Team Penske announces major departures ahead of Indy 500
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Three executives are out at Team Penske ahead of Sunday’s Indy 500 after a scandal with their cars qualifying for the race.
Penske announced the departures of Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer. They are now out of their roles as team president, managing director and general manger, respectively, for Penske’s NTT INDYCAR Series program.
More importantly, in the immediate aftermath of what this could mean for the Indy 500 and the performance of Team Penske’s drivers, Cindric, Moyer and Ruzewski are no longer the race strategists for Josef Newgarden, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power, respectively.
Instead, Newgarden will have Luke Mason as his strategist and Raul Prados as his lead engineer. McLaughlin will have Ben Bretzman and Malcolm Finch while Power will have Jonathan Diuguid and David Faustino.
What led to all of this? Why is it described by some as a “cheating scandal” ahead of this year’s Indy 500?
After running fast enough Saturday to run for one of the top-12 spots Sunday, series officials found modified attenuators on Josef Newgarden and Will Power’s cars. Officials didn’t let them qualify Sunday, putting them 11th and 12th to start the race. They also didn’t having to face possibly missing the race.
The ordeal raised eyebrows among other team owners, in particular, who expressed major concerns with officials. Penske is also in charge of the NTT IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
A day later, officials moved Newgarden and Power to start 32nd and 33rd. They also suspended their strategists — Cindric and Ruzewski — and fined each entry $100,000.
“The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the IndyCar rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles said. “The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”
In response, Team Penske issued this statement:
“We accept the penalties issued today by the INDYCAR Series, which are due to a “Body Fit” violation that occurred prior to the qualifying session yesterday. We are disappointed by the results and the impact it has on our organization.”
The team went on to promise personnel changes in the coming days, leading to Penske himself issuing this statement Wednesday:
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams. We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”
Beyond the team, calls grew louder from team owners to form an officiating system independent of Penske.
Last year at St. Pete, Newgarden lost a win and teammate Scott McLaughlin lost a third-place finish after series officials discovered a manipulated Push-to-Pass system on their cars. At that time, Penske suspended Cindric, Ruzewski and two other employees for two races.
Cindric, now out of a job after the controversy this year, wasn’t quiet. He initially issued this statement on social media:
“It’s been an amazing ride! While my conscience remains clear through all of the noise and accusations, I’m grateful to have so many great people to draw strength from in times like this. Still standing tall!”
As more talk swirled about his “departure,” Cindric posted this, in regard to a Motorsport.com article delving into what exactly happened at Indy:
“For those who truly want to understand more about the technical side of the part that was in question during Sunday’s Indy 500 qualifying session, I would encourage you to take the time to read this article if you haven’t already.”
In the NASCAR world, talked swirled among some fans about how his departure would affect his son, Austin Cindric. However, Austin Cindric is having the best season of his career so far, backing up a surprisingly strong playoff run last season with a win at Talladega virtually clinching him another berth this season. Even on points, Cindric would still be in by 29. In fact, without a 50-point penalty at Circuit of the Americas, he would be ahead of teammate and defending champion Joey Logano on points.
Back in the IndyCar world, series officials found the team’s other car, driven by Scott McLaughlin, had a legal attenuator. McLaughlin will retain his 10th-place qualifying spot.
Newgarden and Power will start 32nd and 33rd in Sunday’s Indy 500.
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