AUSTIN, TX – Team Penske, Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Autosport should send Harding Steinbrenner Racing a thank you card. Maybe chip in and send one of those massive cards with well wishes at that. See, if Pato O’Ward had a full season ride like initially planned, then he’d be a big threat to take the 2019 NTT IndyCar Series championship from them.

That’s not a guess, but merely a fact.

These three organizations have combined to win every IndyCar championship since 2003 and look to be the front runners to do so again in 2019. But, if O’Ward was racing in all 17 races this season, they’d have some company for the Astor Cup.

O’Ward, in his first race of the 2019 season, drove to an eighth place finish in his No. 31 Chevrolet. He did so and didn’t even have the luxury of the two-day test at the Circuit of the Americas last month like everyone else did. He really didn’t have the luxury of any seat time between his IndyCar debut at Sonoma last September and Sunday’s IndyCar Classic at COTA. Other than a little test last week in Barber, that was the lone time the 19 year old stepped foot in a race car this offseason.

Forgive him if he had some cobwebs to dust off this weekend.

Plus, the team he’s driving for is in just their second year in the series in general. O’Ward, is working with a new team, new engineer and racing on a track where all his competitors tested at for two full days just one month prior.

He only out qualified 16 drivers and made phenomenal moves all race. The pass he made on Graham Rahal after the first pit sequence ended was a move of a seasoned veteran, not of one making just his second career series start.

O’Ward, is the future star this series has been searching for. He initially signed to drive at HSR last fall only to see his ride basically taken away due to the lack of funding.

HSR had money for Colton Herta’s seat and had the scholarship money from O’Ward to run a second car in 3-4 races. But, it wasn’t enough for a full season. O’Ward, wanted more so when things looked bleak, he opted out of his contract with HSR in hopes of landing a full time gig.

Unfortunately, it was too late in the process to find another full time seat, so the next best was to run 13 races with Carlin in their second seat.

If the rest of the season goes like today did, then O’Ward will certainly find victory lane soon.

Everyone else should thank their lucky stars he’s not competing for a championship.