Latest news with #cheatingScandal
CTV News
22-05-2025
- Automotive
- CTV News
Team Penske focused on moving forward after shock firings following Indy 500 cheating scandal
President of Team Penske Tim Cindric, left and driver Josef Newgarden wait for the start of during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy) INDIANAPOLIS — Roger Penske personally told Will Power about the firings of Team Penske's top three executives — a decision Power said his boss made after a sleepless night contemplating how to handle a cheating scandal ahead of the Indianapolis 500. 'I know it was very tough for him. He said that. He said he didn't sleep the night before because he had to make a very hard decision,' Power said Thursday, one day after the shock dismissals of team president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer. Penske cleaned house after the cars for both Power and two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden failed inspection ahead of Sunday's final round of qualifying. The cars were found to have modified a spec part — the rear attenuator is a safety part and IndyCar said it has found no evidence the Team Penske filling a seam on it provided a competitive advantage. But, it was the second major technical violation for Team Penske in just over a year. The team last year was found to have illegal access to its push-to-pass system at times the drivers should not have been able to gain the additional boost of horsepower. Newgarden was stripped of last year's season-opening victory once IndyCar discovered the team was illegally using the software. Power expressed sympathy for Penske, who owns the three-car race team, IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. Penske confirmed to new television partner Fox Sports that IndyCar is exploring an independent governing body that does not consist of Penske employees. 'I feel bad for him. He's in a very tough spot in that situation,' Power said of Penske. 'You could tell it was heavy on him. Tough, tough for him to have to do that. I think Roger moves forward very quickly. He makes decisions. He moves forward. Doesn't dwell on it. 'Starts looking at what is absolutely best for the team and everyone to move forward. That's Roger. That's why he's so successful,' Power continued. 'He's not going to sit and spend a month worrying about what happened. I think he's 'How can we fix this and let's move forward and make sure it doesn't happen again.'' Team Penske earlier Thursday announced the personnel that has been adjusted for its three cars ahead of Sunday's 109th running of 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.' Penske has won the race a record 20 times. Newgarden, who is trying to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500s, will have Luke Mason as his strategist and Raul Prados as lead engineer. As part of the penalties levied on the team, he was dropped to 32nd on the starting grid and no driver has ever won from the last row. Scott McLaughlin, who crashed early Sunday and didn't participate in the final rounds of qualifying, will start from 12th with Ben Bretzman as his strategist and Malcolm Finch as lead engineer. Power, who is in the final year of his contract at Penske and was dropped to last in the 33-car field, will have Jonathan Diuguid as strategist and David Faustino as lead engineer. He believes Penske was forced into the firings by the external pressure from other team owners who are furious Team Penske has had major technical violations in two consecutive seasons. He also said the attenuator modification gave him no advantage and felt good people lost their jobs over the incident. Cindric had been with Penske since 2000. 'It's kind of a shock and a pity. They're all extremely good at their job,' Power said. 'It was just the pressure from outside. I guess Roger had to make a tough decision, but I can tell you these were very credible people. They really were. As you know, the infraction was very minor. It wasn't a performance gain.' Cindric posted on social media late Wednesday calling his time with Penske 'an amazing ride!' 'While my conscious remains clear through all of the noise and accusations, I'm grateful to have so many great people to draw strength from in times like this,' Cindric wrote. 'Still standing tall!' ___ Jenna Fryer, The Associated Press
News24
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
‘They are talking to Mapitsi, not me.' - Mogau Keebine on real-life reactions to cheating storyline
Mogau Keebine has played Mapitsi on Skeem Saam since its inception. Viewers have seen her grow from her teenage years to varsity and now a working wife and mother. Mapitsi was recently involved in a cheating scandal with a colleague, which was exposed on the radio for the whole community to hear. The actress says she does not mind the negative comments because she knows they are not directed at her. Daily drama series Skeem Saam is known for its captivating storylines, which do not only entertain audiences but also educate them. Recently, all eyes have been on Mapitsi, played by actress Mogau Keebine, and DJ Thomas, played by Tiisetso Thoka. Mapitsi and DJ Thomas, two colleagues from local radio station Berry FM, have been exposed for their extramarital affair. On a quest to satisfy her loneliness, the married Mapitsi successfully covered up the affair. However, they exposed themselves on air when DJ Thomas tried to end the affair, but Mapitsi pleaded with him to stay. The incident sparked conversations both on and off social media, with many expressing disappointment in Mapitsi in Keebine's comment section. Talking to City Press about this, the actress, who was nursing a flu at home, said she did not take the negative comments on her social media pages personally. She said she knew the comments were directed at her character, not at her personally. She shared that some people even confronted her in person about the storyline, but they could tell she was simply doing her job: I feel like most of the people who try to attack or be rude on social media are just looking for a victim. They are just not nice people; it's not about them believing the story as much as they do. I can read between the lines when someone attacks me in a post; I know they are not talking about me but Mapitsi. She added that the outrage just meant that she did her job well and made the story believable. The actress, who has been with the show for 13 seasons, said she was good as long as the outrage stayed on social media. Keebine told City Press that she had received mixed reactions regarding the storyline; most men were disappointed in Mapitsi no longer being an epitome of a good wife, while some women cheered the character on. She recalled more intense confrontations in previous years, including an incident where a viewer once pulled a knife on her. However, she said there have been no extreme reactions since then. The actress said