Pato O'Ward ran three blistering laps around Barber Motorsports Park to win the pole for IndyCar's season-opening race and make good on his promise to become a headache that series veterans must deal with all year long.
O'Ward, in his second full season of IndyCar and the centerpiece of Arrow McLaren SP's bid to become a series heavyweight, set a new track record in Saturday qualifying. It came in the second round, and he closed out the session with a lap of 1 minute, 5.8479 seconds to win the second pole of his career.
O'Ward's lap of 1:05.