NTT INDYCAR SERIES championships are often lost rather than won. In last weekend’s season-opening event filled with challenges, Pato O’Ward salvaged something in between.

The 11th-place finish and the accompanying 19 series points in Sunday’s Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg presented by RP Funding helped keep Arrow McLaren driver O’Ward from experiencing an even larger deficit to open the season.

O’Ward started the 100-lap race from the 23rd position – there were 27 starters – and he saw his car plagued by a tire puncture early in the race. Additionally, his group chose the less-preferred tire strategy, which created an even bigger hurdle.

But there O’Ward was at the end of the race, still running, still trying to improve his standing. He took the checkered flag on the lead lap with race winner Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who staked an early claim to a third title in succession by holding off teammate Scott Dixon. Palou has won three of the past four championships and figures to be the marker of everyone, including O’Ward, as the season unfolds.

After climbing out of the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet, O’Ward offered a short but concise analysis of his Sunday afternoon on the streets of the Florida Gulf Coast city.

“I would say we maximized things,” he said.

O’Ward also was the mover of the race, advancing 12 positions from start to finish.

Drivers with championship aspirations know they must avoid the major potholes that races put in their path. Difficult weekends like what O’Ward experienced in St. Petersburg must be held to a minimum. When they do occur, it’s best if they’re mitigated.

Since 2020, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has finished in the back half of the running order twice on average. The worst results of Dixon (the champion in 2020) and Palou (2023) were 12th and eighth, respectively. Last year, Palou suffered through only three such races.

Last year, O’Ward tied for the series lead with three race wins and three second-place finishes, but his title hopes were dashed in large part by finishing 16th or lower in six races.

“Good days were great, bad days were horrible,” he said of the inconsistency.

Poor finishes in races translate to earning minimal points in the top-heavy scoring system, and those dig holes. Andretti Global’s Colton Herta, who finished 16th in St. Petersburg, is already 36 points out of the series lead. Team Penske’s Will Power, scored in 26th position after first-lap contact ended his race essentially before it started, must erase a 46-point hole if he’s to win his third career series championship. Both drivers finished in the top four of last year’s standings.

O’Ward isn’t in much better shape to start the season – he lost 32 points to Palou in St. Petersburg – but every point seems to matter in this competitive series. For example, Team Penske’s Scott McLaughlin scored a mere five points combined in the season’s first two races, and that effectively cost him a chance at his first title. Over the final 15 races, McLaughlin outscored Palou by 23 points, but Palou’s advantage over him at year’s end was 39 points.

While O’Ward certainly lost ground to contenders such as Palou, Dixon, third place Josef Newgarden of Team Penske and fourth place McLaughlin, making the best of a less-than-ideal situation also was a morale boost of sorts. That could be heard in his voice.

“We got some solid points, and it’s important to make sure our bad days aren’t too bad,” he said. “(It was a) great job by the team with the pit stops and the strategy, and I’m looking forward to (the next race) in a couple weeks.”

The Thermal Club INDYCAR Grand Prix at Southern California’s Thermal Club is Sunday, March 23 with live coverage on FOX, the FOX Sports app and the INDYCAR Radio Network.