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Indianapolis Star
4 days ago
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Best in class: Pato O'Ward targeting 2nd-place IndyCar championship finish as his toughest tracks near
TORONTO — Pato O'Ward looks at this closing stretch of the IndyCar season a bit like a multi-class endurance sportscar race. Would an overall victory, in the form of hoisting the Astor Cup come the checkered flag at Nashville Superspeedway, be sweet? Magical wouldn't even begin to describe it. But the Arrow McLaren veteran would be plenty happy to take a win in class — the "drivers not named Alex Palou" class, that is. Such is the life of a championship contender competing against a three-time series champ who's in the midst of one of the most dominant campaigns a unified American open-wheel series has seen in recent memory. 'What's the gap, 129 points? So, Palou's just got to (crash) this weekend and next, and I've got to win both of them, and I might still be 60 or 70 points back,' O'Ward told IndyStar ahead of the Honda Indy on the streets of Toronto, a track and an event that historically marks the Mexican's worst on the calendar. 'Weirder things have happened.' Though O'Ward's math is a bit off: if he were to win both races (at least 51 points each) and Palou crashed out of both (let's give him a generous 20th place for both, or 10 points each), O'Ward would be staring at just under a 50-point gap with three races to go — the odds of such an occurrence almost makes it moot. For starters, Palou arrives in Toronto this week with an average finish of fourth place in three career starts at the venue. O'Ward? An average finishing position of 12th, including a pair of finishes outside the top 10 — both on race weekends where he failed to advance out of the first round of qualifying. Last year's 17th-place result distorts this picture a bit. After all, O'Ward was running in sixth late in the race when he slid into the tires on the exit of Turn 1 and sparked a massive pile up that ended his day well outside the top 10. But it's not a stretch to say it's maybe the track where he feels least comfortable and one where he's least confident of producing a result in a pressure-packed situation that could in any way keep him realistically alive in the championship. And it's why, he said, Arrow McLaren has thrown the proverbial kitchen sink at his car ahead of this weekend. 'We called Rolls-Royce to get some of that amazing suspension they've got on their cars,' O'Ward joked in referencing to racing around what may be the bumpiest street circuit on the calendar. 'We're coming with something completely new, at least on my car, because I feel like if we just arrive with what we've had (before), we're just accepting defeat at that point, so we're just going to be hoping to get better. 'We don't have to be fighting for pole, but just every little bit we can get would be helpful.' O'Ward finished Friday afternoon's practice seventh fastest on the timing charts. Maybe even more important to keep an eye on heading in Saturday's practice and qualifying, though, is his gap to the fastest cars — one that sits at seven tenths after practice No. 1. On-track this weekend: What is the start time for the IndyCar race at Ontario Honda Dealers Indy in Toronto? 'Qualifying at street courses has been the challenge this year, but I'm kinda glad we're at one to try and end the year on a good note and help turn it into a good race. We can have a great weekend here, but it's going to take an improvement in all-around pace,' O'Ward said. 'This is a track that I've been to (three times), and (that gap to the front) is always five-tenths, and I don't get closer. 'Even as the track progresses, I keep progressing, but that (gap) stays the same (to the leaders). It's been such a difficulty and such a challenging place, just even to catch a whiff of the Fast 12. You know I'll be giggling if I'm in the Fast Six. That would mean we've found something.' O'Ward's unlikely road to putting some serious pressure on Palou won't come easy even after heading back to the States, with two more permanent road courses up next, which the young Mexican driver has never scored even a podium in eight combined starts at Laguna Seca and Portland. Palou, on the other hand, has eight podiums in 11 combined starts at the next three tracks, including four wins and just a single result worse than sixth place. And that's why O'Ward's hopes are realistic with just over a month to go in his 2026 campaign. Still, there's personal history to target, he pointed out. 'Hand him over to the world': How Pato O'Ward became IndyCar's biggest star 'I've never been second in the championship. I've always been fighting for it, but at the end of the year, there's always been things that get us out of the running, so it would be great to get that off the list,' he said, pointing to a third place championship finish (2021), a pair of fourth place runs (2020 and 2023), a fifth place finish (2024) and seventh (2022). 'So I've basically crossed all of them off except for (first or second), and second is the first step. I would've loved to be first, and we still don't know what it's going to be, but we're going to strive to keep building on this.'
