Team Penske suspends 4 employees over St. Pete INDYCAR incident
MOORESVILLE, N.C. — Team Penske announced Tuesday they have suspended four employees over an incident involving their overtake system at St. Petersburg.
The organization suspended Tim Cindric, the president of Team Penske who has accountability for all of the team’s operations. Cindric will miss two INDYCAR races, including the Indianapolis 500.
Team Penske conducted an internal review after IndyCar levied penalties against them for the incident discovered in Long Beach. Team Penske determined there were “significant failures” in their processes and internal communications.
In addition to Cindric, these other employees will also sit out the next two races:
- Luke Mason – Race Engineer for Josef Newgarden
- Robbie Atkinson – Senior Data Engineer
- Ron Ruzewski – Managing Director, Team Penske INDYCAR
“I recognize the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades. Everyone at Team Penske, along with our fans and business partners, should know that I apologize for the errors that were made. And I deeply regret them,” team owner Roger Penske said in a statement issued Tuesday.
Penske also owns the NTT INDYCAR Series. Series officials hit Penske with severe penalties after discovering two of his cars had manipulated Push-to-Pass overtake systems.
Officials revoked the win and third-place finish Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin respectively earned at St. Pete, among other penalties.
MORE:
Discover more from The Racing Experts
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
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