Pato O’Ward and the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet team were declared the winner of the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Wednesday after Team Penske’s first (Newgarden) and third-place finishers (McLaughlin) were disqualified and handed penalties due to violations of push to pass parameters.

Pato, who earned the fifth victory of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career, thus vaulted from sixth to fourth in the championship standings with 64 points after two events, while Alexander Rossi also advanced upward from ninth to seventh with 48 points (8th place in the St. Pete race to 6th).

The St. Petersburg victory was the 23rd all-time for Arrow McLaren and their first since Pato’s Iowa Speedway win in 2022.

“It’s awesome to get a win and a real strong result for the amount of effort this team puts in,” Team Principal Gavin Ward said afterward. “This team is just full of an incredible group of characters, and they have been grinding so hard to try and get results like this.

"I think it’s the first of many hopefully for me in this role as a team principal. I was hoping to celebrate this first one for me a little bit different way in victory lane with all our team, but when you win, you win. So, we will enjoy this.”