Although the 2 were tangled in a tussle for the quit assign over the closing of laps, O’Ward held off making a pair of runs for the lead except jumping to the outside of Newgarden’s No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet heading to the white flag and snatching the quit assign entering Turn 1.
However, there wasn’t adequate in O’Ward’s No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to fend off the return area of Newgarden, who delivered his bear monstrous outside circulation to reclaim the lead in Turn 3 en path to claiming his second consecutive rep in “The Most animated Spectacle in Racing.”
For O’Ward, the quit consequence marks his second runner-up invent over his closing three Indy 500 starts, having moreover completed on the noxious quit of a closing-lap wheel-to-wheel battle with Marcus Ericsson in 2022.
When the 25-365 days-veteran Mexican pulled into his pit stall, he became as soon as left with searching on the celebrations from afar with tears in his eyes.
“It became as soon as exact any such annoying hunch,” O’Ward said. “We were up and down, up and down. The car positively wasn’t the easiest to pressure at sure moments.
Patricio O’Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet
List by: Phillip Abbott / Motorsport Pictures
“I exact tried to withhold spin as worthy of the hunch as I may perchance per chance. I in fact feel cherish I did. In fact ready to launch the doorways to in the end bear a possibility to rep on the quit of this, and yeah, or not it’s exact heartbreaking. Two corners short.
“I’m contented that we completed the hunch. Congratulations to Josef, two in a row. However yeah, I attach that car in sure parts where I did not know if I became as soon as going to approach help out the replacement quit and in a single fragment because I exact want to rep this hunch so freaking unfriendly. It owes me nothing, so at any time after we approach help, there is constantly a smile on my face to bear yet every other opportunity.”
O’Ward, who admitted he had battled the flu at some stage within the week and had a fever a majority of the week, led 12 laps but lamented not getting one extra.
“It has been a difficult month,” said O’Ward, who started eighth. “So worthy goes into this hunch. I enlighten I’m somebody that wears my coronary heart on my sleeve. I produce not in fact cowl one thing else.
“It’s exact while that you would be able to merely bear got approach so discontinuance and it exact would not seem to — you exact can’t seem to acquire it exact, or not it’s exact rather a few emotion.”
In reflection, O’Ward wasn’t sure one thing else may perchance per chance bear been completed in yet every other design on the closing lap.
“No, I produce not enlighten you may perchance per chance withhold an eye on that,” O’Ward said. “I enlighten in a approach I’ve cracked a code and I do know the design to position myself to rep this hunch. I do know I will rep this hunch, and I do know that I do know the design to moreover provide protection to a exact consequence when perchance the rep is rarely all the time within the playing cards for me.
“However yeah, exact in a hunch cherish that where it became as soon as a constant emotional roller coaster where issues — issues that weren’t going completely soft, they in actuality weren’t, but I enlighten the crew did an fabulous job, gave me a possibility and known as a extraordinarily exact technique to then acquire ourselves help to the entrance and made a extraordinarily solid overcut which in the end attach us into competition there within the quit.
“After which exact making an try to acquire into the quit two vehicles the outdated few laps, it’s so laborious to attain with these vehicles. You are exact caught there, and or not it’s a must to possibility so worthy.
“I enlighten on each and each fronts, on Scott (Dixon) and Alex (Rossi), I became as soon as cherish presumably greater likelihood of shunting the auto than getting help in a single fragment. However that is what or not it’s a must to attain, I enlighten. Nowadays we’re second.”