Indianapolis Star
05-07-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
Alex Palou claims Mid-Ohio pole, as others stare at championship that could 'start drifting very fast'
LEXINGTON, Ohio — Despite a 93-point gap to the two-time defending series champion and runaway title leader at the 2025 IndyCar season's halfway point, Kyle Kirkwood came to Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course still feeling he was in the game. But the driver sitting second in points through nine races and the other driver in the paddock to win this year not named Alex Palou knew on Friday ahead of the weekend-opening practice that the clock was beginning to tick on whittling down the deficit to the Chip Ganassi Racing driver. Though he said it's not yet time in the title fight to dictate his team's in-race strategy on what Palou isn't doing, finishing ahead of the driver who's won six times already through nine races this year is becoming paramount to maintaining any hope in the race for the Astor Cup. More than ever, it's about execution and maximizing speed and tracks where Andretti Global has it in spades. 'We need to get good finishes at places like this,' Kirkwood told IndyStar on Friday, referencing the track where Palou is yet to finish off the podium in his four starts with Chip Ganassi Racing, including a win in 2023 and a runner-up from pole a year ago. 'I'd say the only think we're focused on with (Palou) is we know he's really good at road courses.' Saturday afternoon, Palou yet again proved exactly that, snagging his third pole of the season (no other driver has more than one) and the ninth of his IndyCar career. Ahead of this weekend, Palou has won six of the eight previous poles, not including his exhibition victory a year ago at The Thermal Club where he led the field to green. And yet, in the wake of his experience a year ago, where Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward started alongside Palou on the front row and watched on as the race's polesitter opened up a six-second lead in the first stint, only to be able to eat up virtually all that deficit in the second stint and then jump Palou in the final pit exchange, Palou said Saturday his starting spot isn't nearly as important as the overall performance of the car he'll wield. 'It's one of those tracks where you think it's huge (to get pole), and it's a very, very big advantage, but it's not one of the most. For sure it's good, but I think a fast car or a fast pace, car and driver, is more beneficial,' he said. 'The other years, I've never started on pole, and we were still able to make it on pace. 'I like where we start for sure, but I know it's just going to make it easier the first lap, hopefully.' Pit lane skirmish: Breaking down Will Power's exchange with Alex Palou during IndyCar at Mid-Ohio practice Palou leads IndyCar in average starting position (4.2 after his pole Saturday) by more than two spots (Colton Herta is closest at 6.8). As so often has been the case this year, the IndyCar points leader will start Sunday with a multi-row gap to all his closest championship challengers, with Kirkwood narrowly missing out on a Fast Six appearance and settling for seventh and O'Ward (third in the championship, starting 15th Sunday), Felix Rosenqvist (fourth; 16th) and Scott Dixon (fifth; ninth) a ways further back. After a rough stretch of five races, including 24th last time out at Road America, that followed his three consecutive podiums early in the season, Christian Lundgaard finds himself 158 points back of Palou in sixth, meaning barring a truly historic gap from the points leader, his hopes of title contention have disappeared, despite starting with Palou on the front row Sunday. With perennial front-runners like Team Penske's trio starting a ways' back Sunday (Josef Newgarden 18th, Scott McLaughlin 21st and Will Power 22nd) and the addition of 10 laps to the Mid-Ohio race length, Sunday's action is bound to be a high-intensity affair at a track where early yellow flags are more than common. Add in a pair of unexpected second-year drivers making their first (Kyffin Simpson) or second (Nolan Siegel) Fast Six appearances in their careers, and the combination of veterans trying to work their way up and young guys attempting to hold them back could make for some fireworks and perhaps some surprise results after the checkered flag falls. In that sense, at least, Palou being able to start ahead of the fray could be a saving grace, he said. 