This is our sixth of 11 IndyCar Wrap-Ups, and since we have started these reviews in reverse order of the championship results, I don't believe we have ever done Team Penske this early. In what was Team Penske's worst season since 1999, none of Penske's three drivers finished better than ninth in the championship. The drivers only won a combined two races. For months, the team seemed unable to avoid trouble, and another technical scandal marred this season, this time revolving around the Indianapolis 500. Key personnel were fired, and at the end of the season, a driver change was also decided.
Will Power
In his 17th season with Penske, Power scrapped to lift the team up the grid. The season started behind the eight-ball, and Power was not immune from the struggles that befell the entire organization. All three Penske entries had to make adjustments, especially after the midseason dismissals of significant personnel. Power lost Ron Ruzewski his race strategist. Power pulled out some top results, but it could only make up for so many of the issues. At the end of his contract, Power had enough and decided to make a change.
What objectively was his best race?
Power got Team Penske on the scoreboard. It might have taken 15 races, but Team Penske's first victory came at Portland, and it came after a rather dominant day. Power led 78 of 110 laps. He took the lead after deciding not to stop under an early caution for Conor Daly's accident. Power was able to open a gap to the rest of the competition. He was able to control the race through track position, and though he faced a late challenge from Christian Lundgaard, Power never stumbled.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is Portland. Power was clearly the best driver in this race, and it felt like a race that was never in doubt even as Lundgaard was increasing the pressure. Power was not going to crack. It would require Lundgaard taking it from Power, and that just wasn't going to happen.
What objectively was his worst race?
At Gateway, Power lost his right front tire while running in second place. After starting on pole position, Power was the first driver out of the race after 47 laps, and it was the story of the night for a Team Penske trio that looked ready to change the tone on the banks of the Mississipp River.
What subjectively was his worst race?
Power might have already decided he was leaving Team Penske, but he ended his time with the team finishing 21st at Nashville when he could have left making a positive statement. Power was a contender to win the finale, but he overshot his pit stall on his penultimate pit stop and then he stalled after the stop was done. This cost Power a lap and he never recovered.
Will Power's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 9th (357 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 87
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 10.058
Average Finish: 13.235
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 8
Laps Led: 87
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 4
Fast Twelves: 8
Average Start: 10.058
Average Finish: 13.235
Scott McLaughlin
Things started out well for McLaughlin, and for the first quarter of the season, he was the best Team Penske driver. However, over the next two quarters, McLaughlin had his worst stretch in IndyCar. Some of it was self-inflicted mistakes. Other poor results were down to things out of his control. McLaughlin rallied late to salvage a respectable championship finish, but this was his toughest season yet in IndyCar.
What objectively was his best race?
On three occasions did McLaughlin finish third. The first time was at Barber Motorsports Park, but he was a distant third behind Álex Palou and Christian Lundgaard. McLaughlin would not finish third against until the penultimate race of the season at Milwaukee. He spent most of the race toward the front, and he held on for third on older tires. At Nashville, McLaughlin closed the season in a battle late with teammate Josef Newgarden. McLaughlin was leading, but he was shuffled back in the final 20 laps and ended up finishing third.
What subjectively was his best race?
Is it a bad thing when the best race of your season was the first race of the season?
McLaughlin started on pole position at St. Petersburg, and he dominated the early stages. At the end of his first stint, McLaughlin was over ten seconds clear of the field, but what cost him was his tire strategy. Starting on the primary tire, McLaughlin was caught in a pickle as he would have to use the less competitive alternate tire compound mid-race. Meanwhile, the opening lap accident allowed all the cars starting on the alternate tire to change off those tires after two laps under caution.
McLaughlin struggled over his alternate tire stint and the time lost dropped him from a dominant position in the lead to fourth at the checkered flag. McLaughlin didn't do anything wrong. Without that opening lap caution or a different choice to start the race, he probably would have been able to close out the opening race on the top step of the podium.
I guess a case could be made for Nashville. He was leading in the closing stages, though he mostly took advantage of Patricio O'Ward having an accident while in the lead. Nashville was probably the closest McLaughlin was to victory, but St. Petersburg was his most dominant race.
What objectively was his worst race?
Scott McLaughlin spun on the pace lap of the Indianapolis 500 and he was out before the race even got started. It was a slight error on a track that may have been a little too moist after a brief shower delayed the start of the race. McLaughlin was warming his tires and then he was sliding to the inside barrier of the main straightaway. He was starting tenth, and his race was over before ever running a lap in anger.
This blow was softened as three cars were disqualified post-race, meaning McLaughlin does not have the weight of last-place around his neck, but 30th place in the box score doesn't make it any better.
What subjectively was his worst race?
It isn't one race, but the two months that started at the Indianapolis 500 and went through Toronto.
Here is McLaughlin's run of form:
30th at Indianapolis.
12th at Detroit after receiving a penalty for avoidable contact when he hit Nolan Siegel.
24th at Gateway after a mechanical issue took him out while running in the top ten and he had led the second-most laps that night. And McLaughlin was the best Penske finisher!
12th at Road America as he had to save fuel aggressively in the final stint and it cost him a top ten finish, but he was still the best Penske finisher.
23rd at Mid-Ohio after having to make five pit stops due to tire issues late in the race.
Fourth in the first Iowa race after starting 27th due to an accident in qualifying.
26th in the second Iowa race after having nowhere to go when Devlin DeFrancesco spun on the opening lap, and McLaughlin was again starting dead last due to that qualifying accident.
26th at Toronto after smacking the barrier exit turn two on after he had an unsecured tire after making his first pit stop two laps into the race to remove the less ideal alternate tire.
