Roger Penske has suspended numerous key personnel from the Team Penske IndyCar organization following an internal review into the push-to-pass cheating ordeal that led to massive penalties to all three cars.
Specifically, Josef Newgarden was disqualified from his victory in the season opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg alongside Scott McLaughlin who was stripped of his third-place result. The team was charged with bypassing the hold on the overtake assist program before race control makes it available to drivers a lap after a restart.
Will Power was deducted 10 championship points for having the same system override installed on his engine but did not use it.
Team Penske president Tim Cindric, who also oversees the No. 2 car as its race strategist, managing director Ron Ruzewski, No. 2 race engineer Luke Mason, and assistant engineer Robbie Atkinson have each been suspended for the next two IndyCar races by Penske himself.
As a result, the four employees will not be permitted to participate in the biggest month of the season at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in both the Indianapolis Grand Prix nor the Indianapolis 500. Newgarden is the defending winner of the race with Cindric and Mason in his pit box.
The suspended employees will not be in Indianapolis for any activities through the next two races and that includes practice sessions, qualifying sessions and the races at IMS. They will have access to the Team Penske shop in Mooresville, North Carolina but will not be remotely included in ‘war room’ team activities during the sessions.
“Following the penalties to the Team Penske IndyCar team and drivers after Long Beach, Team Penske has completed an internal review,” said a Team Penske statement. “After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications.
Atkinson is the data specialist on the No. 12 car driven by Power and the only team member of that entry to be penalized. According to Penske, it was Atkinson who was responsible for the copy/paste of a line of code that went into the engine programs for that race.
Cindric has been adamant that it was an accidental transgression born from the off-season testing sessions surrounding the hybrid power extension. It’s an argument that their peers have scoffed at.
Cindric also offered a personal statement.
“For Ron and I as leaders of this team, it’s not about what we did, it’s about what we didn’t do,” he said. “It is our responsibility to provide the Team and all our drivers with the right processes to ensure something like this can’t happen.
“For that, I apologize to Roger, our Team and everyone that supports us. Our number one job is to protect and enhance the reputation of our brand and that of those that support us. In that regard, as the overall leader, I failed, and I must raise my hand and be accountable with the others. This is a team, and in my position, it’s the right thing to do.”
Penske did not suspend any members of the No. 3 team either as McLaughlin only briefly pushed the button and stated that he only did it out of habit and has always done so on restarts.
Roger Penske, who owns his team, the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, magnifying the infractions, offered a statement.
“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,” said Roger Penske. “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.”
Matt Weaver is a Motorsports Insider for Sportsnaut. Follow him on Twitter.
