Although O’Ward, 24, failed to put his No. 5 Chevrolet in Victory Lane, he still managed to capture a career-high seven podiums on the year, along with 14 top 10s through 17 rounds to finish fourth in the championship standings. It marked the third consecutive season he was the highest ranked driver not affiliated with Chip Ganassi Racing or Team Penske.
Ward, who joined the organization in July 2022 after the previous four years at Penske that included engineering Josef Newgarden to the 2019 title, shared what he saw out of O’Ward last season.
