Roger Penske is once again in the spotlight, even though he can’t be blamed for much of it – his team has caused yet another scandal in his series – “He will never tolerate this”
IndyCar has suffered its second Penske scandal in just over a year, right before the most prestigious race of the year: Two of the three Penske cars were retroactively moved to the back of the starting grid for the Indianapolis 500 on Monday after inconsistencies were noticed in the rear crash structures of their Dallara Chevrolets during qualifying.
Team Penske has been fined $100,000 for the rule violations. In addition, the respective race engineers, Tim Cindric (12), have been suspended from the race.
The incident is causing quite a stir in the scene – not least because Penske is not only the most successful team in the field, but also the owner of the series in the person of Roger Penske himself. Although he is no longer heavily involved in the day-to-day business of the IndyCar team, he is once again in the spotlight following the push-to-pass scandal in 2024.
Boles: “Roger Penske would never tolerate something like this.”
The seriousness of the situation is underscored by the fact that Doug Boles, president of IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, called a special press conference on Monday to address the issue and assess the situation, including with regard to Roger Penske personally.
“I can tell you this: Roger Penske would not approve of something like this,” said Boles. ‘I had the opportunity to speak with him, and I can tell you that this is devastating for him. Nothing means more to Roger Penske than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500.’
Penske is ultimately responsible for everything that happens in his company. However, according to Boles, it cannot be assumed that the team owner himself was aware of the rule violation. “I don’t think Roger Penske understands what may have happened. Much of it didn’t even reach him.”
Modified components at the rear – and a questionable response
At the center of the affair is a technical modification to the rear attenuator, the crash structure at the rear of the car. On the cars driven by Power and Newgarden, an area at the transition from the chassis to this structure was filled in and smoothed, improving the aerodynamic properties. This change was noticed during technical inspection before the Fast 12 session.
“At Power, the component was noticed during the inspection. And when we checked the same component on Newgarden’s car, it became clear that something was not compliant with the rules,” Boles explained. “Our technical director Kevin ‘Rocket’ Blanch then said: Get the car out, that’s illegal.”
What followed caused additional discontent in the paddock: Team Penske began working on the components in question right in the pit lane – a questionable move in the eyes of many observers. Penske appeared to be prepared and wanted to make the questionable area legal before the start of the race. However, this was prohibited after a protest from the other teams.
Will Power and Josef Newgarden have failed tech inspection and will not be able to qualify.
The team was seen making changes on pit lane, removing an apparent illegal modification to the attenuator where it attaches to the chassis.IndyCar Indy500 pic. twitter.com/MecVf7XBK5
— Kevin Dejewski (@KevinDMotors) May 18, 2025
“I think there was some confusion in the pit lane when crew members started grinding around the modified area,” said Boles. “That sparked some rumors that we had to clear up.”
McLaughlin not affected, Abel stays out
Scott McLaughlin is not affected by the ruling. His 3 car was badly damaged in an accident at the weekend, but the component in question was secured and examined. “This part was absolutely compliant with the rules,” explains Boles. McLaughlin will therefore start the race in twelfth place – as the last driver from the originally determined Fast 12 field.
Jacob Abel, on the other hand, has no chance of moving up. The youngster was the only driver who failed to qualify on the track, but the Penske disqualification had raised faint hopes of a free spot.
However, IndyCar is sticking with the 33 fastest drivers. “All cars passed technical inspection on Saturday,” says Boles. “I see no reason to question the outcome of this qualifying session.”
IndyCar emphasizes independence – Penske not involved
Boles is keen to make one thing clear: the penalties against Team Penske were decided independently, without the involvement of Roger Penske. “The decision was made by a group around me and IndyCar CEO Mark Miles,” said Boles. “Roger Penske was not involved in any way.”
The past 24 hours have been extremely stressful, Boles emphasized. “I didn’t sleep last night. I didn’t even shower this morning. I called Mark immediately, and we talked about how we could preserve the integrity of this race.”
My understanding is that they filled the seam circled in red on the attenuator which you see here in an unmodified state.
Filling that could potentially improve airflow over the attenuator and reduce drag which could translate to an incremental gain in straight line speed. pic.twitter.com/AZjVWEOQZT
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) May 18, 2025
There was already excitement in 2024 about a possible push-to-pass violation in the St. Petersburg street race. The fact that questions about the legality of the cars are now being raised again, just before the Indy 500, is likely to cause serious damage to Roger Penske’s image – both as team owner and as owner of the entire series.
The sporting implications will become clear this coming weekend. Excitement is guaranteed, as Josef Newgarden, the reigning Indy 500 champion, will be starting from the back of the grid under very different circumstances this time around.