Team Penske’s hopes for a strong showing in Indianapolis 500 qualifying were dashed on Sunday when all three of their cars were denied a chance to compete for the pole position. The disastrous day came just a year after the same trio of drivers swept the front row at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The troubles began early when Scott McLaughlin, last year’s pole sitter, crashed during morning practice. Team Penske decided not to send him out for the fast 12 shootout, accepting the 12th starting spot in the field.
Just before the shootout commenced, rival team owner Chip Ganassi accused Team Penske of cheating. Shortly after, the cars of two-time defending race winner Josef Newgarden and Will Power were sent back to the garage. IndyCar announced that both cars had failed inspection due to “a body fit violation on the rear attenuator,” presumably an attempt to gain an aerodynamic advantage.
Tim Cindric, president of Penske’s IndyCar program, acknowledged the error, stating, “It was a bit of randomness internally there that we need to sort out.” He added, “We understand that modifications are not permitted after inspection, and you have to report to inspection on time, and we didn’t do that right.”
The punishment means that last year’s front row starters will now begin the race side-by-side-by-side in the fourth row, starting in 10th, 11th, and 12th positions.
Cindric confirmed that the modified attenuators on Newgarden’s and Power’s cars were different from McLaughlin’s, attributing the issue to a team error. The incident comes a year after Team Penske was caught in a push-to-pass scandal, resulting in Newgarden being stripped of his season-opening victory and the suspension of several team members, including Cindric, for two races.
The fast 12 was reduced to just nine cars attempting to advance to the final qualifying round, with Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, rookie Robert Shwartzman, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou, and Takuma Sato securing their spots in the battle for the pole position in the May 25 race.
