Pato O’Ward saw his 2026 IndyCar title hopes slip further away following the Nashville GP, held last Monday (20). To make matters worse alongside a win for championship leader Álex Palou, the McLaren driver managed only a seventh-place finish at the oval circuit and highlighted a glaring lack of performance at the Nashville Superspeedway.

O’Ward was a key contender at the 2025 Nashville GP, showing formidable pace and running at the front of the field for most of the race before being forced to retire due to a sudden tire puncture.

Prior to track action in Nashville, O’Ward was hopeful of firmly inserting himself back into the title picture following his victory at the Mid-Ohio GP, which had trimmed Palou’s lead. However, the Spaniard delivered an emphatic response in Round 12 of the season. The Mexican now sits 121 points behind the championship leader with six races remaining.

“That was my first-ever race on a Monday. In the end, we finished seventh, but we were nowhere near the performance level we used to have on these ovals. I don’t know exactly what happened. We just have to keep working and improving step by step,” O’Ward noted.

“I fought extremely hard for that seventh place, really hard. It was a grueling race because of the heat, and I’m excited for these two weeks off we have coming up. After that, we face a heavy stretch of five straight weeks with six races. Now the focus shifts to Portland,” O’Ward concluded.

IndyCar now enters its final two open weekends before the conclusion of the 2026 season, returning to action August 7–9 for the Portland GP, which kicks off a frantic six-race sprint to decide the championship.