Why Pato O'Ward's backup Indy 500 chassis could be a stroke of luck
O'Ward's primary car was destroyed in a Monday practice crash, but he has a special history with the backup car
Motorsport photo , the No. 5 car he had been working with during the previous week and which he used to qualify was left unusable for the most important race on the calendar. Arrow McLaren has had to turn to the backup car, though it is a car O’Ward has never raced at the Brickyard, he does have experience with it.
The chassis that was damaged last Monday is the one that has accompanied him in all previous occasions while fighting for the victory. "Obviously, like anyone, I do have my nerves because it's not the car we've been using all month, it's not the one I qualified, and I haven't done any race simulations," O’Ward said in an interview with Motorsport. com, courtesy of his sponsor Electrolit.
However, the Arrow McLaren driver is confident that the setups studied can be transferred and find immediate success, especially since he has already achieved success with that chassis. "It is a car that I have used, it's a car I've already won with and with which I've been very fast, so it's a car that has treated me very well. That gives me peace of mind, it gives me that neutrality I need to head into the race knowing that what is behind what I'm going to be sitting in is competitive.
I am sure the team will set it up exactly how I want it. " A stroke of luck? Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet Pato O'Ward, Arrow McLaren Chevrolet O’Ward has been close to victory on several occasions, finishing second in 2022 as well as in 2024, while in 2025 he finished third, all of it with the same chassis named "Lana.