The Trackside Report

Speedway, Ind. – Team Penske announced Wednesday, May 21 via social media release, that Roger Penske has taken disciplinary action against three key IndyCar team members for the recent technical violations.

The team has relieved Team Penske IndyCar president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer from their duties affective immediately. During Indianapolis 500 Qualifying on Sunday, May 18, IndyCar technical inspectors found modifications made to the rear attenuators on the No. 2 Shell V-Power NITRO+ Chevrolet driven by two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet driven by 2018 Indianapolis 500 winner Will Power.

“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,” said Penske.

Penske is the owner of the three-car team, IndyCar Series, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Indianapolis 500 and has amassed a record 20 Indianapolis 500 victories dating back to his first in 1972 with driver Mark Donohue.

Cindric, from Indianapolis, is a graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind, and first served as the team manager for Team Rahal from 1994 to 1999, before joining Team Penske in October of 1999. By January 2006, Cindric was promoted to President at Team Penske where he has been Mr. Penske’s right-hand confidant for over 25 years.

Both cars were not allowed to qualify during the Firestone Fast 12 and as of Monday, May 19, both cars were penalized to the rear of the 33-car starting field (32^nd & 33^rd positions). As a result, Cindric and Ruzewski were already suspended by IndyCar for the Indianapolis 500 and both teams were fined $100,000.

The initial claim came from team owner Chip Ganassi that accused the team of cheating when he noticed unapproved changes to the rear attenuator. The attenuator that is designed and developed by chassis manufacturer, Dallara, is used as a safety device designed to absorb the energy from rear-impacts with retaining walls.

Reasoning that amplified the justification of the firings stems from roughly over a year ago when Team Penske was caught in the highly publicized “push-to-pass scandal” in which all three cars had access to a software loaded onto the cars ECU (Engine Control Unit) that bypasses the push-to-pass limitations. Those limitations are that the driver is unable to access the push-to-pass 60-horsepower boost within two laps of green flag racing. Newgarden was shown to have used the boosted power on restarts within the restricted periods to gain a competitive advantage over the rest of the field. As a result, Newgarden was stripped of his win and Cindric was suspended for two races, that included the 2024 Indy 500.

Many owners in the series are suggesting for a separate independent governing body that handles rule infractions to ensure there isn’t a conflict of interest between the owner of the series and his team cars.