Early Nashville accidents claim IndyCar frontrunners Pato O’Ward, David Malukas

“The guys that are hitting the wall at 200 mph is us” says Pato O’Ward in an eventful IndyCar season finale that saw fan favorite drivers DNF in separate incidents

Heading into Sunday’s Borchetta Bourbon Music City Grand Prix, Pato O'Ward and David Malukas were poised to square off from the front row. And for the 225-lap event’s first two stints, that’s exactly what they did.

But by the time the race entered its final 100 laps, both drivers were out of the running.

Malukas entered Nashville eager to impress, still rumored to be in the running to replace the veteran Will Power at Team Penske in 2026. The Chicagoan lost a couple spots on the race start and a subsequent restart, but he battled back into second early in the second stint.

He was still holding that spot and in the process of lapping rookie Louis Foster when his day quickly went awry on lap 83.

Foster swerved up the track heading toward turn 1. Moments later, the pair made contact. Malukas got the worst of it, backing hard into the tun 1 wall in a crash that ultimately necessitated wall repairs. He was able to get out of his machine, but was slow to do so before being transported to the infield care center.

The 23-year-old was later airlifted out of the track to receive additional care.

“David’s doing well,” Dr. Julia Vainer told FOX Sports. “He’s awake. He’s alert. He is in really good spirits. We’re just sending him down to our trauma center for some cautionary evaluation and advanced imaging.”

The dominator to that point, O’Ward continued on up front. His No. 5 Arrow McLaren team held serve on pit road and he kept the rising Will Power and Colton Herta at bay early in the ensuing green-flag run. But his remaining time in the lead would prove to be short-lived. On lap 127 of the scheduled 225, the Mexican star was suddenly sent sliding up into the wall in turn 2.

“Front-right tire failure,” O’Ward said afterward. “It’s one of the worst feelings. That’s not the first time that’s happened here for me. I had one last year at a tire test, actually.

“I feel for the team. We really had such rockets under us this weekend. We were just going through the motions that race. We were handling it. We were doing everything right. It’s just a real shame. … Just ending the year like that, when you have such a great car and a great weekend up to that point to prove to it.”

O’Ward was classified 24th at race’s end, with Malukas two spots back in 26th. The early shunt kept Malukas from challenging for a top-10 points finish, but O’Ward’s accident ultimately bore little consequence on his season overall. The 26-year-old had already locked up second in the championship standings entering the weekend.

But the impact to the outside wall still wasn’t fun. And O’Ward wasn’t the only one to have tire trouble or concerns on the day. Title winner Alex Palou had suffered a puncture just prior to the natural end of the race’s first tire stint.

With the offseason lying ahead, O’Ward urged IndyCar’s tire provider, Firestone, to keep working on improving the trustworthiness of its tires.

“Hopefully Firestone can help us out for next year,” he said. “Because it sucks knowing that can be a possibility, and multiple cars getting that issue.

“The guys that are hitting the wall at 200 mph is us. And I can tell you: you can really feel those hits. I really hope they somewhat fix that, and for that to just not be a concern (in the future). Because we don’t like to go racing with that in the back of our heads.”