The Mexican driver, who came behind the winner Josef Newgarden, was ousted from the place of honor in the championship in the Spanish Palou
Duck O’Ward positioned himself as the leader of the season at IndyCar, finishing second Saturday at the World Wide Technology Raceway, after a race in which Alex Palou was involved in an accident between three race cars.
Mexican O’Ward, who came behind winner Josef Newgarden, ousted Spaniard Palou from the place of honor in the championship.
Newgarden won his second race of the season and his third in the start during his career. The Tennessee rider overtook O’Ward by 0.5397 seconds.
Will Power was third and Scott McLaughlin came fourth, with three Penske Racing drivers taking the top four. Frenchman Sebastien Bourdais completed the group of the top five, which featured only Chevrolet cars.
Newgarden took the lead in 138 of the 260 laps, and jumped from fifth to third in the crowded championship race. He’s 22 points below O’Ward.
The 22-year-old Mexican was 52 points behind Palou two races ago. However, the Spaniard had an engine problem last week, which reduced the difference to 21 units.
Fun racing day under the lights of St. Louis. P2 and championship leader👊🏻 great work team @ArrowMcLarenSP
Good fun tonight. We are happy with segundo👊🏻 Super good work TEAM! 📸 @CoForceCrew pic.twitter.com/9K9Mer1Ntw
– Pato O’Ward (@PatricioOWard) August 22, 2021
And on Saturday, the crash opened the door for O’Ward to climb to the top for the second time this season.
He knew how to run safely, avoiding the setbacks that left out of the race nine of the 24 bolides. He took the podium for the fifth time this season.
“I think people know against whom you can compete in a dirty way. I had a lot to lose today, and they knew it,” O’Ward said.
He speculated that the way Alexander Rossi ran in a dam may have caused the collision that left Palou out.
“I was next to Rossi, and I guess he just didn’t look in his left mirror and shut up,” O’Ward said. “I had to step on the brake so I wouldn’t crash.”