NTT Indy Car: Pato O’Ward holds off Alex Palou to take Mid-Ohio race

By Roy J. Akers- www.skyviewsports.net

(Lexington, Ohio) Two teams dominate the Mid-Ohio Indy Car Race but…. Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren is looking to spoil the party and get on a roll and in a moment, we will find out. Both Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing have won five of the last six races at Mid-Ohio and dominate the race. Likewise, David Malukas of Meyer-Shank racing qualified third and will start in the second row. The early news dominating the race is Scott Dixon’s Hybrid engine wouldn’t stay fired and Alex Palou’s dominance over the rest of the field. With drivers looking to make the race on a two-pit strategy, most of the positions would be gained through track passing.

Checkered Flag

Pato O’Ward finds a way to get it done as his pit team was a little quicker at Mid-Ohio. He led the final 24 of the total 80 laps to earn his second victory of the season. O’Ward was in first or second place the entire way save for a few laps cycling back to the top before pitting. The win puts O’Ward in 3rd place in NTT Indy Car points behind Palou and Will Power. Scott Dixon is only one point behind O’Ward. Pato explains the final laps. “With the race being so close, which I’m sure they always are, is there a critical situation or critical decision that you can think of that you and your team made that really made the difference in you winning today? PATO O’WARD: I would say it’s just really pinpointing where we were stronger. Like I mentioned, they were stronger on the primes. They’ve always been stronger on the primes. We’ve never really had a chance against them on the primes. I saw him coming to me pretty aggressively at the end of the second stint, and I just saw the doors open to an opportunity, and I was like, we have to take it. I knew if I got in front of him, it was going to be a battle to the end,”

Podium Finish- 2nd

Alex Palou (No. 10 Ridgeline Lubricants Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)

When Alex Palou wins the pole, he often wins. Not at Mid-Ohio. Palou led twice totaling 53 of the 55 opening laps. After his second pit stop, Palou came out of a fuel/tire change behind O’Ward and it was a battle to the end as O’Ward used a third driver as a pick. “It was tough to pass. I think that as he also
had a ton of overtake, like same as me. He was able to use it every single lap. It was tough to get close.
I got really close on the last lap going into Turn 6. I was going to try — like if he didn’t close, I was going to dive in and see what the outcome was.”

Podium Finish- 3rd

(No. 3 Sonsio Team Penske Chevrolet)

Scott McLaughlin led the Mid-Ohio twice for three laps and a dark horse driver for the race turned up the heat as the day went along. After qualifying sixth, McLaughlin held his position and had but three passes in the race. He likes the Hybrid which made its debut at the Mid-Ohio race. “Well, in my opinion it was great, much better, much more fun than I anticipated. I thought that it was going to be pretty boring, that it was not going to give us much of a tool to make differences in between the drivers or the teams or even during the race, like to adjust your car balance and to do stuff.”

McLaughlin is 8th in NTT Indy Car points with the double header happening in Iowa next weekend.

Santino Ferrucci finishes a Solid tenth

(No. 14 AJ Foyt Racing/Sexton Properties Chevrolet)

Ferrucci was not in the top pack of cars during the day and had to fight his way through the field after qualifying 21st in qualifying. After a gutty effort, he put his car into tenth place for a solid finish in Mid-Ohio. Ferrucci keeps his car competitive driving for AJ Foyt Enterprises. He is 12th in NTT points just past the halfway point of the season.

David Malukas makes strong showing early

Malukas, the driver of the Sirius XM for Meyer Shank Racing qualified third and held the position until his first pit stop. After that, he steadily dropped his position and fell to 13th after the halfway point of the race. Regaining his touch, Malukas moved up to challenge Will Power to take 10th only to fall back for a second time. The problem for Malukas was lengthy pit stops. Both stops saw him lose track position. His second pit stop put him back in the teens. In a race devoid of passing, this will be a point of discussion within his team.

The Hybrid Failed for Dixon

Scott Dixon (No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda)

Dixon has won twice in 2024 and he has taken the checkered flag six times in 18 Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course starts. Dixon ‘s machine stalled out on the opening lap and never fired beyond the first couple of turns. Dixon qualified 13th and finishes last. He did reenter the race on lap 22 but was racing for show. Owner Chip Ganassi was asked later what happened and he said, “It’s the hybrid.”

Updated Points and Stats

NTT INDYCAR SERIES Point Standings:
Palou 329, Power 281, O’Ward 259, Dixon 258, Herta 249, Kirkwood 234, Rossi 226, McLaughlin 224, Rosenqvist 192, Newgarden 186, Lundgaard 182, Ericsson 180, Ferrucci 174, Grosjean 151, Armstrong 142, Rahal 139, Lundqvist 128, VeeKay 125, Rasmussen 104, Fittipaldi 103, Simpson 97, Canapino 94, Robb 92, Theo Pourchaire 75, Harvey 75, Tom Blomqvist 46, Siegel 45, Callum Ilott 39, Malukas 32, Luca Ghiotto 27, Helio Castroneves 26, Conor Daly 21, Kyle Larson 21, Takuma Sato 19, Sowery 17, Ed Carpenter 14, Tristan Vautier 12, Colin Braun 10, Ryan Hunter-Reay 6, Marco Andretti 5, Katherine Legge 5

Mid- Ohio Race Stats

Roy J. Akers is a multi-media reporter and covers several sports for www.skyviewsports.net