I don't know how you pick up one result when for two months it was an endless stretch of driver errors, team errors and unfortunate breaks that the team could not escape.
Scott McLaughlin's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 10th (356 points)
Wins: 0
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 112
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 10.9411
Average Finish: 13.17647
Wins: 0
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 6
Top Tens: 9
Laps Led: 112
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 5
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 10.9411
Average Finish: 13.17647
Josef Newgarden
Coming into 2025, Newgarden was looking to reverse a slide that started at the end of the 2023 season and carried through 2024. Unfortunately, it got worse for the American driver. Newgarden could not avoid something going wrong in 2025, and it was a mixture of things in his control and out of his control. Every time you thought Newgarden was going to be clear of hardship, something else would trip him up. He at least ended the season on a high note.
What objectively was his best race?
Newgarden won the season finale at Nashville, his first victory of the season, and it ended a 20-race winless streak dating back to Gateway in 2023. Newgarden had to pull off a daring overtake on teammate Scott McLaughlin while also holding off a late charge from Álex Palou to get the victory.
What subjectively was his best race?
It is Nashville. It was one of the very few races where nothing went wrong for Newgarden, but everyone was on eggshells until the checkered flag. We had seen plenty of races this season where Newgarden appeared to be in control and have a fast car only for something to knock him out of a competitive position. It was good to see him end the season with a clean run to the finish.
What objectively was his worst race?
On two occasions did Newgarden finish 27th. At Long Beach, Newgarden had his seat belts come loose while running in the top ten and it took multiple laps to fix the problem. At Mid-Ohio, Newgarden spun on his own at the start and he hit Graham Rahal in the process. Newgarden's race was over after one lap.
What subjectively was his worst race?
At Gateway, Newgarden had just taken the lead and it appeared he was about to take control of the race when Louis Foster spun exiting turn four and Foster spun into the path of Newgarden's car. Newgarden hit Foster and launched over the #45 Honda. Newgarden got out of the car with no issues, but a promising night was over and he was classified in 25th.
We could list a number of other results like we did with McLaughlin. I think we need to mention the Indianapolis 500, where Newgarden started 33rd after a penalty for the illegal attenuator modifications only for him to drive into the top ten and then have a mechanical issue take him out when could have factored into who won the race.
We also need to mention Iowa. In race one, Newgarden was second, but he had led the first 232 of 275 laps before Patricio O'Ward jumped Newgarden in the final pit cycle as the #2 Penske crew did not have the cleanest stop.
In the second Iowa race, Newgarden appeared to have the car to beat, but on two separate occasions the caution came out immediately after Newgarden made a pit stop, trapping him off the lead lap. The wave around gave him his lap back, and after the first time he was able to drive from tenth to first. The second caution came so late in the race that Newgarden could only manage to finish tenth, though that was after he had restarted in eighth.
Josef Newgarden's 2025 Statistics
Championship Position: 12th (316 points)
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 7
Laps Led: 393
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 11.823
Average Finish: 14.8235
Wins: 1
Podiums: 3
Top Fives: 3
Top Tens: 7
Laps Led: 393
Poles: 1
Fast Sixes: 2
Fast Twelves: 7
Average Start: 11.823
Average Finish: 14.8235
An Early Look Ahead
We are still going to be learning what Team Penske is in 2026. The leadership changes played a role in how 2025 panned out. There is no doubt missing Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer played into this team not winning until the 15th race. It was rudderless for months, and the team lacked its spark, notably on road and street courses. Some places have been filled with Jonathan Diuguid taking over as president of the team and Travis Law becoming competition director, but they have big shoes to fill to turn around this team.
The team's best driver in the championship was ninth. The team won two races. It could just be an off-year, the worst Team Penske has had in the 21st century, but the pressure will be on for this not to be the start of a trend. Team Penske will look to turn it around with a new driver, who is technically on his fifth team in four years in David Malukas, a past champion who has been a shell of his former self for the last two years, and a driver who has only been full-time in single-seaters for five years.
It is Team Penske. It should be fine. If it wins eight races next year and the championship, it will be business as usual and 2025 will be cast aside as an aberration, but with the might of Chip Ganassi Racing, Arrow McLaren coming off its best year with driver combo in Patricio O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard, and Andretti Global bringing in a motivated Will Power, I don't think it will be easy sledding for Team Penske next year.
Cindric ran the team for two decades and made it what it was. Each of its three entries had some of the top minds in IndyCar on the timing stand and were pivotal to the success on track. That cannot just be replaced and reap the same results. We saw last year how much the team took a step back. It found its form on a few occasions, and it probably should have won another race or two only for misfortune to catch the team out, but I don't think we are going to see Team Penske be the Team Penske of old with a half-dozen front row lockouts in qualifying and ten races with multiple podium finishers.
The team will be competitive, but it isn't going to be as easy as we were accustomed to seeing for Team Penske.
It heads into 2026 with an odd mesh of drivers. Newgarden ended 2025 with a much-needed victory, but that does not make up for a driver who regularly makes mistakes after being remarkably consistent over his first seven years at the team. McLaughlin might be the most confident of the three drivers, but he is still the most inexperienced when it comes to single-seater racing. He is a champion, but it still feels odd that he could be the driver most suited to be the leader. Then you have Malukas, who has remarkably gone from outcast at McLaren without ever competing in a race to Team Penske driver in two years. It is also a driver with a career average finish of 14.852 and who has never finished in the top five on a road or street course.
All eyes will be on Team Penske for 2026. I don't think anyone is certain about what will happen next.
