Pato O’Ward was again wearing one of those red Firestone hats, honoring a top finisher in an NTT INDYCAR SERIES race, following Sunday’s PPG 375 at Texas Motor Speedway, but he preferred the one Josef Newgarden donned. Newgarden’s winning hat proclaimed him “1st,” as in the position in which he finished. That O’Ward finished the race in the second position – and therefore received the “2nd” hat – came as something of a surprise given how well the driver of the No. Interestingly, O’Ward and Newgarden have been first or second in five of those 16 oval races. But under green Sunday, O’Ward lapped everyone but Newgarden, and he also posted the race’s fastest lap at 221.090 mph. The performance certainly was worthy of wearing the best hat, even if he wasn’t awarded it. “We’ve had two second-place finishes, so we’re still waiting for that win this year,” O’Ward said.

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