The Mexican ace started fourth and passed Conor Daly for third on Lap 16, just before the first caution of the day, and although he would lose this spot to a charging off-sequence Colton Herta, he pitted on Lap 59, two laps before Power, and his fast laps on fresh rubber were enough to see him easily emerge ahead of the polesitter’s car and start challenging Newgarden.
Although he would then be jumped by Marcus Ericsson and Power on a restart soon before half distance, and by Alex Palou on the final restart on Lap 175 of the 250 laps, O’Ward never sank lower than fourth. On Lap 207, he passed Palou for third, a three-lap tussle with Power was resolved in his favor and he then had just over 30 laps to try to get on terms with leader Josef Newgarden.
