TORONTO (Sunday, July 20, 2025) – Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward isn’t ready to concede the NTT INDYCAR SERIES championship to Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou quite yet...
O’Ward drove that point home in Sunday’s Ontario Honda Dealers Indy Toronto by winning his second race in eight days as Palou finished 12th.
Palou entered the weekend with a 129 point lead over O’Ward, the largest leader’s margin this point system has ever seen this deep in a season. But 30 points evaporated at Exhibition Place, dropping their separation to 99 points with four races remaining.
A race win can be worth as many as 54 points.
“Oh, man, I can’t say I saw this (win) coming,” O’Ward said. “But I was feeling so good on the (primary) tires all weekend really.”
The win was the first for O’Ward in Toronto and his ninth in the series overall. He started the race in the 10th position but felt luck was going to be with him after a bird dropped an unlikely present on the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and a crew member in the morning practice.
Joining O’Ward on the podium were a pair of drivers scoring season-making finishes. Dale Coyne Racing’s Rinus VeeKay (No. 18 askROI Honda) finished second, with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson (No. 8 Journie Rewards Chip Ganassi Racing Honda) finishing third.
Palou still has reason to be optimistic. Of the four races left on the schedule, he has won twice at each of the next two road courses: WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca (2022 and 2024) and Portland International Raceway (2021 and 2023). O’Ward won last year’s race at The Milwaukee Mile, which hosts the third of the season’s final four.
O'Ward wins in Toronto, slices Palou's lead by 30 points
July 25, 2025