Pato O’Ward falls short for a third-straight year at Indy 500

The 110th running of the Indy 500 has come to an end, after a red flag with just eight laps left. The race opened with tributes to Kyle Busch and ended up in a race that he would have enjoyed.

There were 67 lead changes heading into the final laps, when a crash caused a red flag, and everyone came to pit row. The red flag bunched the top 11 drivers in order of where they were when the red flag came out.

At the time of the red flag, Felix Rosenqvist had just passed Pato O’Ward for first place. The two were clearly ahead of the field, but the caution and subsequent flag bunched everyone together.

The drivers returned to the track under caution with six laps to go. The caution was lifted with four laps to go, when the green flag was flown. Marcus Armstrong took the lead immediately, for a 68th lead change. It knocked O’Ward back to fourth. The yellow flag came out for another caution with four laps to go. The next restart was with just one lap to go.

On the restart, the green and white flag flew, with Armstrong still in the lead. David Malukas made a pass on the last lap, giving Malukas the win, but Rosenqvist would pass him at the finish line to win the Indianapolis 500.

For O’Ward, it is another heartbreak. In his first race in 2020, as a rookie, he finished sixth. He then finished fourth in 2021 before a runner-up finish in 2022. After a 24th-place finish in 2023, he finished as the runner-up once again in 2024. Last year, it was a third-place finish, once again experiencing heartbreak for the driver. O’Ward finished in fourth place, once again failing to get the win.

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