Motorsport: Pato O'Ward wins maiden IndyCar race at XPEL 375 after 6-car pile-up on Lap 1

Pato O'Ward registered his first career victory in the XPEL 375 at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday, round four of the 2021 IndyCar series. The 21 year-old Mexican overtook Josef Newgarden with 23 laps to go and stayed in front the rest of the way to the checquered flag in the No. 5 car for Arrow McLaren SP. The race was the second in as many days at Texas, and was marred by IndyCar's second first-lap crash of the season. Six cars were done before they reached the green flag, when Pietro Fittipaldi hit Sebastien Bourdais from behind, knocking the four-time open-wheel champion into Alexander Rossi. The cars of Ed Jones, Dalton Kellett and Conor Daly were also wrecked in the crash as they approached the start-finish line for first time. Daly, who was starting at the back of the 24-car field, got knocked upside down after he got caught between two other cars. He skidded along the front stretch before the car planted into the rain-saturated infield grass and flipped back onto its wheels. There were no reports of serious injury. Newgarden finished 1.2443 seconds behind O'Ward, giving Chevrolet a 1-2 finish and their first victory of the season. It was the first IndyCar win for 'Chevy' by a non-Team Penske driver since 2016. Graham Rahal was third, in front of Scott Dixon and Colton Herta. New Zealander Dixon leads the championship standings on 153 points, 22 ahead of O'Ward. Spain's Alex Palou is third on 127, with Newgarden fourth on 116, nine ahead of Rahal.