Pato O’Ward got what he wanted in qualifying at the Indy 500

Pato O’Ward has never started on the front row for the Indianapolis 500.

Until this year.

The Arrow McLaren driver booked a spot in the Firestone Fast Six with a strong run during the Fast 12 on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and while he could not catch Robert Shwartzman or Takuma Sato ahead of him, O’Ward finished third in the Firestone Fast 6, and will start on the outside of the front row in the 109th Indianapolis 500.

Which is exactly where he wanted to be.

“I’ve never been on the front row for an Indy 500, so this is great. This is literally what I wanted,” said O’Ward in Arrow McLaren’s post-qualifying media report. “I told my family yesterday that my goal was to be starting on the outside of the front row. Obviously, I would’ve loved pole, but it’s a tall task. You just never know here, it’s always a surprise.

O’Ward also paid tribute to pole-sitter Shwartzman and his team, Prema Racing. Shwartzman became the first rookie to take pole position since Teo Fabi back at the 1983 Indianapolis 500, and the young driver did so during his first race weekend at an oval.

This is also Prema’s first year in IndyCar.

“I think it’s phenomenal what Prema and Shwartzman have done, it’s an incredible story.”

However, O’Ward believes he and the No. 5 team are “right there” in the mix for next Sunday.

“As for us, we’re right there. We’ve had a quick car all month, and we’re going to continue to have it in the race. We’re going to keep working on that and see what we can make happen,” added O’Ward.

He will not be the only Arrow McLaren driver in the first three rows when the 109th Indianapolis 500 begins next Sunday. Teammate Christian Lundgaard was in the Fast 12 with O’Ward on Sunday, and while he could not advance to the Firestone Fast 6, he will start the 500 in P8.

His previous best start was 28th, which came last year.

That was a pretty good day. We went out to the Top 12 run not knowing what to expect with the balance, and we ended up a lot more pushy than we were this morning,” said Lundgaard. “We wanted to give Pato some of that information for his run, and he made it through to the Firestone Fast 6. Congrats to the No. 5 team. At the end of the day, the No. 7 VELO Arrow McLaren Chevrolet will start eighth, which is a lot better than I’ve previously done here.

“A lot of good to come.”

Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan paid tribute to the entire team.

“It’s been a solid month so far, and qualifying all cars into the field is the goal. If you look at our qualifying results last year, we had three cars in the top twelve, and today we put two there, but we’re in the front row. Different year, different conditions,” began Kanaan. “But you’ve got Nolan [Siegel] as a rookie in the race because he didn’t make it through qualifying last year. With Kyle [Larson], we went a bit conservative considering the circumstances throughout the past week.

“Christian is new to the team doing a great job for us; he’s never really had a strong car at the Speedway, so his laps were pretty impressive. We cannot deny that with our group of drivers we have that Pato is the most experienced and due for the front row. We knew that he could deliver for us. I’m happy with the result, although the race car driver in me is a little mad we’re not on pole, but it’s Pato’s first front row start. So that’s gratifying to see.

Kanaan then closed his remarks with a prediction for the 500.

“I’m proud of everyone on this Arrow McLaren team. We’ve been setting the tone with our campaign this month with the white cars, and you can see all the papaya fans out here. The crowd was crazy today. Now we get to take the front row photo tomorrow, and Pato and the team are going to enjoy that.

“Then we’ll win the race next week.”