Patricio O’Ward Tag

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer INDIANAPOLIS– Patricio O’Ward hit the wall coming out of Turn 2 during the third day of practice for the 103rd Running of the Indianapolis 500. While following Helio Castroneves, O’Ward lost control of his No. 31 Carlin Racing Chevrolet and hit the SAFER Barrier exiting the second corner. The 2018 Indy Lights champion hit the wall head on and with the left rear corner of the car. The impact with the wall then allowed the car to get partially airborne before coming to the ground. TheRead More

By INDYCAR INDIANAPOLIS – Will Power picked up where he left off a year ago from his life-altering Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge win by leading opening practice on Tuesday for the 103rd running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” The Team Penske driver turned a best lap of 229.745 mph to take honors on the first of four practice days ahead of qualifications to set the 33-car field. All 36 entered drivers were on track and completed a total of 3,003 laps on the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval.Read More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – The opening day of NTT IndyCar Series practice for this weekend’s running of the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park was a bit treacherous, to say the least. With overcast skies and rain threatening during the first of two scheduled practice sessions, several drivers found themselves making off track excursions on the mix of wet and dry pavement around the 2.3-mile, 17-turn road course, bringing out a number of red flags in the process. When all was said andRead More

By David Morgan, Associate Editor AUSTIN, Texas – If Sunday’s IndyCar Classic at Circuit of The Americas is any indication, it’s going to be a fun season ahead with the stout crop of rookies that are in the NTT IndyCar Series field. Two of the five rookies finished in the top-10, but at portions of the race all of them were fighting for a spot on the top half of the leaderboard. Colton Herta, the 18-year old standout for Harding Stenbrenner Racing, won the day by capturing his first career IndyCarRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer AUSTIN, Texas– Eight one hundredths of a second. That’s all that separated Patricio O’Ward from the Firestone Fast Six during Saturday’s qualifying for Sunday’s INDYCAR Classic, the NTT IndyCar Series’ debut race at Circuit Of The Americas. The 2018 Indy Lights presented by Cooper Tires champion made it through the first group of the first round of qualifying in his No. 31 Carlin Chevrolet by posting the sixth fastest lap around the 3.41-mile natural terrain road course. What’s crazier is that O’Ward beat out veteran teammateRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Patricio “Pato” O’Ward will not be driving for Harding Steinbrenner Racing for the upcoming NTT IndyCar Series season. It was announced that the two have agreed to “part ways” on Monday. “The Harding Steinbrenner Racing team supported my decision to seek a new opportunity by releasing me from my contract and allowing me the opportunity to find a new team before the start of the 2019 season,” O’Ward said in a statement. “Now, I am fully focused on finding the right opportunity and how I willRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer What’s already been a dynamic off-season in the NTT IndyCar Series, one storyline that’s going to be quite the tale is the Rookie of the Year battle, consisting of five full-time drivers, two more from last season, all with something to prove. Each have their own tales, with some coming out of the world of Formula One, a re-branded squad featuring Indy Lights alumnus and another that’s given the biggest opportunity of his racing career. This crop of rookies have the potential of providing an intenseRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer Honda has gained a new partner in the 2019 IndyCar Series as Harding-Steinbrenner Racing announced a switch to the Japanese brand. After competing with Chevrolet in a partial 2017 and a full 2018 campaign, the team elected to switch brands after signing new drivers Patricio O’Ward and Colton Herta for the 2019 IndyCar season. O’Ward will drive the No. 8 machine while Herta will pilot the No. 88 after the duo finished first and second in their respective 2018 Indy Lights campaigns. “We are delighted toRead More

By Christopher DeHarde, Staff Writer The 31st annual Performance Racing Industry trade show kicked off in Indianapolis on Thursday with the usual fanfare one would expected for the last motorsports event of the 2018 calendar year. Here’s some notes about happenings at the show on Thursday. The opening breakfast featured Al Unser Sr. and Al Unser Jr. talking about their careers with the recently retired Dave Despain in front of a capacity crowd at the Sagamore Ballroom. The first press conference of the show took place with NGK Spark Plugs/NTK SensorsRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer SONOMA, California — Welcome to the Verizon IndyCar Series, rookies. The Harding Racing duo of Colton Herta and Patricio O’Ward exceeded expectations in their debuts on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway. Both drivers finished on the lead lap, with O’Ward finishing ninth and Herta coming home 20th. Race strategist Brian Barnhart was proud of both by bringing his entries home with a clean car and lead lap finishes, stating that it was crucial of allowing the duo an opportunity to compete at the highest level before theRead More