Penske cars penalized, sent to back of grid for Indy 500

Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, IndyCar officials saw something they didn't like on the rear attenuator of Josef Newgarden's No. 2 Penske Chevrolet. Allegedly, the team filled in and smoothed out a part there that should not have been modified.

Will Power passed pre-qualifying tech despite the modifications while Newgarden did not. The team had tried to fix the cars in the pit lane, hoping to still take part in Fast 12 qualifying. However, this was not allowed and the cars were ultimately pulled from the grid. Originally, Newgarden was set to start 11th and Power 12th, but some competitors believed this was unfair. Pato O'Ward claimed they likely ran outside the regulations in Saturday's qualifying session and should have been sent to the last-chance qualifier.

Suspensions, fines, loss of starting position

Will Power, Team Penske

Photo by: Penske Entertainment

On Monday, IndyCar finally took action in a big way. Newgarden will start 32nd and Power 33rd as both cars have been sent to the very rear of the field.

“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,” IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles said. “The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”

IndyCar has also suspended the team strategists for both cars [Tim Cindric and Ron Ruzewski] and fined each entry $100,000. They will also forfeit their qualifying points. Scott McLaughlin, who crashed in Sunday morning practice, did not take part in Fast 12 qualifying.

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IndyCar officials still inspected the No. 3 car and said, "Upon review of the car, and IndyCar impounding the No. 3 attenuator, IndyCar found that the car was in fact using a legal and unmodified attenuator."

Boles continued: “The positive momentum around the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 has been on a steep crescendo over the last several months, and we want it to be clear that our intent is to maintain that momentum and discourage teams from putting IndyCar in positions where it calls into the integrity of our officiating and the levelness of the playing field. As we look to the remainder of the week and the race this weekend, we will do everything we can to make it clear that this is not only the best racing on the planet but racing where the best win under completely fair conditions.”

Team Penske has since released the following statement, fully accepting the penalties.