Not so Penke Perfect: Indy 500 shaken by another scandal of fraud by Marquee Team

Indianapolis (AP) -When the recent round of Team Penske's allegations of fraud by the Indianapolis Motor Speedway swirl, the President of the IndyCar team was in front of the garage to treat the illegal modifications that were discovered on two of his cars.

A random racing fan lurked over Tim Cindric's shoulder who seemed to be a shirt of Penske Branded.

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It was not: like Josef Newgarden's cars and Will Power for the Indianapolis 500 the shirt was modified. It was: “Team Sprint” with the Penske -Logo -Bar.

Perception is not necessarily reality, but Roger Penske has a serious perception problem after his team has been swept into the scandal for a little more than a year for the second time.

The first time it was the discovery last April that Penke drivers had access to the push-to-pass system if they could not have used the additional PS boost. On Sunday, on the second day of qualification for the 109th run of the “biggest spectacle in racing”, it was found that the cars of Newgarden and Power had an illegally modified part.

They were disqualified because they achieved a four-round run, and Indycar pounded team pens: Newgarden, the two-time title winner, was falling to the field to 32nd place and power was postponed to the last place.

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Indycar took both points from points that were earned in qualifying, punished both teams with a fine of $ 100,000 and suspended the strategists for the rest of the month. This means that Cindric and Team Managing Director Ron Ruzewski will miss the Indy 500 for a second year in a row.

This is a nightmare for Penske, the three-car team, Indycar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500-the race, which he appreciates more than any other event in the world. Penske has a record of 20 Indy 500 victories.

“What kind of shame will this cloud continue to float over our big race until everything is completely solved,” McLaren Racing boss Zak Brown told The Associated Press.

Defense of Roger Penske

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The punishments were decided by the new Indycar President Doug Boles, who received the title in addition to his task as President of the Speedway in February. He was the one who informed Penske by phone before being announced on Monday.

Boles also tried to reduce the role of Penske at what happened in the team.

“I don't think Roger Penske understands some of the things that may be going on. I get the optics challenge, and it is definitely something we should think about,” said Boles. “While (editions) rolls up to Roger at the end of the day, I think that they are certainly below him. There are things that happen that never come to Roger.

“I can tell you that Roger Penske would not tolerate this. In fact, I had the opportunity to speak to Roger, and I can say that this is devastating for him,” Boles continued. “For Roger Penske, nothing means more than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. This is something he thinks that he has to tackle at some point.”

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Rival teams have said that since excitement on Sunday at Pit -Gasse when the two Penske cars pulled out of the net and returned to the garage shortly before the quick shot.

Team Penske said that it accepts the punishments and was “disappointed with the results and the effects it has on our organization. We will later make further announcements in relation to staff for the upcoming Indianapolis 500 this week.”

Boles is firmly convinced that the cars during the inspection on Saturday were legal and that he hadn't heard about the Penske cars that potentially had an illegal modification until everything happened. Otherwise rivals claim and offer photos that they only display the modifications in the open month test of the last month.

The AP and Indianapolis star went to the IMS Museum on Monday and found the 2024 winner of Newgarden, which is exhibited. It had the same illegal change.

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What others say

“The biggest problem I see is that a small topic is going on here and it's just a bad look, right?” The six-time Indycar champion Scott Dixon, who believes that Indycar needs an independent management committee without Penske employees.

Dixon's boss Chip Ganassi was one of many who complained to Indycar inspectors and Penske managers that the cars were illegal on Sunday. The next day he remained disappointed with the drama, which is now overshadowing the world's biggest race, which has been sold out for the first time since 2016.

“All teams in sport are responsible for protecting the integrity of sport, nothing more than the Penske team,” Ganassi told AP.

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Newgarden tries to become the first driver to win the Indy 500 in three consecutive years, but no driver has won after the start in the last row. Power is located in a contract year and Team Penske said that it would only start an extension after 500 discussions. After the last week, Cindric was asked about the future of power.

Now are Newgarden and power in deep holes, although they have nothing to do with the situation.

What's next

Penske, who places his reputation and the strong conviction that “exertion”, places an enormous value, now has its integrity. Mark Miles, CEO of Boles and Penske Entertainment, had a Monday meeting with the rest of the owners who described Brown as controversial.

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“I am very concerned, just like my team owners that Team Penske was found for the second time in two seasons with a technical violation with several cars,” Brown told AP. “In racing, you can sometimes have mechanics who do miscalculations and you can sometimes have manufacturing problems that can all lead to honest mistakes. I do not think that this has happened here or last year, which raises questions about the integrity of decision -making in this team.”

Brown did not blame the technical director of Indycar, Kevin Blanch, which he said: “Doing excellent work.” However, he said there were questions about Indycar's ability to continue the series under the current facility.

“It is clear that Indycar needs more depth and technical resources to examine and recognize violations, obviously or not,” continued Brown. “While I appreciate Indycar's position and support to bring these two cars to the back of the field, there is obviously a question mark on their compliance on Saturday.”

Brown said it was unfair that Jacob Abel from Dale Coyne Racing was pushed out of the 33-car field.

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“If it turns out that this technical violation of their cars was when they qualified on Saturday, it is incredibly unfair that Jacob Abel and his team were encountered by non -compliant cars,” said Brown. “However, I fully trust Roger Penske's commitment to consider this situation and ensure that such a injustice is remedied.”

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