Pato O’Wards title hopes shattered after contact with Ed Jones in Round 1

LONG BEACH, Calif .– Ed Jones ran into Pato O’Ward’s back on Turn 11 of the hairpin on Sunday’s IndyCar season finale, turning the Arrow McLaren SP driver first and sending him back to last- Space and damages his already well-shot hopes for the title badly.

Then, 18 laps later, O’Ward’s hopeful championship run was over with transmission and driveshaft problems likely related to contact. The Arrow McLaren SP driver’s car came to a halt at the pit exit, shortly afterwards a warning was issued for the entire route.

The field made it through the treacherous Turn 1 of the course after the green flag, and O’Ward, who started Sunday afternoon after a controversial qualifying on Saturday, climbed to 7th place by the end of the first lap.

Jones, the Dale Coyne Racing with Vasser Sullivan rider in the No. 18 Honda, hit the hairpin and jumped late in the breach, diving into James Hinchcliffe, who was battling for 8th place. Jones’ front wing nailed the rear right tire of the AMSP car and forced it to turn 180 degrees at the exit of the corner.

“You can’t do anything about it. It was just that Jones was an idiot,” O’Wards strategist Taylor Kiel said on the radio. “A long way, dude, a long way.”

Then, on lap 19, as he was pulling down the front straight of the course, O’Wards engine sputtered and he slowed until he stopped right at the pit exit.

“The gearbox is gone,” you heard him say over the radio to Kiel.

The IndyCar race management threw a yellow across the entire track shortly after O’Wards car stopped.

“Definitely not a great day here and in Russia. We had such high hopes,” said Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, on NBC Sports, also referring to the lost victory of McLaren F1 on Sunday morning in Sochi. “Disappointed that Pato was knocked out by a little amateur move before the race started.”

On lap 1, Colton Herta ran into the back of his Andretti Autosport teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay, with the front of his car briefly blowing up and running over Hunter-Reay’s left rear. Herta’s car appeared to be undamaged, but Hunter-Reay’s tire burst, forcing him to work in a closed pit lane.

The subsequent green flag was hoisted again in round 5. For 10 laps, the top 3 of the race remained identical to the start of the race (Josef Newgarden, Scott Dixon and Helio Castroneves). After starting position 14, Herta jumped seven places to 7th place. At the time, O’Ward was 23rd out of 28 cars on the track, more than 24 seconds behind the leaders. World Championship leader Alex Palou, who was 35 points ahead of runner-up O’Ward before the season finale on Sunday, was one place in 9th place, more than 7 seconds behind Newgarden.

When the race resumed on lap 24 after O’Ward received the second warning, Castroneves had taken the lead, followed by Felix Rosenqvist with the first pit sequence.

Email IndyStar motorsport reporter Nathan Brown at nlbrown @ 5..com. Follow him on Twitter: @By_NathanBrown.