Nearly missing the Firestone Fast Six of qualifying due to the No. 10 car causing a red flag his final fast lap, O’Ward started his third race of the season from the 9th spot on the grid. The first lap presented the bulk of the events drama when three cars, the No. 60, No. 7, and No. 21 got tangled up towards the back of the field. O’Ward, not involved in the incident, remained unscathed and held tight in 9th place for the three laps led under a full course yellow.

Not long after the restart, O’Ward fell victim to his competitors as the Mexican natives used red tires proved to be no match to those of the drivers behind him. Dropping as low as 16th place, O’Ward pushed until he was told to pit for the first time on lap 27. The No. 31 GESS Carlin Chevrolet received a set of black tires and was sent back out to make up for lost time.

O’Ward struggled to gain full control over the grip for the majority of the race but managed to climb several positions before his final pit stop where the Carlin crew switched back to reds for the remainder of the 85-lap race. The uneventful second half of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach left O’Ward running wide open with little traffic, allowing the NTT IndyCar Series rookie to truly enjoy the streets of Long Beach and finish 12th.

As April comes to a close, the focus of O’Ward and the rest of the NTT IndyCar Series paddock moves to the Month of May with the INDYCAR Grand Prix on the IMS road course May 10-11.

PATRICIO O’WARD (No. 31 Carlin Chevrolet):

“Obviously it wasn’t the result we wanted for the No. 31 GESS Carlin Chevrolet – we always want to at least move forward from where we qualified. We were really strong towards the end, but for some reason, I was just sinking like a rock at the beginning of the race. The car just wasn’t behaving how it should’ve been with those used red tires that we started on. We need to look back and see what really went wrong at the beginning of the race and compare it to the end of the race where we were doing so much better. It’s unfortunate, but our race was just decided early on when we lost so many spots right out of the gate.”

About GESS International North Carolina, Inc.

GESS International North Carolina, Inc. is a Headquarter of GESS group of companies (GESS) located worldwide with offices in London, Ukraine, and throughout the United States. With over 350 completed projects worldwide, GESS has over 21 years of expertise in providing solutions using co-generation and renewable energy resources such as solar and biogas for the private sector, budgetary organizations, and business. From consulting to managing operations of our completed projects, GESS offers design and implementation solutions with a direct economic impact for its partners, customers, and their communities.

About the American Biogas Council

The American Biogas Council is the only national trade association representing the entire biogas industry in the U.S. The ABC represents over 200 companies in all parts of the biogas supply chain who are dedicated to maximizing the production and use of biogas and from organic waste. Find them online athttps://americanbiogascouncil.org, Twitter @ambiogascouncil, LinkedIn in the American Biogas Council group and on YouTube.

About Patricio O’Ward

The 19-year-old O’Ward began his racing career in karts at the age of six and quickly worked his way up through the karting ranks before breaking into open-wheel racing in 2013. He joined the Road to Indy Presented by Cooper Tires driver development ladder in 2015 and moved into Indy Lights in a full-time capacity in 2018. He won the 2018 Indy Lights Championship with nine wins, a new series record of nine poles, and 13 podium finishes in 17 races. O’Ward also won the Prototype Challenge (PC) class of the 2017 Rolex 24 At Daytona to become the youngest ever winner at the event at only 17 years old.