Despite a Tumultuous Week For The Team, Pato O’Ward Leads Arrow-McLaren to 1-2 Finish at Mid-Ohio

Pato O'Ward, pictured at Barber Motorsports Park in March - Riley Ogle

EDDIE KALEGI - STAFF WRITER

There’s been plenty of discourse about the future of Arrow-McLaren in recent days. However, Sunday was a great reminder of the team’s high ceiling in the present moment. 

Thanks to timely moves and perfect pit stops, Pato O’Ward controlled a caution-free Honda Indy 200 at the Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course, capturing his tenth career NTT INDYCAR Series victory, and his first since Toronto last summer.

Amidst an eventful week regarding his future with Arrow-McLaren with the rumored arrival of both Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist, Christian Lundgaard was unfazed by the distractions, notching the pole position Saturday in convincing fashion.

Lundgaard was dominant through the first half of Sunday’s race, before lapped traffic came at an inopportune time. Lundgaard went wide on lap 42 as he looked to pass Christian Rasmussen, allowing his teammate Pato O’Ward to slip past and take control, holding serve through the subsequent green-flag pit cycle.

With 27 laps remaining, Christian Lundgaard looked to capitalize in the pits, and his crew delivered, with a blazing-fast 6.9-second stop. However, his Arrow-McLaren teammate was just as smooth, as Pato O’Ward maintained the top spot.

During the final run, as O’Ward navigated traffic, Lundgaard methodically cut the gap from four seconds to one, but failed to get any closer, as the fan favorite captured his first checkered flag of 2026.

Lundgaard came home second, Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood took the bottom step of the podium, and Rinus VeeKay and championship leader Alex Palou rounded out the top 5. 

The NTT INDYCAR Series will return to oval racing next time out, making its third annual trip to Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, July 19th on FOX.