NTT INDYCAR SERIES News Conference
Thursday May 22, 2025
Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
Pato O’Ward – Arrow McLaren
Starts 3rd
THE MODERATOR: Pato, I’m sure you’re champing at the bit, ready to get going tomorrow. What do you hope to learn?
PATO O’WARD: Yeah, obviously two more hours to get the car into a nice window, best window that you can going into the race.
Yeah, just looking forward to seeing everybody back at the Speedway. It’s going to be a sold-out event, nuts. The vibes are going to be cool. Yeah, just really ready to just be done and dusted with this. It’s been a long month (smiling).
It’s been a smooth one so far.
Q. Pato, we know how bad you want to win the Indianapolis 500. This year you’ve displayed a lot of inner peace and confidence. Do you feel a lot more confident here than in the past?
PATO O’WARD: I mean, I’m just calm. It’s such a long race, man. It’s like three hours long or something. You got to be there in the end just to even have a shot.
That’s pretty much how I approach it all the time. You have to be there in the last stint. When you get to the last stint, you got to be there five laps to go, four laps to go. It can end in a split of a second. But it also can turn around quite quickly and you can have a shot.
Every 500 is different. Taku has done more than me, but I think he can agree none of them are the same. Knowledge is priceless. If you’re obviously in a similar situation to the past, you can pick and choose what you’re going to do.
They’re all different, man. This year with the hybrid, the cars have been so on the edge. Some guys are driving insane in practice. I mean, last year in the race I was shocked with how some guys were driving in lap 15.
Yeah, I think it’s safe to say you never know what to expect. Just be ready for anything.
Q. Pato, with what’s come out over the last 48 hours about Newgarden’s car from a year ago, do you wonder whether he could have passed you, whether it made a difference in passing you on the last lap?
PATO O’WARD: You know what, whatever it was, I would have never wanted to win an Indy 500 a year later just because one car got caught being illegal, whatever. I truly believe Josef won that race. He timed it better than I did. I want to be able to experience what any Indy 500 winner gets to experience, the whole schnaz, the energy. That’s ultimately what makes the experience to the next level, just being an Indy 500 winner.
I know how to position myself to be in a chance to win. I believe I have the team behind me able to do that.
Starting on the front row, best starting position I’ve ever had, we’ll see what we can do on Sunday.
Q. How was it milking that cow?
PATO O’WARD: I’m jealous. I wanted to do that. I’ve never milked a cow.
ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: That’s maybe what you need to have a proper good luck for winning the Indy 500. The woman, she came to me and said, The people who didn’t milk the cow, they never won Indy 500, and they were like DNF. It’s a bad luck. Whoever milk the cow. Alexander Rossi did it. He won the 500. You have to milk the cow.
PATO O’WARD: I’m going find a cow, and I’m going to milk it tonight.
TAKUMA SATO: I didn’t do that. There are some other ways you can get away with that (smiling).
ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: You can always ask for milking a cow. Maybe next year ask for it.
PATO O’WARD: Get my own cow.
ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The cow name was Indy. I got to meet her. She was very calm and cute. First you need to pet her a bit, get comfy with her.
As I said, try next year. Whenever I came to her, she was ready. She explain to me the technique. It was working well.
Again, I don’t know. I don’t know how it works there. But it was a lot of fun. It was good. It was good.
PATO O’WARD: Did you try it?
ROBERT SHWARTZMAN: The milk? No, I didn’t try it, man.
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