Team Penske faced significant repercussions on May 19, 2025, when both Josef Newgarden and Will Power were penalized during Indianapolis 500 qualifying for technical infractions. After failing post-qualifying inspection, Newgarden and Power were moved to the rear of the 33-car field\u2014starting 32nd and 33rd, respectively\u2014losing all previously secured qualifying positions, points, and preferred pit assignments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indianapolis 500 qualifying unfolds over multiple rounds: an initial \u201cTop 12\u201d session (also known as Fast 12) determines positions 1\u201312, while the remaining entrants lock in starting spots 13\u201333 based on earlier speeds. Drivers who fail technical inspection before the Fast 12 session are barred from attempting further runs, leaving them slotted behind all competitors who passed into the Top 12.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On May 18, during the pre-Fast 12 technical inspection, both Newgarden\u2019s No. 2 Chevrolet and Power\u2019s No. 12 Chevrolet were found to have \u201cillegal filling in the seams\u201d of their rear-crash attenuators\u2014modifications intended to improve aerodynamic flow, in violation of IndyCar rule 14.7.8.16. As a result, neither car was permitted to run in the Top 12 session, relegating them initially to provisional starting positions of 11th (Newgarden) and 12th (Power) behind Scott McLaughlin\u2019s No. 3 Penske entry, which passed inspection and secured 10th.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IndyCar\u2019s subsequent overnight investigation confirmed the suspicions: both cars featured modified attenuators, a spec part that must remain unaltered. Team Penske President Tim Cindric later acknowledged that seams in the attenuators had been filled to streamline airflow\u2014though he denied any intent to gain a performance advantage. IndyCar referenced this as a clear breach of technical regulations designed to maintain parity across all entries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the morning of May 19, IndyCar\u2019s official penalty announcement stipulated that:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles emphasized the importance of enforcing technical standards to \u201cmaintain the integrity of the Indianapolis 500\u201d and ensure fair competition. He noted that, although both cars had initially passed Saturday\u2019s inspection and locked into the top 30 speeds, the post-qualifying findings were too significant to overlook.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In an official statement later on May 19, Team Penske stated, \u201cWe accept the penalties issued today by the INDYCAR SERIES which are due to a \u2018Body Fit\u2019 violation that occurred prior to the qualifying session yesterday. We are disappointed by the results and the impact it has on our organization,\u201d pledging further personnel announcements ahead of race day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Starting from 32nd (Newgarden) and 33rd (Power) places Newgarden and Power at a considerable disadvantage for the 500-mile oval contest. Both drivers will need to rely on clean pit work, effective race strategy, and potential caution periods to navigate through traffic. Scott McLaughlin, in contrast, retained his 10th starting spot after being cleared in inspection, providing Penske with at least one front-running entry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This incident marks the second high-profile controversy for Team Penske in just over a year, reigniting debates over how stringently spec-car series should monitor and enforce technical compliance. While Penske\u2019s cars had passed initial Saturday inspections, the post-qualifying discovery underscores IndyCar\u2019s commitment to retrospective checks and punitive action when infractions are uncovered. The significant fines and strategist suspensions serve as a warning to all teams: even minor bodywork alterations can carry major competitive consequences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the 109th Indianapolis 500 set to take the green flag on May 25, 2025, Team Penske\u2019s efforts will focus on damage control\u2014optimizing race-day strategy for Newgarden and Power and rallying behind McLaughlin\u2019s top-10 start. Fans and observers will watch closely to see whether the two-time defending winner, Newgarden, and Power can overcome their grid setbacks to challenge for another Indianapolis crown.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Team Penske faced significant repercussions on May 19, 2025, when both Josef Newgarden and Will Power were penalized during Indianapolis 500 qualifying for technical infractions. After failing post-qualifying inspection, Newgarden […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1958,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[26],"tags":[179,175,177,98,180,176,166,178,93],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1957"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1959,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1957\/revisions\/1959"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1958"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1957"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1957"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fromtheinfield.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1957"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}