'Racing at the front is kinda a different animal,' Lundgaard said. 'As soon as you're starting to check out, it's the small details that matter. Some of the (younger drivers) haven't been exposed to that in the past, and that's why I think you see the veterans always kind of making their way forward in the race, even if they're having a bad qualifying.' Insider: Buckle up, IndyCar's silly season revolves around wily veteran Will Power. What we're hearing O'Ward, who sits 111 points back of Palou at third in the championship entering this weekend, said Friday he knows a track like Mid-Ohio that he counts as one of his best is pivotal to his title hopes, knowing that tracks like Toronto, Laguna Seca and Portland — all where he's yet to stand on a podium — loom ominously in the distance. 'We had pretty sporadic wins last year and are yet to have one this year, so this month is going to be huge with the championship,' O'Ward said. 'There's only three more races after this month, so this will be a big tell. If Palou wins another two (races) this month, they should just give him the championship. 'There's some challenging tracks coming up for us and some good ones as well, so if we can somehow find a way to get on the winning train here, I think it could be pretty big for our championship. But if (Palou) keeps finishing on the podium every race, those chances will start drifting very fast.'
Indianapolis Star
02-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
3 IndyCar races in, 3 things we learned and 3 questions remaining as 2025 season hits high gear
Nine weekends into the 2025 IndyCar season, we've had just three races. The next nine weekends will feature six races and a jam-packed weekend of Indianapolis 500 qualifying, and during the final nine weekends, we'll see a blistering eight-race stretch and a champion crowned. Any sort of "preseason" IndyCar may have is over with. Learnings you want to apply toward a title-contending campaign better be well in the works. And you won't have already suffered a "lost" season, but there's little room for error as we transition from the warmup into a dead-on sprint. Through three races and as we kickoff the Month of May in Alabama this weekend, here are three things we've learned through this early stretch of the season and three pivotal questions as we dive deeper into the 2025 title fight. Alex Palou's reign isn't slowing down Not that anyone expected Alex Palou's results to fall off a cliff, but the way in which the two-time reigning IndyCar champion has begun 2025 — with two wins (as many as he logged in 2024) and three podiums in as many starts — proves the Chip Ganassi Racing driver will require one of his challengers to knock him off his pedestal if they're to snag the Astor Cup from his grasp. Need a break? Play the USA TODAY Daily Crossword Puzzle. Palou seeks his fourth title in five seasons and after five wins in his 2023 winning season, his championship last year opened the door for someone else to deliver a significant challenge. Over the final nine races, he logged as many podiums as finishes outside the top 10, including crashing out in 23rd and the type of fluky mechanical issue that has virtually never befallen the No. 10 Honda in recent years. Colton Herta, Scott McLaughlin, Will Power and Pato O'Ward all won twice in that closing stretch, and yet, no one finished within 30 points of Palou. Outside the back half of 2022, when his own team owner was suing him and he was a walking controversy, Palou has never looked so getable. Now, just because he started first, first and second this year, that's not to say another dry spell isn't coming around the corner, but his start to the season has ensured a lengthy rough patch won't take him out of contention, with all but two drivers already a full race's worth of points behind less than 20% into the season. If Palou's performances even fall back to Earth slightly, it won't be enough for the rest of series to keep him from Victory Lane. Barring a constant lockout of podium finishes by rival teams leveling up and constantly sticking multiple drivers at the pointy end of the grid, one driver — and one alone — will need to rise to the occasion and go tit for tat with Palou. In four years, only the threat of a federal court case has been able to do that. Christian Lundgaard is a contender for Arrow McLaren This isn't to say Felix Rosenqvist or Alexander Rossi weren't capable, on their best days, of running like a front-running driver, but we never saw it