as good of a chance as anyone to beat defending Indy 500 champion and pole winner Alex Palou.
The car O’Ward will drive this weekend has to get the right alterations to be in race shape on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. The car, which O’Ward said he has a name for that he won’t reveal unless he wins the race, would greatly benefit from getting two hours on track Friday.
“There’s all the new bits and pieces that you want to make sure you get through the whole systems check,” O’Ward said. “That is the most important, just getting the systems running, connecting properly with telemetry. A lot of little things we want to make sure they turn on, and the car is rolling around the Speedway with it still being able to do what it’s supposed to. That is the main focus for me tomorrow. If the car is feeling a little bit off, then we’ll make changes.”
While not preferred, going to a backup car won’t end O’Ward’s chances of winning this weekend. Just last year, O’Ward’s Arrow McLaren teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay led the second-most laps of the Indy 500 using one of Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s backup cars until Hunter-Reay ran out of fuel entering pit lane.
Now, it’s O’Ward’s turn to see if he can capture his first Indy 500 despite crashing his primary car the week of the race.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at @z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter. Subscribe to the YouTube channel IndyStar TV: IndyCar for a behind-the-scenes look at IndyCar and expert analysis.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Pato O’Ward adjusting to ‘little differences’ in Indy 500 backup car, one he’s won in before
Reporting by Zion Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
