You would not expect for the second consecutive season Team Penske would find itself embroiled in another scandal with multiple cars found to have failed inspection for the same, somewhat calculated-looking, violation. Not only has it happened a second time with illegal modifications to the attenuator, but it happened in Sunday qualifying for the Indianapolis 500, intensifying the scrutiny about 100-fold from last year's push-to-pass violation.
Josef Newgarden and Will Power's car were found with the illegal part ahead of the Fast 12 session, Initially, both cars were barred from participating in Sunday qualifying, placing the two cars 11th and 12th on the grid. After a night of deliberation, it was decided Newgarden and Power would be moved to the rear of the grid and take the 32nd and 33rd positions. Scott McLaughlin's car did not have a modified attenuator and was found to be legal. McLaughlin was able to keep his tenth-place starting spot.
Along with the lost grid spots, each entry was issued a $100,000-fine, and strategists Tim Cindric and Ron Ruzewski were suspended for the Indianapolis 500.
Though penalties have been issued, the wild fire has not stopped spreading. Questions over how long Team Penske had the illegal attenuator on the car immediately cropped up.
Patricio O'Ward was defiant that if the cars were like that on Sunday ahead of the Fast 12 session, those cars ran with the illegal part on Saturday to make the Fast 12 session. Photos taken of Josef Newgarden's 2024 Indianapolis 500 winner, which sits in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum show the same modified attenuator on the car. Whether that car is unchanged from last year's race or it was built with other parts not used in the race is unknown.
Whether the parts were on the car on Saturday is a moot point as IndyCar officials cleared the cars for qualifying in pre-qualifying inspection and in post-qualifying inspection after Newgarden and Power made their qualifying runs. In the eyes of rulebook, the Saturday qualifying runs were legal even if we are not sure Team Penske got away with one.
The general belief in motorsports is everyone is pushing the limit of legality to maximize efficiency and performance. It isn't about obviously breaking a rule but getting the most of what is allowed. With all the focus that is put on a car for the Indianapolis 500 and the countless hours spent to massage these cars to eliminate as much drag as possible, stepping over the line can mean going over by a toe. It is still going beyond the limit, but it isn't leaping over with no regard for the line.
After all, Team Penske wasn't the only team to have failed inspection over the weekend. On Saturday, there were two inspection failures that were caught. Hélio Castroneves did not pass pre-qualifying inspection and lost his spot in the qualifying line for the first run. Conor Daly was found to have his front wing be too low in post-qualifying inspection after his first attempt and lost his time, forcing Daly to run again.
Team Penske is praised for its "Penske Perfect" mindset as it tries to get everything perfect with its machinery. If it sees a potential inefficiency on the car, it will try to eliminate it. The belief is the team will try and do it within the limits of the rulebook. A rule can be violated and not done deliberately, but intention is doesn't matter, especially when Penske has lost the benefit of the doubt. It is black-and-white in this instance. Was the attenuator modified or not? Did it go over the line? It was clear it was.
IndyCar is not in an easy position when it comes to this penalty.
As much as people believe Team Penske ran these parts on Saturday, the cars passed inspection multiple times. They were declared good to run and were declared fit after qualifying. No penalty can be issued for Saturday. The cars could not be kicked out of the race as they made the top 30 with what the official declared legal cars. The violation was found ahead of qualifying on Sunday. IndyCar can only punish from that point forward. They lost the privilege to run on Sunday, but IndyCar has muddy the waters moving the cars to the rear of the field.
Much of what has been done has been based on emotion. It feels like everyone believes Team Penske got away with one on Saturday, but isn't that what everyone tries in inspection? Every team is looking to get that little advantage pass the officials. Every team would take that if it worked in their favor. Once Team Penske was caught with the infraction, people wanted to see a significant penalty. Keeping 11th and 12th on the grid felt like almost no punishment at all. The team lost the chance for pole position, improving its track position and the additional points from qualifying, but that was not enough bite. To make a point, IndyCar relegated the cars to the last row.
None of those penalties matters, and none of it is enough to the other teams. No fine nor suspension can make up for the questions in IndyCar's integrity when it comes to enforcing the rulebook, especially when it comes to Team Penske running in the Roger Penske-owned series.
The conflict of interest is too great to ignore. It has been since day one when Roger Penske purchased the series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman-George family in November 2019. As much as they have tried to balance church and state and remain fair, all sides have been failing.
While the modified attenuator might have been something that slipped pass the officials and it could have gone in the favor of any team on the grid, it also looks like something small that the officials let Team Penske get away with. Nothing looks innocent with this current dynamic even if it is not done with maliciousness.
There is a good chance this infraction was down to a minor adjustment to help the performance of the car by scraping out every last bit of aero efficiency. It wasn't done knowingly breaking a rule, nor breaking a rule that would lead to a massive jump in performance. The crew was likely doing it fully intending to remain within the limits of the rulebook. One of the Penske cars was legal after all. If this was a team-wide effort to break the rules, wouldn't all three have had the same part? It suggests in two instances, the team went a little too far doing what every team is doing to find that little extra speed.
It is difficult to weigh a Team Penske infraction in 2025 IndyCar versus that of another team. Everyone wants blood but I am not sure the response would be the same if the same infraction was found on a two-car team that had neither car make the Fast 12. Extra is wanted when it is Team Penske. Last year's infraction also contributes to that sentiment.
Last year's infractions should have been an infliction point for the series. This must be the last straw.
Changes must come, especially to the officiating process for the sake of competitive fairness in the series. Even if IndyCar officiating did not turn a blind eye to Team Penske breaking the rules, a team still appears to have gotten something easily noticeable through inspection and run with an illegally modified part. This infraction was spotted on pit lane by a rival team owner. This wasn't something hidden. The naked eye noticed it on pit lane. If that is not a sign that IndyCar officiating must shape up, I don't know what is.
But this should drive further a greater need for independence in the officials who are judging cars owned by the same man who owns the series. At this point, IndyCar cannot afford another scandal where it looks like Team Penske is getting away with breaking the rule. Even if Team Penske is being punished, and it has for both infractions, it still looks like the organization is getting away with more than most.
It is tough to do overnight, but an independent group of officials should already be in place to watch over the cars ahead of the Indianapolis 500 and for the rest of the season. At some point, there will be an infraction that shatters the integrity of the series, and no one in IndyCar can afford that.
There is no coming back from a third Team Penske violation of this magnitude, but it really shouldn't have gotten to a second to begin with.
