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Mexican
driver
Pato
O'Ward
(5)
competes
during
the
second
race of
the
IndyCar
Detroit
Grand
Prix
auto
racing
doubleheader
on Belle
Isle in
Detroit,
Sunday,
June 13,
2021.
(Photo
by HB
Meeks/Tell
Us USA
News
Network) |
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Pato
O'Ward
charges
to win,
dedicates
it to
injured
teammate
By JENNA
FRYER
apnews.com
DETROIT
- Pato
O’Ward
became
IndyCar’s
first
repeat
winner
of the
season
by
charging
through
the
field
Sunday
on a
final
restart
to steal
the
victory
away
from
Josef
Newgarden
at the
Raceway
at Belle
Isle
Park.
O’Ward
was
fifth on
a
restart
with
seven
laps
remaining,
but the
22-year-old
from
Mexico
picked
off
Graham
Rahal in
the
first
turn,
then
Alex
Palou in
the next
one for
two
passes
in the
first
two
turns.
After
passing
Colton
Herta
for
second,
he set
his
sights
on
snatching
what had
seemed
to be an
easy
victory
for
Newgarden
away
from the
two-time
IndyCar
champion.
O’Ward
went
wheel-to-wheel
with
Newgarden
and
finally
completed
the pass
with
just
over two
laps
remaining.
O’Ward
ultimately
beat
Newgarden
by
6.7595
seconds
and
dedicated
the win
to Arrow
McLaren
SP
teammate
Felix
Rosenqvist,
who was
hospitalized
overnight
following
his
crash in
Saturday’s
first
race of
the
doubleheader.
“I
talked
to Felix
this
morning
and the
important
thing is
that
he’s OK,
but I
told him
‘I’m
going to
win it
for
you,’”
O’Ward
said.
“I’m a
man of
my word,
I wanted
to get
it done
for
him.”
O’Ward,
who
earned
his
first
career
victory
last
month,
took a
one
point
lead
over
Palou in
the
championship
standings.
He has
now won
on an
oval and
a street
course,
and he
finished
third
Saturday
for two
podiums
at
Detroit.
He
removed
his
shoes
after
the
podium
presentation
and dove
into the
James
Scott
Memorial
Fountain,
where he
made a
lap
splashing
the fans
who had
gathered
on the
side of
the park
landmark.
Newgarden
started
from the
pole and
led 67
of the
70 laps
before
O’Ward
ran him
down and
dropped
him to a
second-place
finish.
Team
Penske
remains
winless
on the
season.
“He was
coming
like a
freight
train,”
Newgarden
said of
O’Ward.
Newgarden
didn’t
try to
hide his
frustration.
“Heartbreaking
day when
you
finish
second
like
that,”
he said.
“It’s
hard not
to be
disappointed.
I
thought
we had
the car
to
beat.”
Palou
finished
third
for Chip
Ganassi
Racing,
which
swept
Saturday
with a
win by
Marcus
Ericsson
in the
IndyCar
race and
then the
first
victory
for the
Cadillac
sports
car team
in the
IMSA
with
Renger
van der
Zande
and
Kevin
Magnussen.
Sunday’s
IndyCar
race was
far less
eventful
than
Saturday’s,
when
Rosenqvist’s
crash
led to a
nearly
90
minute
red flag
and a
later
stoppage
ultimately
decided
the
race.
This
time it
was a
Newgarden
runaway
until
Romain
Grosjean
brought
out a
late
caution
with a
brake
fire and
tried to
put it
out
himself.
His car
came to
a stop
on the
track
and the
Frenchman,
who was
nearly
killed
in a
fire
last
November
during a
Formula
One race
in
Bahrain,
seemed
to
panic.
Small
flames
spit up
from his
right
tire and
he
hurriedly
climbed
from the
car,
then
wildly
looked
for a
safety
crew for
assistance.
Grosjean
ran to
the
fence
and
grabbed
a fire
extinguisher
from a
race
marshal
who
passed
it
through
a hole
and
rushed
back to
his car,
which
had
black
smoke
rising
from the
front.
The
safety
truck
arrived
as
Grosjean
got back
to the
car with
the
extinguisher,
and he
was
pushed
to the
side and
out of
the way.
He
appeared
frustrated
as he
handed
the pin
from the
extinguisher
to the
worker.
Rosenqvist,
meanwhile,
was not
seriously
injured
in
Saturday’s
crash
when his
throttle
appeared
to stick
and his
car
drove
directly
into a
tire
barrier
going at
least
100 mph.
The
force
into the
six rows
of tires
moved
the
concrete
barrier
and
Rosenqvist’s
car was
jammed
in at a
nearly
45-degree
angle.
He was
taken to
a
hospital
for
evaluation
but
released
Sunday
morning.
Oliver
Askew,
who
drove 12
races in
that car
last
season
as
O’Ward’s
teammate
before
he was
replaced
by
Rosenqvist,
was the
emergency
substitute.
___
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