IndyCar: Patricio O’Ward to drive the #31 Chevrolet in his 13 races in 2019
By Asher Fair
Patricio O’Ward is set to drive the #31 Chevrolet in his 13 races driving for Carlin throughout the 17-race 2019 IndyCar season.
Shortly before the 17-race 2019 IndyCar season began, it was announced that Patricio O’Ward, who was released by Harding Steinbrenner Racing under one month before the season began, would drive for Carlin in 13 races on this year’s schedule.
It was announced that the 19-year-old Mexican would be the teammate to Max Chilton, Carlin’s lone full-time driver of the #59 Chevrolet, in 12 of these races and that he would be the team’s third driver in the other one, the Indianapolis 500, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as Charlie Kimball is set to drive for the team in that race as well.
With Kimball set to drive the #23 Chevrolet in five of the 17 races on the 2019 schedule, it was initially believed that O’Ward would drive the #23 Chevrolet in the 12 races in which Kimball did not compete and that he would drive a Chevrolet-powered car with a different number in the Indy 500.
However, O’Ward is set to drive the #31 Chevrolet in not only the Indy 500 but in the other 12 races in which he is set to compete throughout the season as well, starting with this weekend’s race, which is the second race of the season.
#INDYCAR We're hoping that @PatricioOWard has the home field advantage (and maybe a little extra support from the stands) this weekend at @COTA as he runs his first 2019 @IndyCar race in the No. 31 @TeamChevy! #INDYCARClassic pic.twitter.com/XdpTsYp8dU
— Rodin Carlin (@RodinCarlin) March 18, 2019
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O’Ward is set to make his 2019 season debut in this Sunday’s race, the IndyCar Classic, at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas. He is set to compete in each of the next seven races on the schedule before skipping one race, competing in the next four, skipping another one, competing in the next two and skipping the season finale.
O’Ward has one career IndyCar start under his belt, as he drove the #8 Harding Racing Chevrolet in the 2018 season finale at Sonoma Raceway after winning the 2018 Indy Lights championship in his rookie season driving for Andretti Autosport. He finished in ninth place in his IndyCar debut after starting in fifth.
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How will Patricio O’Ward perform in his 13 races as the driver of the #31 Carlin Chevrolet throughout the course of the 2019 IndyCar season? Be sure to tune in to NBC Sports Network at 1:00 p.m. ET this Sunday, March 24 for the live broadcast of his 2019 debut, the IndyCar Classic, at the 20-turn, 3.427-mile (5.515-kilometer) Circuit of the Americas road course.