consistently enough during their respective tenures to feel like we could expect it. Rossi strung together three stretches of multiple top 5s in a row, including a three-race stretch in 2023 that also included a podium. But, for both of them, top 10s were more frequently the ceiling, something that won't cut it for the second driver of a program aspiring to be a championship-contending team. Three races into his tenure at a team where Year 1s have been relatively unkind to drivers of late, Christian Lundgaard is clearly ready for the moment. What had been flashes of speed during qualifying at Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing appear to be the expectation now, with solid, relatively mistake-free race day execution following to produce a week in and week out top-5 threat and an unsurprising pick for a podium or a race win. Though his new teammate O'Ward holds the team's lone pole and best finish of the year, it's Lundgaard who leads in the championship by three spots and 16 points. Whether that performance level can be sustained throughout the oval-heavy close to the year remains to be seen but at minimum, the team clearly has a second driver who could join O'Ward in a top-5 championship finish, or even, perhaps, edging the team veteran. IndyCar's growth isn't an overnight project I feel comfortable saying there will never be another "Drive To Survive" moment for motorsports like in 2020. Caitlin Clark isn't hopping into the cockpit of a Dallara DW12. Those lightning in a bottle moments for sports on the rise in the U.S. simply can't be expected or planned for. To think the relatively routine change of broadcast partners — even to one willing to provide more then $30 million in advertising exposure during the Super Bowl and trot out its most high-profile personalities to the Indy 500 — would be that kind of ignition for the proverbial IndyCar flame was an overly optimistic view of a corner of the series' fan base that has loved the sport so deeply for so long and so desperately wants it to see it back atop the racing landscape, that it's starved for major results and grows increasingly impatient by the week when reality falls short of their unrealistic, rosy expectations. Perhaps not enough made of the three consecutive three-week breaks between races, or the fact that two races would go head-to-head not only with NASCAR but the two popular mainstream sporting events on the spring calendar. Sure, the sky-high positivity from IndyCar's paddock and fan base, and in some cases jealousy from other corners of the U.S. racing market at the sight of a trio of edgy personality-driven driver commercials, that we saw in February have proven to be a bit overblown, at least in terms of consistent results to start. But what's even clearer is how long a slog back up the mountain may be. That's not to say IndyCar won't get there, but it's not going to happen within the span of a single season like F1 seemingly experienced during the DTS explosion, which featured a protagonist-antagonist battle on track and a pulling back of the curtains to the magnetic personalities of a sport that had rarely been handed mainstream spotlight. A season full of 19 network broadcasts can serve as IndyCar's launch pad, but it is merely the tool in this story. F1 had captivating, Hollywood-level star power waiting in the wings and both drivers and team personnel willing to bare their souls to the cameras, and it meant that even if the races (often times) lacked edge-of-your-seat entertainment, new fans made it appointment-level TV. At the moment, IndyCar lacks nearly the intrigue of F1 in that snapshot, and even 30 years since "the split," it's yet to build back a core week in-and-out audience in the millions that NASCAR has built and kept (even if the stock car series' stock from a fan base standpoint has dropped over the last decade). Penske Entertainment seems poised to take this sport on a steps-long journey, where sprinkles of mainstream exposure combined by a larger platform, can deliver modest growth, which then can ideally drive more sponsor money and interest and begin to spin the flywheel into motion. Until then, it's a sport with a hardcore audience in the several hundred thousands, but one that still will lose battles for casual viewers when those potential fans are handed an infrequent spring race schedule and head-to-head TV competition among any of the far more mainstream sports. Here are those lingering questions. Can any driver compete