Indy 500 Team Penske penalties, explained: What happened to Newgarden, Power?

USA Today

6 days ago

Indy 500 Team Penske penalties, explained: What happened to Newgarden, Power?
Josef Newgarden enters the 2025 Indianapolis 500 with a chance to do what no driver has ever done - win three consecutive Indy 500s. Yet the pre-race favorite was dealt a severe penalty along with teammate Will Power following last weekend's qualifying sessions, and both cars will start at the back of the field.
The drama surrounding Team Penske this week has called the credibility of one of IndyCar's most successful teams into question, and resulted in massive organizational changes on the eve of the biggest race of the year.
Here's a full walkthrough of the controversy as it emerged last Sunday, and all of the fallout in the days since.
Newgarden, Power pulled from Top 12 qualifying due to technical violation
Team Penske had already suffered a setback last Sunday morning as Scott McLaughlin crashed his car in practice, rendering him unable to compete for a top starting position in Top 12 qualifying.
Yet as the 10 remaining fastest qualifiers lined up to go out, there was a buzz of confusion on the broadcast as it was reported that Team Penske's Josef Newgarden and Will Power had been pulled out of line. Broadcast footage then showed that Team Penske crew members could be seen working on the rear attenuators of each car, something that is not allowed after cars clear technical inspection and line up to qualify.
The exact sequence of events is a bit unclear, as IndyCar and Team Penske reported different things in the moment, but Newgarden's car had actually failed pre-qualifying inspection due to a body-fit violation involving the rear attenuator. Will Power's car reportedly passed inspection, but had the same issue as Newgarden's machine, so Team Penske tried to solve the issue on pit road.
Team Penske ultimately pulled both cars from the line and did not make a qualifying attempt on Sunday, which at the time would have left Newgarden starting 11th and Power starting 12th, behind McLaughlin in 10th.
What is a rear attenuator on an IndyCar, anyway?
We aren't engineers or mechanics here at For The Win, so we'll let the fine folks at Motorsport.com explain (they also have a very in-depth investigation into the issue here).
Via Motorsport.com:
"This rectangular piece sits at the back of the car and is attached to the gearbox where it serves two basic roles. Its primary role is to absorb impact in a crash and reduce the g-forces felt by the driver. It also serves as the mount for the rain light assembly."
The problem with the rear attenuators on the No. 2 and No. 12 car last Sunday is that the edges of the attenuator panel had been blended with another part of the car, reportedly as an aesthetic choice. The rear attenuator on Scott McLaughlin's car was inspected and did not have the same blending issue, which is why he was allowed to keep his No. 10 starting spot.
IndyCar announces full penalties for Team Penske
On Monday, IndyCar announced severe penalties for cars No. 2 (Newgarden) and No. 12 (Power). The drivers would be moved from a provisional starting spot of 11th and 12th, respectively, to the back of the field in 32nd and 33rd.
IndyCar also suspended the team strategist of each team for the remainder of the event, stripped each team of the qualification points they earned, and fined each team $100,000.
Penske announces sweeping organizational changes
On Wednesday, May 21st, Team Penske released an announcement that sent shockwaves around the motorsports world. Team Penske president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer all parted ways with the organization.
This isn't the first time Team Penske has been embroiled in a technical scandal, and Roger Penske made note of that in his comments. Two Team Penske cars were disqualified from a 2024 race in St. Petersburg for Push-To-Pass violations.
'Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,' Roger Penske said. 'We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.'
What Roger Penske said about his team's penalties
Roger Penske sat down for an interview with FOX's Jamie Little, and apologized for his team's error and any affects it had on harming the credibility of IndyCar.
"Believe me, it hurts me in my gut when you think about it. But I look at it this way, there's a certain amount of credibility you have to have. That's integrity, individually and collectively our team, the sport, and I think I let, we let people down. I've made some management changes we announced today, and I think we'll move on and our goal is to win the race."
Penske also pushed back on some critics who argue that Newgarden and Power should be disqualified entirely from the Indy 500 and barred from the race on Sunday, noting that they passed inspection in Saturday qualifying and posted a speed good enough to lock in a spot in the race.
Was something wrong with Josef Newgarden's 2024 Indy 500-winning car?
Not long after the news of Team Penske's modified attenuators broke last weekend, journalists and fans began digging to see if this could have been an ongoing issue. Newgarden's race winning 2024 car sits in a museum at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and that car appeared to have the same blending violation that got his 2025 car penalized.
In the same interview, Penske conceded that, yes, the team did receive a batch of modified attenuators from Dallara in 2024 that had rotated between cars for many months, but also contended that after the win last year, Newgarden's car was torn down and inspected and declared to be "completely legal for the win."