Indy 500 victory could propel popular driver Pato O’Ward to the top of IndyCar on and off the track

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INDIANAPOLIS — Duck O’Ward was supposed to arrive in front of the hotel at 8:15 am on the first day he would put his car on the track for practice for the Indianapolis 500. He texted that he was 15 minutes late, but he would try to make up the time on the way.

He did so, of course, because O’Ward was not about to take a lazy stroll through downtown Indianapolis. He stopped at a habit McLaren GT, matte black with the No. 5 on it, and it was flashing the peace sign.

“Ciao, miss,” said the affable young IndyCar driver, noting that he had saved nine minutes on the trip. And he went for a casual drive around Indianapolis Motor Speedway with The Associated Press to get to work.

The car was just a loan – Arrow McLaren has all four drivers entered in Sunday’s race zipping around town in branded McLarens – and the rideshare sparked a much juicier story of why O’Ward has become a sensation for the IndyCar Series and his team.

he was miserable at the beginning of last season, when he wanted a chance at Formula One, and felt that his contract did not match his value. Overthinking everything was ruining his performance. So he decided to concentrate on his work with McLaren.

Sure enough, he got a new contract, and O’Ward included a McLaren 720 in the deal.

When your new car arrived in Indianapolis, he realized he wasn’t well, even before he was found out. The delivery guy thought he was crazy so O’Ward started to peel the cover off and it was obviously not the right shade of blue. (McLaren is Particularly about the shadow. )

“And I’m like, ‘Bro, this ain’t my car,’ and he tells me he does this every day, and there’s no way it’s not the right car, and I’m like, ‘It’s not even the right car. color!'” O’Ward remembered. Wrong model too.

So O’Ward Facetimes his boss, McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown, who laughs hysterically. He had had the wrong car wrapped and shipped to O’Ward as a joke. Just to get the reaction he got.

The relationship between the team boss and its many drivers – McLaren competes in Formula One, IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and esports – sets the tone for the entire organisation. Arrow McLaren is the fun team, with an elaborate, youthful social media presence that is best in IndyCar, and a true spark plug at O’Ward.

He could have three wins this season, but instead he has three second-place finishes. It’s frustrating, but he’s just six points behind series leader and Indy 500 polesitter Alex Palou. O’Ward was second at Indy a year ago and starts fifth this Sunday.

O’Ward is so focused that earlier this year he decided to remain single. He felt that a relationship could be distracting “and I don’t want to leave anything on the table. The goal is to win the championship.”

Alexander Rossi joined Arrow McLaren this year from Andretti Autosport, where his final season was marred by dissent. It was clear to him that O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist had a close bond at McLaren, but Rossi had no idea what to make of the excitable Mexican.

He’s not crazy. He is very funny,” Rossi said. “He is more analytical than people think. And he is a complete runner. He is not a kid who gets in and goes wrong fast and that’s it. He knows what’s going on.”

O’Ward finished fourth and third the first two years with McLaren. He ran a distant seventh last year, but reigning champion Will Power has seen a change in the way O’Ward raced since the middle of last year’s season.

“There is more control in racing when it comes to tire (degradation) and fuel economy,” Power said. “He’s definitely taking an approach to try and win the championship.”

O’Ward admits as much on the way to the road course, discussing in depth with AP his position on an on-track incident with six-time series champion Scott Dixon last month. Dixon, 42, vehemently believes that O’Ward was too aggressive, but O’Ward is unrepentant and refuses to apologize.

O’Ward is confused by the whole dispute.

“The guy has been doing this for a long, long, long time,” O’Ward said. “I don’t know why he’s being so baby.”

That confidence is what has made O’Ward one of IndyCar’s rising stars, and the numbers show it. His jersey sales are the best in IndyCar, almost 35% higher than the next driver. Their supply of collective merchandise deals generates the highest revenue of any driver retail line.

O’Ward also has his own line and his merchandising store is booming. For the April race at Texas Motor Speedway, O’Ward purchased three suites and offered the tickets to any fan who purchased an item from his merchandise store. He filled the suites as well as the overflow seats in the grandstand.

Yes, many of his fans are Mexican. O’Ward is from Monterey but was raised primarily in San Antonio. Texas is still his home, but he spends much of his free time in Monterrey or Punta Mita, where he celebrated his 24th birthday this month.

“People say, ‘Oh, how lucky you are, you’re Mexican. You have many fans. And it’s like, ha ha, fun,” O’Ward said. “No, bro, I work for this. I work to get the fans to the track. I’m doing another giveaway and bought 100 Indy 500 tickets. I may lose money, but I’m trying to make a connection with my fans and trying to grow the audience.”

You have accepted that IndyCar is your home: the list for a seat in F1 He’s grown a lot and it’s just a name, and he’s delighted. Like his peers, he considers IndyCar to be the most competitive racing series in the world and is at the pinnacle of his career.

O’Ward also loves where he works, and the relationship he has built with Brown has been part of what motivated him to focus on winning an IndyCar title. He recently noticed that Brown had acquired a new watch, a rather expensive Richard Mille, modeled after Rafael Nadal.

O’Ward wants it, so he made the boss a deal: Win the Indianapolis 500 and I get the watch.

Brown said absolutely.

“But now I’m rooting for one of my other cars to win,” Brown said. “I like my watch.”