LEBANON, Tenn. — Pato O’Ward believes his major drawback to the 2025 NTT IndyCar Series season came on Saturday, not on Sundays.
That means O’Ward was not happy with his qualification efforts this season.
That is why he was so happy with his pole-winning performance Saturday at the 1.33-mile Nashville Superspeedway oval. It was O’Ward’s first pole on an oval.
“I’ve never won a race from pole,” O’Ward said. “That’s on my to-do list this weekend.”
O’Ward powered the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet to the NTT P1 Award with a two-lap average of 202.621 miles per hour.
That knocked A.J. Foyt Racing’s David Malukas off the pole, and over to the outside of the front row, as Malukas clocked in a two-lap average of 201.922 mph in the No. 4 A.J. Foyt Racing Chevrolet.
“I’m definitely disappointed,” Malukas said. “The guys just did a fantastic job. When it comes to Nashville here at the superspeedway, everybody is generally pretty much flat, right? It comes down to the guys in setup, and these guys just built a beautiful car.
“I went out there and was, like, ‘It’s going to be hard to beat, it was a perfect car. Just driving a beauty.’ It brought me home. That was sweet. Very easy going 200 miles. Can you imagine saying that? That was a piece of cake going 200 mph. That’s because of the guys, the Foyt team. They did such a good job.
“Yeah, that’s going to be hard to beat.
“Waiting all the way until the end, and I didn’t say anything this time. It doesn’t work. If you say stuff or don’t say stuff, it’s still….
“I wanted a sticker, man. I thought maybe we would get the sticker.”
The sticker, Malukas was referring to is the NTT P1 Award sticker that goes on the endplate of the rear wing. Instead, that went to O’Ward’s No. 5 Chevrolet.
Arrow McLaren teammate Christian Lundgaard was third with a two-lap average of 201.713 mph in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
Four-time NTT IndyCar Series Champion Alex Palou of Chip Ganassi Racing was fourth at 201.603 mph over two laps in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
Teammate Scott Dixon of Chip Ganassi Racing rounded out the top five with a two-lap average of 201.437 mph in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda.
O’Ward has nine career victories, including two this season, but they have come from someplace besides the No. 1 starting spot.
O’Ward, who led practice this morning, won from the second starting position in 2022 at Barber Motorsports Park and in 2024 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
“The car was great,” O’Ward said. “Felt really comfortable in practice and didn’t give me any scares or anything. I was happy with that. Very good.”
It was O’Ward’s second NTT P1 award at Nashville. It matched the pole position at the Thermal Club from earlier this year.
It’s his first pole on an oval, and his seventh career pole, his fourth front row start in 2025.
“Checking off boxes. That’s what we like to do,” O’Ward said. “I’ve got a big one on the list this weekend. I’ve never won from pole ever, ever, ever. I’m determined to make it happen this weekend. Step one done and super happy with my car. I was very comfortable with it in qualifying — in practice and qualifying.
“We’ll see what practice later today has got in store, and we can make her as good as possible for the race.”
If O’Ward wins the final race of the season, he has the offseason to celebrate and feel great about his accomplishment.
But he also indicated he might leave the town known as “Nash Vegas” and head to “Las Vegas.”
“Straight to Vegas, the whole team, boom,” O’Ward said. “The year has already been a success, so whether it’s good or bad tomorrow, I don’t think it’s really going to play so much with how I feel about the year, because I’m proud of the work that everybody has done.
“I’m proud of Chevy, obviously, bringing the power this weekend and giving us the tools to be able to get it done, at least in qualifying for now.
“It really is all about tomorrow just trying to end on a high. But just if something goes wrong, it doesn’t mean that it’s been a bad year. You know, it doesn’t mean that your whole offseason has to be a bad time or something.
“I’m going to do everything in my power to win tomorrow. Like I said, I’ve never won from pole, so I want to get that done.”
If O’Ward gets it done on Sunday, that could provide him with the momentum needed to roll into 2026 and begin a chase for his first IndyCar Series Championship.
“It’s a long offseason, so when we get to Sebring, we’ll be a little rusty, but there’s been growth every single year,” O’Ward said. “I would say going into ’26 — for me the starts to my years have always been very calm. Well, maybe not calm, but they haven’t been always the strongest, I would say. I usually pick it up and get into the flow of things during the summer.
“One of my objectives next year is to try and start the season as strong as possible because maybe looking back, Thermal was great, but all the other ones were just not quite there where we wanted to be. So I think it also starts in qualifying, to be fairly honest with you, just because this year has been the worst year I’ve ever qualified in IndyCar, but it’s been the best championship year.
“The points are awarded on Sunday, so who cares where you qualify? But I would love to make my life easier on Sunday and bumping those numbers up.”