with Alex Palou for IndyCar title battle? Like I said above, it's not nearly enough for Palou to be starved off from victories in order for one of his challengers to best him by the checkered flag at Nashville. After all, two of the last three IndyCar titles have been won via seasons with two wins or fewer. For Palou, wins are great, but not at the expense of certain podiums and top 5s. Palou is perhaps the driver competitors would least like to see with a sizable lead even just three races into the year, because putting together consecutive weekends where you can take meaningful chunks off his cushion are so tough to come by. And that's why for 2025 not to end up as Palou's fourth title in five years, a rival must rise above the crowded second tier and match Palou's top-end consistency week in and out. And given where the most veteran title contenders sit at the moment — Scott Dixon, O'Ward, Herta, McLaughlin, Power and Newgarden make up fifth to 10th in points, ranging from 56 to 84 points back — they'll need to close the year on a notably more successful and consistent tear than the driver of the No. 10. From a betting standpoint, it's reasonable to think you might select the field, but recent history has shown Palou laughs in the face of logic. Will Formula 1 poach one of IndyCar's top drivers for 2026? With Cadillac F1's two additional open seats added to the grid come next season — and at a team whose decisionmakers have deep IndyCar ties — there seems to be as much reason as ever to envision a reality where American open-wheel racing is absent one of its current title contenders a year from now. Palou, for his championship pedigree and albeit brief F1 testing program with McLaren, would seem the outright obvious choice. O'Ward, given his far wider and more diverse fanbase, serves as a pick that marries potential benefits on both the commercial and competitive sides. Herta, though he's yet to acquire the necessary super license clearance, would serve as the unmistakable American presence for a team expected to lean heavily into its red, white and blue heritage — and it doesn't hurt he wowed F1 teams three years ago with his pace testing for McLaren. Frankly, if one of those three don't land an F1 seat in 2026, I'm not sure when an IndyCar driver ever will get the chance to make the leaps that Sebastien Bourdais, Juan Pablo Montoya and Michael Andretti made before them. But if one of them gets a nod, that move — combined with Will Power's contract uncertainty at Team Penske — could send silly season into an even wackier game of musical chairs than we've seen in recent years. Will Fox's IndyCar TV ratings get notable boost that was promised? It's more than a reach to champion early successes in the new IndyCar-Fox relationship because it drew a still concerningly low audience size for Long Beach, one that was up a couple hundred thousand while on network TV compared to last year's cable race. Success outside the 500 will come in the form of races whose average race broadcast audiences consistently top 1 million — a target the Xfinity series in its new chapter with The CW has proven should be plenty realistic if IndyCar's to be considered — and one would hope it is, at least as popular as NASCAR's AAA series. Outside maybe an NBA playoff game, IndyCar has an empty runway with which to flourish over the next two race weekends before the 500 kicks into high gear. And if competition is largely the reason IndyCar significantly lagged behind its season-opening audience of more than 1.4 million people, then we'll see inconceivable proof by May 10. Marks still in the six figures will begin raise legitimate questions as to why Fox's endless commercial tune-in campaigns, its signing of world-famous racing broadcaster Will Buxton, its ability to give nods to IndyCar on its various sports and news properties and its willingness to give the sport a level of promotion it hasn't seen in recent memory, combined with continued investment from Roger Penske and Penske Entertainment, isn't even, outside Race 1 at St. Pete, hitting the solid marks of its NBC era. Teams and fans were promised notable, meaningful, marketable rises in metrics with this relationship —not ones solely achieved by shifting races that had run on cable or streaming-only onto network TV, and not ones solely made up by practice and qualifying audiences on cable, but from an increased interest in the sport outside of diehards who are, admittedly, coming out to races in higher numbers.
