By Austin Lawton, Staff Writer
A messy situation gets even worse as IndyCar has moved the Team Penske No.’s 2 and 12 of Josef Newgarden, the winner of the last two “500”‘s and Will Power, the 2018 “500” winner , to the rear for Sunday’s running of the 109th Indianapolis 500.
“The No.2 and the No.12 car, because of the gravity of this situation and the importance of this race and the importance of ensuring that the NTT IndyCar Series continues to have its integrity and so that we can continue to tech cars and know that when we tech cars and you bring them through, we expect them to be rule followers,” IndyCar and IMS President Doug Boles told the media on Monday morning. “Both of those cars will be fined $100,000. They will lose any points that they would have gotten for the Final 12. Both strategists for those cars will be suspended from the Indianapolis 500 through the end of May, and at the end of today we will redraw for qualifying pit positions, and the 2 and the 12 will get the last two positions available.”
The saga started during Sunday’s qualifying session, the two cars, were found to have illegal attenuator modifications in pre-qualifying inspection. The team was found to have flushed a part of the attenuator where a weave appears. In that weave, there is a slight dip and gap and the crews were found to have flushed said part to blend in with the rest of the attenuator.
Per the IndyCar rule book, in section 14.7.8.16 “Body Work Fitting”, the attenuator is not listed as a part that can be modified. The part is intended as a safety device to lessen the impact of a crash.
The infraction was first seen on the No.12 as it rolled through pre-qualifying inspection. Due to the hurried nature of sending cars to the qualifying line, the IndyCar inspection crews took note and proceeded to check cars that came after the No.12.
“The 12 cars yesterday in final qualifying go through a pre-qualifying technical inspection,” Boles explained. “The No. 12 car did go through. When the No. 12 car went through, Kevin Blanch, our technical director, and his team noted on the 12 car that the attenuator might have been modified, and Rocket [Blanch] in his head was pretty sure that we had a rule, but he didn’t have the rule book with him, that stated that that could not be a modified part. We do, in fact, have that rule.
The next couple of cars that went through, they looked at the attenuators on those cars. They were clearly unaltered. When the 2 car came through, the 2 car had an altered attenuator on it. At that point in time Kevin said to the car chief of the 2, who was standing with him, ‘Will you please call the car chief of the 12 car and tell him to move the car aside because that attenuator also is illegal’.”
When the No.2 rolled through, they noticed the same attenuator modification, and immediately called for the two Penske cars to be either pulled from the line or make an attempt and fail post-qualifying inspection and receive a DNQ.
Of note, the public, officials and media were able to see the crew of the No.12 hastily working on the rear wing assembly, where the attenuator is located, on the qualifying line with Power strapped into the car.
The cars were swiftly pulled from the qualifying line and then put in the garages. A frenzy ensued for the rest of the evening, overshadowing the history made by Robert Shwartzman as he became the first rookie since 1983 to win the pole for the “500”.
IndyCar officials took the rest of Sunday and part of Monday morning to determine the gravity of the situation, as well as what penalties may come.
While two Penske cars were caught modifying an important safety spec component of the car, the No.3 of Scott McLaughlin came away clean. McLaughlin suffered a crash on Sunday morning where the car got airborne exiting Turn Two, losing the left-rear wheel and putting a gouge in the IMS track surface.
Boles confirmed that IndyCar did impound the attenuators of all three Penske machines and confirmed that even the crashed assembly of McLaughlin was legal.
“The No. 3 car, in our investigation of the No.3 car — by the way, we do have the attenuators from all three of these cars,” Boles said. “The No. 3 car attenuator from the crash with the crashed wing still attached to it was provided to us, and we still have it. That attenuator was not modified at all.”
This situation marks the second time in just over one year that Team Penske has been caught, in blatant terms, cheating. The team was found to have modified the push-to-pass system during the 2024 season opening race in St.Petersburg, Florida. The team had used a modified version from a test in August of 2023 that allowed for the extra boost on starts and restarts. The series did not catch the infraction in St.Pete but almost two months later at the Long Beach Grand Prix, the third race of the 2024 season.
That time it was the cars of Newgarden and McLaughlin found to be guilty.
A point of contention with the current situation concerns the bumped car of Jacob Abel. The rookie in the No.51 Miller High Life Honda for Dale Coyne Racing did not qualify for his rookie Indy 500 and was left on the outside looking in. The No.51 was found to be a legal race car within the rulebook.
Boles commented on the reason why the No. 2 and 12 are still in the field, even after being found trying to gain a competitive advantage, with the legal car of Abel still bumped.
“When we left here on Saturday, we left here with the 30 fastest cars locked in,” Boles said. “Some folks have asked me, ‘Why would you not remove the two cars?’ Those two cars, the No.’s 2 and the 12, qualified on Saturday. They had passed tech. We did not see anything illegal with those cars in tech. So, therefore, we are starting the 33 fastest cars in the Indianapolis 500. The No. 2 and the 12 just happen to start at the back.”
While Boles mentioned that “this case is closed”, the ramifications and politics will certainly go past the Indy 500 and into the rest of the season and beyond, with teams and drivers expressing frustration. Pato O’Ward expressed such frustration after he qualified third for Sunday’s race.
“They weren’t accidentally doing it because they had the blowtorch right there in order to get it out,” O’Ward said in Sunday evening’s press conference. “Honestly, I feel for Abel and for everybody that did the disqualifications or the last chance qualifying. Those cars weren’t in regulations. I’m not an engineer, so I can’t tell you what they were doing, how much speed that it is or if it is any speed. Obviously it’s not in regulation. The rule is pretty black and white. Those cars should have been in the last chance qualifier. Like, those cars should have never — obviously they didn’t do anything in the Fast 12, but they should have been brought into the LCQ because they had that yesterday, I guarantee you.
Until someone pointed it out today. Those cars, if they’re disqualified today, they should have been disqualified yesterday. It’s a shame really because they don’t need to be doing that stuff. They’re a great team. They have got great drivers. Why are they doing that? It makes no sense.”