Josef Newgarden offers a blunt answer to Penske Indy 500 scandal questions

Josef Newgarden was not ready to talk about the fraudulent scandal, the team Penske messed up before the 109th run of the Indianapolis 500.

It was Newgarden's car that first attracted the attention of the technical inspectors of IndyCar during the qualification for the Indy 500 and triggered a chain reaction in which both he and teammates were missing the session.

The rear accentuator, which forms the rear fall structure on the car, was illegally modified by Penske, with the squad filled the seams to smooth the part.

The entire saga initially left Newgarden and Power the 11th and 12th place on the grid when they skipped the almost 12, but both were later sent to the back of the network as part of a penalty.

The fraud controversy, the second for Penske in a little more than a year after the push-to-pass saga, in which Newgarden was stripped into St. Pete in 2024, has become a mainstream topic that is of interest in the broader sports world.

All three Penske drivers performed in front of the media on Thursday and made their first public comments since the outbreak of the scandal.

But while McLaughlin expressed his disappointment with Roger Penske's name, which was pulled through the mud and Power blamed the external pressure for the team that had released three important employees, Newgarden preferred not to comment on the news directly.

“I don't want to disappoint or insult anyone. I'm here to talk about the race,” he said. “I am here with my team. I am ready to run.

“I love this race. My goodness, I enjoyed being here all the time. I look forward to how we all do it every year to work with our group.

Newgarden wants to be the first driver in history to achieve three victories in the Indy 500 after he was planned at the legendary breed both in 2023 and '24 with Penske.

However, his task will be exponentially harder from the 32nd on the grid. No driver has won the race of lower than 28 on the net.

However, the American driver is not concerned about his starting position and believes that he has what it takes to achieve a record-proof 21st victory for Penske at Indycars Blue Riband event.

“You can win this race from any seat in the house. There is no bad seat in this house,” said Newgarden.
“I like the challenge of coming from the 32nd place. We have a great car. It just seems to be better every year. I'm trying to protect it. It is one of these things in which every day on the Speedway changes.

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