Breaking news: Team Penske suffer HUGE demotion as official statement….. read more.
Team Penske suffer HUGE demotion as official statement….. read more.
Team Penske has suffered a significant setback ahead of the 2025 Indianapolis 500, with two of its top cars hit by major penalties following a technical infraction. The controversy erupted on Sunday, just before the final qualifying rounds, when Team Penske’s trio of drivers—Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, and Will Power—did not take part in the final day of action.
While McLaughlin’s absence was due to a heavy crash during a practice session earlier in the day, officials pulled both Newgarden and Power from the session after discovering illegal modifications on their cars. Initially, all three had secured positions inside the top 12 after Saturday’s qualifying, but that quickly changed.
On Monday, IndyCar issued an official statement detailing the outcome of their investigation into the matter. According to the release, the No. 2 and No. 12 Penske cars—driven by Newgarden and Power, respectively—were found to have modified attenuators, violating Rule 14.7.8.16 of the IndyCar technical regulations. This rule mandates that certain parts, including the attenuators, must remain as supplied and unaltered.
After verifying the breach, IndyCar ruled that the two violating cars would be repositioned at the very back of the starting grid. Consequently, Newgarden and Power will now start 32nd and 33rd in this year’s race, the final two positions. The new positions are based on their original Saturday qualifying times but reflect the severity of the infraction.
Meanwhile, McLaughlin’s car passed all technical inspections following his crash and was not found to be in violation. He retains his original 10th-place starting position.
In addition to the grid demotion, further sanctions have been imposed on Team Penske. The team has been fined $200,000 in total, and both the No. 2 and No. 12 entries have lost their assigned pit positions and the right to choose their pit stalls for race day. Moreover, the team strategists responsible for the two penalized cars have been suspended for the remainder of the Indianapolis 500 race event.
IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles addressed the situation in the statement, emphasizing that maintaining the integrity of the sport—and especially the iconic Indy 500—is critical. He remarked that simply allowing the cars to retain their qualifying positions would not reflect the seriousness of the rules violation.
“The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway,” Boles stated. “Starting at the back of the field is appropriate. The cars deserve to be in the race based on their speed, but the fairness of the competition must come first.”
Boles added that the series has seen a surge in popularity recently and that it is essential to ensure all teams compete on equal terms. He reinforced that the goal is to preserve the fairness and integrity of the race, so that victory comes only under legitimate and equal conditions.
