The start-and-stop uncertainty of this IndyCar season has not bothered Pato O'Ward, leader of a young fleet of drivers new to the series but capable of keeping up with the veterans.
O'Ward, in his first full season of IndyCar, has climbed to third in the championship standings headed into the Saturday and Sunday doubleheader at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio.
He's coming off a pair of podium finishes on the oval at Gateway, where O'Ward led 130 laps over two races. Had the pandemic not decimated the IndyCar schedule, O'Ward might have built some momentum to have already earned his first series win.