Arrow McLaren is coming alive with six races remaining in the 2026 season ahead of a rumored big shake-up for next year.
Pato O'Ward broke through at Mid-Ohio for not only his first win of the 2026 season but his first podium, beating his teammate Christian Lundgaard and Kyle Kirkwood in the 90-lap cautionless road course race.
O'Ward started second alongside Lundgaard and took the lead for the first time on lap 42 when Lundgaard went wide into a corner; vulnerable, O'Ward pounced and took the lead a few turns later. The McLaren duo stretched their first two hard-tire cycles and took their soft stints on lap 48 for Lundgaard and on lap 49 for O'Ward.
View Price on AmazonO'Ward successfully went for the overcut and forced the three drivers battling behind him on the primary strategy to go in on lap 65 using the lap car of rookie Dennis Hauger as a pick.
O’Ward pits a lap later on lap 66 with a buffer. O’Ward returns to the track in fourth, the de facto lead, with a four-second lead over his teammate in fourth.
When O'Ward pitted a lap later, he came out four seconds ahead of Lundgaard still, leaving the Danish driver's warmed tires useless.
"It's been a tough year for sure," Pato told Fox Sports Georgia Henneberry, "I mean, today is just a perfect example of execution. I waited for the perfect time to pounce, and from there we just controlled it. The guys were amazing in the pits. I know they've been working really, really hard to give me that every single weekend, and this car's been a joy to drive all weekend. So thanks to Team Chevy. Yeah, it's the best result as a team that we've ever had a 1-2 finish. So glad to be a winner here in Mid-Ohio."
Lundgaard, who could be announced out at Arrow McLaren in the near future as the team eyes Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist for next year, finished second, bringing his road course record this year to two wins and two runner-up finishes.
Kirkwood finished on the bottom step of the podium, surprisingly for the first time in his IndyCar career, and moved to second in the points championship over David Malukas.
VeeKay was right behind in fourth, and championship leader Alex Palou finished in fifth after starting eighth.
Christian Rasmussen, Malukas, and Josef Newgarden finished seventh through ninth, and Nolan Siegel finished 10th, making Arrow McLaren the only team to have all three drivers finish in the top ten. Siegel is also expected to be out of his McLaren seat following IndyCar silly season.
Source: roadandtrack.com
