It’s been 12 months since Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward tasted arguably the biggest defeat of his career. He was leading the competition until the final lap in the Indy 500 when he was passed by Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

That afternoon, O’Ward wept bitterly after again being denied the ultimate victory at a track where he has performed well. During his three Indy 500 appearances, the Monterrey, Mexico, native has two second-place finishes — in 2022 and 2024 — and $3.16 million in winnings.

O’Ward enters Sunday’s 109th Indianapolis 500 (9:45 a.m. PDT on Fox) as the slight favorite to win the Indy 500.

The other major contender on Sunday is Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou of Spain. The Sant Antoni de Vilamajor native, the reigning IndyCar Series defending champion, has won four of the season’s five races, although he has never won the Indianapolis 500.

Pato O’Ward, front and center, is comforted by a crew member after finishing second in the Indianapolis 500 on May 26, 2024, in Indianapolis.

(Darron Cummings / Associated Press)

For many, O’Ward also is a sentimental favorite after showing he can rally from setbacks and compete for wins. O’Ward finished last season in fifth place, with three wins and six top-five finishes. He is fourth in the standings with two top-five finishes and one pole.

“It’s the hunger to win, to be able to come back and have another shot. I love what I do, I love my job,” O’Ward told L.A. Times en Español when asked about his resilience heading into Sunday’s race.

This week, the native of Monterrey decided to prepare pozole and quesadillas for his team. When he’s in Indianapolis, he usually tries to avoid the hustle and bustle and concentrate on winning.

“I live, breathe and sleep with racing,” said O’Ward, whose racing career began in karting in 2005.

“This has been a goal that’s been living pretty much in my head for many years,” added O’Ward, who qualified 232.098 mph on the 2.5-mile oval and will enter Sunday’s front row, the first Mexican to do so in the history of the Indy 500.

O’Ward, who drives the No. 5 car, has seven IndyCar Series victories and has progressed far from his early days as an inexperienced kid who shyly gave media interviews.

He has kept a tight circle around him as he has worked to improve.

“For people on the outside, it’s hard for us to welcome them because I like to keep things pretty tight-lipped,” said O’Ward, whose team is made up mostly of family members. “It’s people you trust them with your eyes closed and you always know they’re doing their best for you.”

Today, O’Ward is one of the leading faces of the series, with thousands of fans from around the world wearing T-shirts with his name on them to support him in a stadium that has already sold out its 250,000 seats despite the drama surrounding last year’s winning team.

Team Penske has been in the spotlight after it was punished for using modified attenuators, which resulted in failed technical inspections last Sunday. The team was accused of stuffing and smoothing the seams of the rear attenuator, a part that is standard for all teams and therefore cannot be modified.

Pato O’Ward drives into the second turn during the IndyCar Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 10.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

Upon hearing the news, O’Ward showed his frustration. IndyCar on Monday announced penalties to Team Penske for placing Newgarden and Will Power in the final starting positions for the race, as well as $100,000 fines for each car that failed inspections.

The Team Penske car, which Newgarden won with in 2024, is now in the renovated IMS Museum and features a modified rear attenuator similar to the one seen Sunday at Indianapolis that resulted in penalties. In addition, photos have been released from last year’s race in which the No. 2 Team Penske Chevrolet appears to have those same modifications.

“Looking ahead to the remainder of the week and this weekend’s race, we will do everything we can to make it clear that these are not only the best races on the planet, but races where the best win under completely fair conditions,” Indycar President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement.

After learning of the punishments, Team Penske owner Roger Penske fired three Team Penske executives: President Tim Cindric, Chief Executive Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer.

Roger Penske owns the IndyCar Series through Penske Entertainment Group, in addition to owning Indianapolis Motor Speedway, home of the Indy 500, creating more questions about the perceptions of conflict of interest ahead of Sunday’s race and the rest of the IndyCar Series season.

Palou wants his first Indy 500 win

Palou, known for his calm, consistency and composure on the track, has yet to win the Indy 500. Despite having four wins in the first five races of the season, drawing comparisons to the four straight victories by the legendary A.J. Foyt in 1964, Palou is not satisfied and wants a “life-changing” win.

Palou scored a second-place finish in 2021 in the Indy 500 and earned $2.8 million from that race.

“Obviously, it’s the one race that I know and that we all know is life-changing for a driver. I’ve won four this year and it hasn’t changed my life,” Palou, 28, explained to L.A. Times en Español. “On the other hand, winning this weekend’s 500, the 500 miles, I believe and I know that it changes the life of the drivers who win it.”

Palou, the winner of the 2021, 2023 and 2024 IndyCar championships, qualified at 231.378 mph in his No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car to start sixth on the grid Sunday.

Spain’s Alex Palou, center, celebrates after winning the IndyCar Grand Prix auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis on May 10. Pato O’Ward, of Mexico, left, finished second and Will Power, of Australia, finished third.

(Michael Conroy / Associated Press)

The Spaniard said he is going through the best moment of his career, not only in sport, but also in his personal life, as he enjoys spending time with his 18-month old daughter, Lucia, born in 2023.

“It’s harder, it’s a lot more work and it’s impossible to have a good strategy to win that competition because every day it changes,” Palou said about caring for his daughter. “But it has been the best thing I’ve ever done in my life. The feeling when she smiles, when she hugs me or when she tells me something. She’s 18 months old now, but she’s still starting to say ‘Daddy’ and she’s starting to say things and it’s amazing.”

Despite winning the second championship in a row, Palou said his team has continued its intense pace.

“I would say that basically that’s the great work of the team and that after winning the championship no one has relaxed. That’s what’s most impressive that it was the other way around, if not that they put in even more effort than they had in 2024,” Palou said.

Palou has also given a lot of credit to his father, who has been his mechanic since he started in karting.

“We spent many, many hours together and many, many bad moments, very hard and also many good ones, but in the end he has been the person who has taught me … to go fast, to brake harder, to have more speed in mid-corner and also how to get up after a bad moment,” Palou said.

Palou was the first Spaniard to win an IndyCar championship in 2021 and wants to continue to inspire future generations of Spanish drivers by proving that you can not only make it to this circuit, but also succeed.

Prema Racing rookie Robert Shwartzman will make his Indy 500 debut in the pole position. It is the first time a rookie has won the Indy 500 pole since 1953. Takuma Sato, a two-time race winner, will join Shwartzman and O’Ward on the front row.

This article first appeared in Spanish via L.A. Times en Español.