although she did not condone cheating, she understood that Mapitsi just wanted to find comfort in DJ Thomas. She further said people should avoid being pulled into making bad decisions because someone might get hurt. STORYLINE PREPS Speaking about the storyline, Keebine said preparing for it was not too hard, especially because she was working with a person who also had a home and family. She said she read blogs where people asked for advice regarding real-life crises, including cheating scenarios: I read up on people who had been cheated on and people who were the ones doing the cheating and why they did it. I was trying to figure out what pushes you to that point, what the emotions are, and how it happens. Is it something that happens all at once or does it happen gradually? I then worked in line with what the writers had planned. While her husband understands her work, she had to prepare him for the storyline and reassure him about their marriage. The elders in the family took it to heart and were disappointed in the character, but they still understood that it was just acting and she had to gently remind them that it was part of the job. YEARS WITH SKEEM SAAM Having been with the SABC1 show since its inception in 2011, Keebine told City Press that she was lucky to have been relevant all throughout the years, adding that the show had added stability in her life. The actress said she felt honoured not to have the stress of wondering when her next project would be. The actress from Mogoto village in Limpopo said her character was a force to be reckoned with, adding that she would sometimes borrow from Mapitsi when making real-life decisions. She said she had always wanted to venture into directing or have a different role but the topics on Skeem Saam were always interesting. 'Even if it is not my storyline, there is always something interesting to talk about, so you can't get bored. The flexibility of our working hours does not allow you to get bored. I am lucky to know that this is my full-time job. I can be a present mom because of the working hours; I don't take other gigs because I don't have to,' she said. Keebine told City Press that while receiving awards was not the main goal, she would appreciate getting recognition from industry peers.
Associated Press
21-05-2025
- Automotive
- Associated Press
IndyCar exploring independent governing body that doesn't include Penske employees
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — IndyCar is exploring the creation of an independent governing body absent of any Roger Penske employees in the wake of the Team Penske cheating scandal ahead of the Indianapolis 500. Penske owns three-car Team Penske, IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. On Wednesday, he fired his top three racing executives after two of its cars were found to be illegal ahead of the second round of Indy 500 qualifying. It has since been shown that the spec part Team Penske had modified on the cars of two-time defending Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden and Will Power had been done so for some time. Both Newgarden's winning car from his 2024 victory that is displayed in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum and the one he took to the White House last month have the same modified part. Rival teams claim they have photos of the Penske cars with the modifications dating some time, and others have claimed they told IndyCar technical inspectors the Penske cars were not legal. 'We want to ensure that we have an officiating entity that has no ability for folks to say it's got influence from Roger Penske,' said Doug Boles, named president of IndyCar in February while already holding the title of president of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Since IndyCar caught Newgarden and Power's cars Sunday — with help of complaints from rival teams — the fellow competitors have alleged the Penske cars get preferential treatment because they are owned by Penske. They have also questioned how it wasn't discovered Saturday when Penske's three cars locked into the race, and are publicly wondering if the cars were legal at the time. Optics of favoritism have dogged Penske since he purchased all things Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2020 because everyone who runs an arm of his organization is paid by Roger Penske. Late Wednesday, new IndyCar president Doug Boles, who is also president of the speedway, said there is an evaluation of bringing in outside governance in the future. 'We have been working very, very hard to create an entity, an officiating entity, and by officiating I mean race control and tech inspection and an entity that is completely removed from anything that has to do with Penske entertainment, or Roger Penske or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the IndyCar series,' Boles said. Boles also said one of the reasons the cars were not caught with the illegal modification is because the change had been made to the rear attenuator, a safety piece that is prohibited from being altered because it could compromise its abilities. Therefore, the part isn't routinely checked because IndyCar inspector assume teams want their cars to be safe. NASCAR is governed by the France family, which owns the series and most of its track. Race control and the competition department are NASCAR employees. NASCAR does not field any cars. Formula 1 has an independent governance in the FIA. F1 owns only the commercial rights to the series, while the FIA has full control of how the series is governed. ___ AP auto racing:
National Post
20-05-2025
- Sport
- National Post
Norway ski jumper retires amid probe into teammates' alleged suit cheating
OSLO, Norway — Former Olympic champion ski jumper Robert Johansson announced he is retiring on Tuesday while an investigation continues into alleged cheating by his teammates at the world championships. Article content Article content The 35-year-old Johansson, who sports a distinctive red mustache, was not initially under suspicion when the scandal around the Norway team altering competition suits emerged at their home Nordic worlds. Article content The 2018 Olympics team event gold medalist was then suspended along with other Norwegians by the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) from taking part in season-ending events. Article content Johansson told broadcaster TV2 in an interview aired on Tuesday, 'I feel like I've been suspended because I'm Norwegian.' Article content He said the case denied him the chance to compete in his planned farewell events in March. Article content Norwegian athletes have not talked publicly about the FIS investigation, though TV2 said Johansson's suit was checked and cleared before, during and after the worlds held in Trondheim. Article content Johansson was a three-time winner in World Cup events who had a career-best year in the 2018 Olympics season. Article content
