At Indy 500, Pato O’Ward heartbroken after coming up short again

SPEEDWAY, Ind. — The tears from Pato O’Ward flowed freely, not unlike the sheets of rain that fell on this venerable speedway earlier in the day.

Pick a term to describe a sobbing O’Ward after finishing second in the Indianapolis 500: Heartbroken, crushed, devastated — they all fit. Even for a driver with ninja hands, able to gather up a wicked car and save it from crashing, this took quite a while to pull himself together.

At first, O’Ward couldn’t even take off his helmet. Too wet inside, he said. When he finally did, there were long embraces, his face buried in the chests and shoulders of team members.

Just two corners short, he said. Two corners short.

O’Ward thought he had it. He calculated his move perfectly, it seemed, waiting to make a pass on Josef Newgarden until the white flag waved Sunday on the Indy 500’s 108th running.

“I really thought I did everything in my power to get it done,” O’Ward said.

But it was too soon. Newgarden still had too much time and made a bold pass on O’Ward’s outside in Turn 3 on the final lap. There have only been four last-lap passes in Indy 500 history; Newgarden now has two of them in back-to-back years.

“He could have easily won the race himself,” Newgarden said. “He drove me excellently. I’m very thankful for him and the way he drove.”

The way O’Ward drove against Newgarden? Cleanly. There was trust between the two men to race that way. They both put their cars in risky positions, with bold moves, but all while knowing the other would race respectfully; it’s just that only one could win.

That O’Ward made it up far toward the front was a feat. He led all drivers with 43 on-track passes throughout the race (teammate Alexander Rossi was second with 40), and his fearless moves on both Rossi and Scott Dixon allowed him to get in position to challenge Newgarden.

His car felt stuck, meaning there needed to be extra risk involved in making the necessary moves.

“On both fronts, on Scott and Alex, (there was a) higher probability of shunting the car than getting back in one piece,” O’Ward said.

At the end of recent Indy 500s, it’s been a two-driver battle for the win. They get runs on each other, swap the lead and gamble on when to go for the final pass. So O’Ward knew he had to get to second place, but it took a checkers-or-wreckers mentality to achieve it.

Another heartbreaking P2 for Pato 💔#INDYCAR // @ArrowMcLaren pic.twitter.com/Sip7OenjFp

— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) May 27, 2024

“I put that car in certain points where I didn’t know if I was going to come out the other end and in one piece,” O’Ward said, “because I just want to win this race so freaking bad.”

As O’Ward spoke, he stared at the monitors in the Indianapolis media center. On the screens were a loop of Newgarden’s highlights — the final pass, jumping out of his car and running into the grandstands, chugging the traditional milk. It was hard to look away.

Heck, much of this month was hard for O’Ward. He recently was struck with a harsh case of the flu and had a fever for five straight nights. He didn’t sleep well in the days leading up to the race.

But on Sunday, he said, he felt good enough to “almost get the job done.”

The effort and the trials help explain the tears. All he had to show for it was another second-place finish at the 500, and as Scott Dixon said afterward: “You’d rather finish last at this place and be out of the race early” than second.

“It’s just when you’ve come so close and you just can’t seem to get it right,” O’Ward said. “It’s a lot of emotion.”

Newgarden understood. After all, this race teased and toyed with him for more than a decade until he finally broke through. Now he’s won two in a row.

This old place is funny like that, and as O’Ward said, it owes nothing to any driver. But it does seem to have a way of eventually rewarding some of those who have suffered long enough.

“When you don’t win, it hurts,” Newgarden said. “I’ve left here 11 times prior with a broken heart. I know the feeling.”

(Photo of Pato O’Ward: Darron Cummings / Associated Press)