Fox Sports
08-04-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Kyle Kirkwood Knows Race Wins Key to Challenging Alex Palou
INDYCAR Kyle Kirkwood is making a strong impression in the early stages of the 2025 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, but he admits to feeling the heat from Alex Palou's dominance. The Andretti Global driver is sixth in the point standings, one of six drivers joining Palou, Scott Dixon, Christian Lundgaard, Felix Rosenqvist and Alexander Rossi in producing top-10 finishes in both races this season. But the frustration of having to chase down a three-time champion, including two consecutive championships, in Palou can be tough on a driver's mindset. Remember, Palou has won both races so far this season. Kirkwood's fifth- and eighth-place finishes this season are certainly respectable, but he is aiming for more, and Palou's pace is high. 'I should be a lot more satisfied than I am,' Kirkwood said. 'Because if you look back at (the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding), one of our better races, I pretty much followed Alex Palou the entire race and watched him win, which is disappointing. 'Then (at the second race, at The Thermal Club), we were on pace for what seemed like a locked top-four result, which would have been two top-five (finishes) in a row. As a driver, as a competitor, you always want better.' Kirkwood has a 48-point deficit to Palou. To really challenge Palou for the Astor Cup, Kirkwood will need to convert those solid finishes into wins. Given his background – winning championships in USF2000 (2018), USF Pro 2000 (2019) and INDY NXT by Firestone (2021) -- it's evident Kirkwood knows how to win and has the experience to handle the pressure of a title fight. He just needs to find a way to outpace Palou on these race days. That pursuit begins this weekend with the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach, the third race of the season (4:30 p.m. ET, FOX, FOX Sports App, INDYCAR Radio Network). 'We've got to do the same thing that they're doing -- we got to win races,' Kirkwood said of Palou. 'We can't let them get a big head start. That is one thing that Palou has done in the past couple years: He gets a huge head start, then everybody claws back at him at the end of the season. He's kind of on cruise control at that point. We need to not let him get out front and hold him back a little bit. 'It's turning into a thing that when you beat Alex Palou, you've clearly had a really good day. He's kind of the No. 1 guy that everyone is looking at now.' This weekend's 50th anniversary race could be a perfect place for Kirkwood to strike. He earned his maiden NTT INDYCAR SERIES victory and NTT P1 Award in this event. Add in the fact that Andretti Global has been strong at Long Beach with four of the last six race winners coming from the team, the stars could be aligning for Kirkwood. 'This is a very crucial weekend for us to turn things around in the championship hunt,' Kirkwood said. 'Even though it's still early in the season, a lot of people don't look at points. They're like, well, it's only two races in of the 17-race season. But if the guy is 60 points ahead of you, you've got to kind of pay attention to that. There is a long way to go. You're also falling behind very early, which is not something you want to do. 'I think this weekend is one of our best opportunities (to gain on Palou). If you look back at history in general, Long Beach has been one of the best tracks for Andretti Global. I think Toronto and Detroit are starting to grow on that. Street courses in general are really, really good. Long Beach has been a top one for the team. 'We're obviously going to be looking for a win. Honestly, at this time we need wins to be able to win a championship here because Alex Palou is just walking away with (the championships) at the moment. We need to turn that ship around.' Kirkwood is also aware that he is creating pressure for himself. He embraces the added dynamic. When a driver has a car that's capable of winning, the expectations naturally shift and bring a whole new level of pressure to deliver. It's one thing to be aiming for a top-10 finish and dealing with the challenges that come with trying to extract everything from a less-than-optimal car, but when you know your car has the speed and the potential to win, the stakes are raised significantly. 'I would say the weekends that you feel like you have a really good shot are the easiest,' he said. 'I guess you wouldn't think that coming into it, but now that I've had a couple years in the series, the hardest weekends are the ones that you're struggling. It's the ones that you're struggling to get into a top-10 finish. When you have kind of pace under your belt in a race weekend or across practices and qualifying, etc., it just makes things a lot easier.' Another interesting dynamic is Long Beach is a shared weekend with IMSA leading to a compressed schedule. Kirkwood sees that as an advantage for his No. 27 Honda. 'That doesn't give you a lot of time to really focus on changes, to hone in on stuff,' he said. 'Coming off the trailer very quick is very important. It just gives you a sense of ease, if I'm being honest. 'Of course, you have the pressure that now you have a fast car, now it's all on you to go out there and win. If anything, that just gives me comfort. I'm pretty confident that I can get it done if I have everything in my arsenal. So yeah, it's not really managing emotions; it's more just an easier weekend if everything is kind of flowing right.' in this topic
