Pato O’Ward couldn’t catch one Team Penske driver in Sunday’s season-opening NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, but he held off two others, which counts as a win. After starting third, O’Ward finished second in the 100-lap race and was no match for race winner Josef Newgarden. “(A) really strong day for us today,” said O’Ward, who effectively raced directly behind Newgarden from Lap 29 on. Sunday’s race was the 73rd series race of O’Ward’s career, and finishing on the podium has been a regular occurrence. He has now done that 21 times, and this was his 11th time to finish as the runner-up. Four of those finishes came last year, including in each of the first two races. A year ago, O’Ward finished second to Marcus Ericsson in this race, but that one was significantly more painful.

Follow MotorMouth on social media:

• 
• 
• 
•