INDIANAPOLIS — Pato O’Ward’s tears flowed liberally, similar to the rain that had fallen on the venerable speedway earlier in the day.
Pick a word to describe a sobbing O’Ward after finishing second at the Indianapolis 500. Heartbroken, devastated, broken — all of these apply. Even a driver with ninja hands was able to lift his damn car and save it from the crash, but it took him quite some time to collect himself.
At first, O’Ward couldn’t even remove his helmet because it was too wet inside, but when he finally did manage to remove it, he buried his face in his teammate’s chest and shoulders and exchanged long hugs.
“Two more corners,” he said. “Two more corners.”
O’Ward thought he had it. He seemed to have calculated his moves perfectly, waiting until the white flag waved Sunday in the 108th running of the Indy 500 to pass Josef Newgarden.
“I really thought we gave it our all to get it done,” O’Ward said.
But it was too early, as Newgarden still had time to make a bold pass around the outside of O’Ward in Turn 3 on the final lap, making it two of only four final-lap passes in Indy 500 history and Newgarden having done it twice in two consecutive years.
“He could have easily won the race himself,” Newgarden said. “He drove great and I’m very grateful to him and his driving.”
How did O’Ward drive against Newgarden? It was clean. There was a trust between them to race like that. They both made bold moves and put their cars in dangerous positions, all the while knowing that the other would race with respect. But only one can win.
It was quite an achievement for O’Ward to finish so close: He led all drivers with 43 on-track passes during the race (teammate Alexander Rossi was second with 40), and his aggressive attacks on both Rossi and Scott Dixon put him in position to challenge Newgarden.
His car felt like it was stuck, so he had to take extra risks to take the necessary action.
“In both Scott and Alex’s cases, it was more likely their car would roll over than they would return unscathed,” O’Ward said.
In the closing stages of a recent Indy 500 race, with two drivers battling for the win — catching each other, swapping the lead, bidding for when to make that final pass — O’Ward knew he had to move up to second, but he needed a checkers-or-wrecks mentality to get there.
Another heartbreaking second place for Pato 💔#IndyCar // Follow pic.twitter.com/Sip7OenjFp
— NTT IndyCar Series (@IndyCar) May 27, 2024
“I put the car in a situation where I didn’t know if I was going to make it to the finish,” O’Ward said, “because I just want to win this race.”
As O’Ward spoke, his eyes were glued to the monitors in the Indianapolis media center, where Newgarden’s highlights were playing on repeat — the final pass, the leap from the car into the stands, the traditional chug of milk. It was hard to look away.
This month has been a tough one for O’Ward, who recently had a bad case of flu that left him with a fever for five nights in a row and left him unable to sleep well in the days leading up to the race.
But on Sunday, he said he felt well enough to “just about get the job done.”
The effort and trials explain the tears. All he got was a second place in the 500m and, as Scott Dixon said after the race, “I’d rather come last and be out of the race early than come second here.”
“When you get so close and then it doesn’t work out,” O’Ward says, “it’s a very emotional experience.”
Newgarden understood. After all, this was a race that had haunted and tormented him for more than a decade, and finally he had a breakthrough. And now he’s won two in a row.
This old place is interesting in that way, and like O’Ward said, it doesn’t do drivers any favours, but it does seem to have a way of finally rewarding those who have suffered for so long.
“It hurts when you don’t win,” Newgarden said. “I’ve left here 11 times with a broken heart. I know that feeling.”
(Pato O’Ward photo by Daron Cummings/Associated Press)
