O’Ward wins St. Pete after IndyCar disqualifies 2 Penske teams
IndyCar announced Wednesday they retroactively disqualified Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin from the March 10 race in St. Petersburg, Fla.
As a result, Pato O’Ward is now credited with winning the race.
Officials say they discovered a possible rules violation during the warmup session Sunday ahead of the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
A review of data from the St. Petersburg race found that Team Penske manipulated the Push to Pass overtake system so their cars could use it before the alternate start-finish line on starts and restarts.
The IndyCar rulebook specifies you can’t use Push to Pass until the car reaches the alternate line.
Officials ruled Newgarden and McLaughlin gained a competitive advantage using this. Meanwhile, their teammate Will Power did not.
Power will lose 10 points in the ordeal. Officials fined all three teams $25,000 each. All teams must also forfeit all prize money from the St. Pete race.
“The integrity of the INDYCAR SERIES championship is critical to everything we do,” INDYCAR President Jay Frye said. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, INDYCAR discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach. We immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”
IndyCar found Team Penske violated two Push to Pass parameters:
- Rule 14.19.15. An indicator to enable Push to Pass will be sent via CAN communication from the timing and scoring beacon on board the Car to the team data logger. This signal must be passed on to the ECU unmodified and uninterrupted during all Road and Street Course Events.
- Rule 14.19.16. Race Starts and any Race Restart that occurs before the lap prior to the white flag or prior to three minutes remaining in a timed Race Event will have the Push to Pass system disabled and will be enabled for a given Car once that Car reaches the alternate Start/Finish line.
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Jonathan Fjeld View All
Jonathan Fjeld is the co-owner of the The Racing Experts, LLC. He has been with TRE since 2010.
A Twin Valley, MN, native, Fjeld became a motorsports fan at just three years old (first race was the 2002 Pennsylvania 500). He worked as a contributor and writer for TRE from 2010-18. Since then, he has stepped up and covered 24 NASCAR race weekends and taken on a larger role with TRE. He became the co-owner and managing editor in 2023 and has guided the site to massive growth in that time.
Fjeld has covered a wide array of stories and moments over the years, including Kevin Harvick's final Cup Series season, the first NASCAR national series disqualification in over 50 years, Shane van Gisbergen's stunning win in Chicago and the first Cup Series race at Road America in 66 years – as well as up-and-coming drivers' stories and stories from inside the sport, like the tech it takes for Hendrick Motorsports to remain a top-tier team.
Currently, he resides in Albuquerque, N.M., where he works for KOB 4, an NBC station. He works as a digital producer and does on-air reports. He loves spending time with friends and family, playing and listening to music, exploring new places, being outdoors, reading books and writing among other activities. You can email him at fjeldjonathan@gmail.com