Pato O’Ward finished the 2025 season 63 points ahead of third-place finisher Scott Dixon in the final standings.
So combined with two victories, he enjoyed a great year.
But he finished 196 points behind champion Alex Palou. And finishing that far behind the champion makes him know that work that had to be done in the offseason as INDYCAR heads into its 2026 opener Sunday on the streets of St. Petersburg (Noon ET, FOX).
Pato O’Ward has his sights set on overtaking Alex Palou in 2026.
[POWER RANKINGS: Alex Palou Still the Driver to Beat in 2026]
When O’Ward and Arrow McLaren went to work on attempting to determine the way to catch Palou, there wasn’t only one easy reply, a minimum of on the subject of what O’Ward might do and what his crew might do.
“There’s all the time room for enchancment in every single place — health, psychological, automotive construct, reliability, engineering,” O’Ward advised me Monday on a video name throughout a break in his media tour in a snowy New York Metropolis. “I do not assume it is one particular method of doing it [for me].
“There’s completely different ways in which work for some individuals and others would possibly a lot somewhat do one thing else. If it is giving extra time to your self or doing extra of one thing, I do not know. However for me, it is simply being well-prepared bodily, all the time attempting to take care of an excellent psychological house and simply ensuring every thing is in line carwise.”
However what does O’Ward see, if something, in Palou’s Ganassi automotive that he feels makes the distinction? Palou received eight of the 17 races final 12 months.
“Their automotive can do issues higher than our automotive, for certain, however we’re attempting to rectify these issues,” O’Ward mentioned. “I do not assume Alex has the perfect automotive for a sure avenue course. I believe the Andretti automotive there may be positively the perfect.
“So it is nearly attempting to make your dangerous weekends higher. As a result of our good weekends are superb. However we have to make our dangerous weekends a lot better. And I believe that is the place the Ganassi automotive, particularly in race trim, is tremendous, tremendous sturdy the place generally we won’t have these higher dangerous weekends like they do. Our dangerous weekends are fairly freaking dangerous. In order that’s the largest distinction that I see.”
Pato O’Ward, an INDYCAR fan-favorite, is coming off a runner-up end in 2025.
[SEASON PREVIEW: Pato O’Ward Aiming for Elusive Indy 500]
The driving force lineup at McLaren has stayed the identical this 12 months with O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel. O’Ward additionally has the identical personnel engaged on his automotive. Arrow McLaren did make some adjustments in key areas behind the scenes, together with final summer time bringing in former Penske government Kyle Moyer to be the competitors director.
The largest change is available in location. The crew moved from the cramped quarters of the Sam Schmidt Motorsports store to the spacious constructing that used to deal with Andretti. After a whole overhaul of that constructing, McLaren now has the house it wants — 86,000 sq. ft, in comparison with 33,000 sq. ft of its earlier residence — and facilities that it didn’t beforehand have, together with a state-of-the-art health middle.
“I’ve gone extra to the brand new store within the final two weeks than I went to the previous store in a single 12 months,” O’Ward mentioned. “You simply wish to be there. … It is good to have a house that matches our targets.
“And I am a agency believer that it’s good to act prefer it earlier than you really get there. It has been a terrific new factor, and I believe it is arriving at simply the right time.”
Arrow McLaren is hoping for nice returns from its trio of drivers in 2026.
O’Ward is genuinely excited concerning the alternative as he seeks his first title and hopes to lastly win the Indianapolis 500 after current heartbreaks.
“I genuinely am excited for this new alternative that we’ve,” O’Ward mentioned. “It is a new 12 months. It is a new shot at each venue that we go to. So I am attempting to extract probably the most out of these weekends that we will. And I really feel assured that we’ll be stronger than final 12 months.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports activities. He has spent many years protecting motorsports, together with over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting Information, NASCAR Scene journal and The (Daytona Seashore) Information-Journal. Observe him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
