Pato O’Ward Wins First Race Of IndyCar’s Iowa Doubleheader

Pato O’Ward finally got on the board in 2025 with a win at the Synk 275 powered by Sukup at Iowa Speedway on Saturday.

Pole-sitter Josef Newgarden led the first 232 laps of the race, but was beat out of the pits by O’Ward and never retook the lead, settling for second.

O’Ward only led one lap before being passed by Will Power, with Alex Palou and Marcus Armstrong also moving to the front before O’Ward took the spot back on lap 244 and never surrendered it, surviving two late restarts to claim the win in his 100th IndyCar start.

“This is great, we’ve been waiting for this one all year,” O’Ward said on Fox in victory lane.

“It’s crazy, my 50th race was also a win here in Iowa and that’s the only other win I have here, so it’s a cool, cool story.”

The win was also Chevrolet’s first of the season.

O’Ward is only the fourth driver with a win through 11 races this season, along with Scott Dixon, Kyle Kirkwood and points leader Alex Palou, who finished fifth in Iowa. The win moved O’Ward into second in the standings ahead of Kirkwood with 356 points, which is still a long way behind Palou’s 461 points.

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IndyCar is back in action at Iowa at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday for the second race of the double header weekend, where Palou will be starting on the front row alongside Felix Rosenqvist in the Farm to Finish 275 Powered by Sukup.