Honda Indy 200: O’Ward takes first ’26 win, leads Arrow McLaren 1-2 at Mid-Ohio

LEXINGTON, Ohio — Pato O’Ward took his first NTT IndyCar Series win of the 2026 season in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, with the Mexican driver crossing the line to lead an Arrow McLaren 1-2 finish alongside teammate Christian Lundgaard.

The driver of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet started the 90-lap race in second place with Lundgaard on pole. O’Ward capitalized on Lundgaard’s mistake on Lap 42 to take the lead. 

Then, the Mexican driver controlled the rest of the race en route to Victory Lane after leading 45 of 90 laps around the 2.258-mile Ohio road course. 

O’Ward’s victory was not just his first of the year; it was also his first podium of 2026 and his second career IndyCar win at Mid-Ohio. The 27-year-old shared in the post-race press conference that he was proud of his on-track performance and the execution of the No. 5 team alongside him. 

“It’s great. It’s great that the first podium of the year for me is a win,” O’Ward said. “We’ve had performances, and I think today was a textbook showing of execution. I want to give it to my guys in the pits; they were phenomenal. I know they’ve been working so hard because this year that has been a bit of a challenge, and I know they’re working so hard to give me the pit stops that they gave me today. I know they’ve been working hard for that.

“I really want to recognize that because they make or break my race. They truly allowed me to fight my way and keep my position today as we were fighting on track. Obviously the cars have been strong all weekend. It’s been a very strong weekend for all three cars. It was a matter of being perfect.”

Green flag at Mid-Ohio

Christian Lundgaard led the pack to green as Rinus VeeKay moved up to fourth place. Alex Palou climbed up to sixth place at the start of Lap 2 after starting the race in eighth. 

Kyle Kirkwood got ahead of Christian Rasmussen to take seventh place. Then, Kirkwood tried to make a move around the outside of Palou for sixth place as the reigning champion kept his place. 

First round of pit stops

Scott Dixon headed into the pits for primary tires on Lap 8, then Alexander Rossi headed in for primaries a lap later. Caio Collet defended 18th place as Nolan Siegel and Marcus Ericsson left the pit lane after stalling his No. 28 Andretti Global Honda. 

Will Power overtook Alex Palou as they led the drivers on red tires. Then, Power pitted for primaries on Lap 14, and Palou pitted a lap later for primaries. Palou exited behind Kirkwood; however, the No. 27 Honda driver had the advantage with up-to-temperature tires to take 13th place from the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing driver.

Christian Lundgaard maintained his lead on Lap 18, with Pato O’Ward in second and David Malukas in third. Rinus VeeKay had the net lead when he pitted on Lap 10. Then, Malukas pitted from third place as he slotted into eighth place. 

Marcus Armstrong passed Malukas for eighth place on warmer tires. Pato O’Ward pitted on Lap 27 for another set of hard tires as Lundgaard stayed out. Lundgaard pitted from the lead on Lap 28, staying on hard tires. Then, Lundgaard maintained his lead with O’Ward in second place and Malukas in third place.

Mick Schumacher defended from Santino Ferrucci and soon afterward, Schumacher and Sting Ray Robb pitted on Lap 36. VeeKay and Kirkwood pitted on Lap 37 as VeeKay headed back to the track in 10th place. Rossi and Dixon made brief contact; the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing driver was hit with a penalty for avoidable contact with Dixon.

Arrow McLaren battle for the lead

Alexander Rossi was shown the blue flag as Christian Lundgaard tried to lap him. With Rossi holding up Lundgaard, Pato O’Ward used the opportunity to close the gap to the race leader. 

Lundgaard and O’Ward battled as the No. 7 Chevrolet driver went wide, catching some marbles. O’Ward took the opportunity to catch up to his Arrow McLaren teammate. After that, O’Ward took the lead from Lundgaard on the inside.

Lundgaard pitted for soft tires, and a lap later, O’Ward pitted from the lead for soft tires. Josef Newgarden took the lead after the Arrow McLaren drivers pitted. Lundgaard slowly caught up to O’Ward with both drivers on fresh soft tires.

David Malukas had a slow pit stop as the refueler was slow to release. Newgarden pitted from the lead for soft tires. O’Ward retook the lead after Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet pitted. As O’Ward caught up to lapped traffic, Rinus VeeKay closed his gap to Lundgaard in third place.

On Lap 63, O’Ward lapped Dennis Hauger to claim clean air. Lundgaard, VeeKay and Kirkwood pitted as the Arrow McLaren driver headed back out first, followed by Kirkwood and VeeKay. 

O’Ward headed into the pits on Lap 65 for hard tires and returned to the track in fourth. Palou took the lead, with Will Power in second and Newgarden in third.

Final pit stops

Alex Palou and Josef Newgarden pitted with 24 laps to go. Then, Palou slotted two places ahead of David Malukas to maintain his championship lead. Will Power pitted on Lap 67 and later battled for position against Christian Rasmussen, as the Ed Carpenter Racing driver used the rest of his push-to-pass.

With 20 laps to go, Pato O’Ward led with Christian Lundgaard in second place and Kyle Kirkwood in third place. As O’Ward got caught behind Mick Schumacher, Lundgaard slowly closed the gap to his teammate. 

Lundgaard was not able to catch O’Ward, who took his first win of the 2026 season and Arrow McLaren’s first 1-2 finish in IndyCar competition.

The NTT IndyCar Series returns for the Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix at the Nashville Superspeedway on Sunday, July 19. Coverage will begin after the 2026 FIFA World Cup Final at 5:30 p.m ET on FOX.

Results: 2026 Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

GRID Ranking

The 2026 GRID Ranking is the 10th year of the world’s premier motorsports ranking system, which was initially released on Sunday, April 5.

The official ranking includes drivers participating in seven racing series (NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1, Formula E, WRC, Supercars, MotoGP). Each driver earns GRID Ratings, which help determine their seeding in the GRID Ranking.

GRID Ranking Week 14 IndyCar drivers:

DRIVER	OLD RATING	PREVIOUS RANKING	MOST RECENT FINISH	NEW RATING	NEW RANKING
Alex Palou	15.6	4th	5th	15.27	4th
Kyle Kirkwood	12.5	T-12th	3rd	13.09	T-8th
Christian Lundgaard	12.5	T-12th	2nd	13.09	T-8th
David Malukas	10.3	21st	8th	9.73	23rd
Pato O’Ward	N/A	N/A	1st	8.64	28th