O’Ward finished third in Saturday’s opening race at the 7/8-mile short oval, having been the only McLaren driver to qualify in the top 10 for either race.
After Race 1, O’Ward said of Team Penske’s dominating cars: “They were specifically strong in getting through traffic, and I would get stuck. I wasn't able to really place the car where I needed to in order to get by some of the slow cars.
“I'm obviously happy with [a podium], but considering how much pace we had here last year, it was a bit of like, ‘Where is it?’”
In Sunday’s race, he could only finish 10th and was left exasperated by his car’s handling, adding that he was simply happy to keep it out of the wall.
“I don't have an explanation for what happened today,” he shrugged. “We obviously went the wrong way, at least that's what it seems like.
“The team is going to see if we missed in that transfer from yesterday. You come into these weekends knowing where you usually have been in the past, and with a chance to be able to kind of bounce back, and obviously today it feels like we threw that away.
“I don't have an explanation for that, and I don't think any of us really know why. It felt like it was the right direction, and I'm just confused.”
Team-mate Felix Rosenqvist suffered quite the reversal of fortunes, struggling badly on Saturday and then being in the hunt for victory until the final restart on Sunday.
Source: Autosport