INDYCAR penalizes two-time defending champ Josef Newgarden for Indy 500

Bob Pockrass

FOX Motorsports Insider

INDIANAPOLIS — INDYCAR penalized two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and Penske teammate Will Power by sending them to the rear of the field for the 109th Indy 500, suspending their race strategists for the race Sunday and fining the teams $100,000 for modifying spec parts.

INDYCAR found the illegal filling in the seams of the attenuator, a piece that the rules require not to be modified, prior to the cars qualifying in the Fast 12 session Sunday. Team Penske INDYCAR President Tim Cindric said that the filling of the seams was done to make the cars sleek and he did not feel it was a performance advantage.

Cindric, who doubles as the strategist for Newgarden, will be suspended for the Indy 500 as is Will Power strategist Ron Ruzewski.

INDYCAR President Doug Boles said Sunday night that because the two drivers had qualified Saturday to compete for a spot in the top-12, that they would keep a top-12 starting spot with Newgarden in 11th and Power in 12th. But after revisiting the issue later that night, Boles said immediate, additional penalties were necessary.

“This is a clear indication, I hope, to the paddock, that we take this seriously, that this is not something that we are going to continue to allow to happen,” Boles said. “We are going to make sure that the cars on the race track are evenly prepared and fall within our rules.”

The rules say that only certain parts can be modified and Boles said that the inspectors first saw those modifications Sunday. Boles said he didn’t consider throwing the cars out of the race because they passed tech for the first day of qualifications Saturday and were among the top-30 cars, which put them in the race.

The issue with the Penske cars is sensitive because team owner Roger Penske also owns the series. The organization suffered through an embarrassing scandal last year where Newgarden was stripped of his St. Petersburg win (and teammate Scott McLaughlin was also disqualified) for having push-to-pass engaged on restarts when they weren’t allowed to have it. Team Penske then suspended the strategists for two events, including the Indianapolis 500.

Boles, who is new in his role as series president while also retaining his role as president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said he called Roger Penske on Monday to inform him of the penalties.

McLaughlin will keep his starting position of 10th. He had crashed in practice Sunday and never made a qualifying attempt. Boles said INDYCAR looked at the crashed attenuator, which was in tact, and it did not have any illegal filling of the seams.

“In our eyes, it’s not a performance advantage but at the end of the day, if they don’t like the seam being filled, they don’t like the seam being filled,” Cindric said Sunday about the filling of the seams. “You’ve got to do what the inspection process is and conform to that.

“We’ll live with it and start on the fourth row. … Everybody’s trying to make the cars as sleek as you can and whether this much makes a difference or not, the facts are this didn’t pass inspection.”

INDYCAR will have teams re-choose their pit stalls (which are chosen in order of starting position) Monday night for the race Sunday.

There was no immediate response from Team Penske.

Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and IndyCar for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.

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