INDYCAR have announced that Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power have been moved to the 32nd and 33rd starting positions for this year’s Indianapolis 500 after failing a technical inspection.
It was found that both cars have modified attenuators, during inspection before Fast 12 qualifying on Sunday afternoon. As well as being demoted to the back of the grid, the team has been fined $200,000 and driver strategists Tim Cindric and Ron Ruzewski have been suspended.
The attenuator, which is on the rear of the car and is a safety feature that is designed to decrease peak G-force levels, was found to have been modelled together with other components of the rear, filling in the gap that existed between the two pieces and providing the car with an aerodynamic advantage.
Upon further study this afternoon with multiple sources visiting the museum at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, this same illegal modification is present on the car that Josef Newgarden drove to victory in last year’s Indianapolis 500.
Above: Newgarden’s 2024 car featuring a moulded attenuator. Photo courtesy of Nathan Brown [Indystar]
Close up photos of Newgarden’s winning car during and immediately after the race also suggest the attenuator was illegal, however this is not undeniable proof.
Photo courtesy of Marshall Pruet [Racer.com]
Doug Boles, President of Indycar, strictly condemned the actions of Team Penske saying in a statement that “ the integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the INDYCAR rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear.”
The attenuator of the third Team Penske car of Scott McLaughlin was impounded today by the technical inspection team, however it passed and was not found to be illegal.
Boles has this evening held a meeting between team owners to discuss the matter. Sources within the meeting have stated that opposition owners were “unanimously lived” at the situation.
Second place finisher in the 2024 Indy500 and Mexican superstar Patricio O’Ward called out Team Penske during a press conference yesterday stating how he believes “they weren’t accidentally doing it.” He then expressed his sympathy for those who had to compete in ‘Last Chance Qualifying,’ a session which eventually saw Jacob Abel of Dale Coyne Racing fail to qualify for the race.
“The rule is pretty black and white,” said O’Ward. “Those cars should have been in the last chance qualifier. They had that yesterday [Saturday] and if they were disqualified today they should’ve been disqualified yesterday.”
When speaking with INDYCAR on FOX, Abel expressed how he doesn’t “want to be there on a technicality. We knew what we needed to do and we came up short. I want to deserve to be there.”
Team Penske have accepted the penalty and said in a statement how they are “disappointed by the results and impact it has on our organisation.”
It is the second ‘cheating’ scandal for Penske in the same number of seasons, after Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified from the Grand Prix of St. Pete at the start of the 2024 season and Power was penalized for excessive Push-To-Pass use. Cindric and Ruzewski were also suspended then, making this their second Indy500 in a row that will be spent on the sidelines.
written by Evan Dalton / Media Credit: Penske Entertainment (or otherwise marked)
