Team Penske names new leadership atop IndyCar, sportscar teams after Indy 500 cheating scandal

Indianapolis Star

2 days ago

LEXINGTON, Ohio — Team Penske has promoted a pair of veteran team members to roles atop both its IndyCar and sportscar programs in the wake of the Roger Penske firing the three most senior members atop his IndyCar program in the wake of Team Penske's second high-profile team-wide tech inspection violation in 13 months.
Jonathan Diuguid, who most recently served as the managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport and who joined Team Penske in 2005, has been named the president of Penske Racing Inc., overseeing Team Penske's programs in IndyCar, IMSA and WEC. Travis Law, who joined Team Penske in 2007 and most recently served as the competition director of Porsche Penske Motorsport, has been named the competition director of Penske Racing Inc. similarly overseeing Penske's IndyCar and sportscar programs moving forward.
"The opportunity to lead the Team Penske efforts across the IndyCar series, IMSA and WEC is a tremendous responsibility, and the feeling of being trusted to lead these teams is a great honor," Diuguid said. "After two decades of working for Roger Penske, I truly know and understand what the Penske name means to the world of motorsports.
"The best way I know to show my appreciation to him for his trust is to ensure our success continues well into the future."
As the managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport, Diuguid spearheaded a program that snagged consecutive wins at the 24 Hours of Daytona (2024-25), a victory in the 2025 12 Hours of Sebring, a 2024 IMSA GTP class championship and the 2024 WEC Hypercar driver's title. Diuguid first worked on Penske's Porsche RS Spyder program, followed by seven seasons as a race engineer in IndyCar before shifting into his most recent role atop the team's sportscar programs. Last year, he also served as a stand-in Indianapolis 500 strategist for race-winner Josef Newgarden, in place of Tim Cindric, the ex-Team Penske president and Newgarden strategist who was serving a suspension after the team's push-to-pass illegalities.
'We let people down': Roger Penske on Indianapolis 500, IndyCar rules violations
Law joined Team Penske in 2007 as an IndyCar tire specialist before becoming a championship-winning chief mechanic and then achieving similar success in Penske's sportscar program.
"Success is what is expected at Team Penske," Law said. "Roger Penske is someone that leads by example. When we get to the racetrack, we know we have the support of someone who has achieved at the highest levels. I am ready to get to work."
Concurrently with its leadership announcements, Team Penske also announced the team leaders on all three IndyCar entries for the remainder of the year Friday afternoon, with Luke Mason (Newgarden's No. 2 car) and David Faustino (Will Power's No. 12 car) serving as both the race strategist and race engineers on their respective cars. For Scott McLaughlin's No. 3 car, Ben Bretzman has been named the entry's race strategist for the remainder of the year, and Malcolm Finch will serve as the car's race engineer.
More: IndyCar president Doug Boles on Team Penske's violations during Indy 500 qualifying
Less than a week before the 109th Indy 500, Penske fired Cindric, his longtime righthand man who for years had served as the president of the entire Team Penske empire and who at the start of this year had scaled back, solely holding onto the role of president of the Penske IndyCar team, as well as longtime Team Penske IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and longtime Team Penske IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer. Minutes before the start of Fast 12 qualifying for the Indy 500, the cars of Newgarden and Power were found by IndyCar's tech inspection team to have illegally modified attenuators that upon further review had gone undetected for well over a year.
Initially, both cars were thrown out of qualifying and slated to start 11th and 12th for the race, but the following day, IndyCar president Doug Boles decided to move both cars to the back of the grid to start 32nd and 33rd, along with the suspension of Cindric and Ruzewski a handful of other monetary and points penalties. Two days later, Team Penske announced the leaders atop all three of its cars had been let go.