Penske suspends Cindric and key staff over IndyCar scandal

Team Penske President Tim Cindric and three others have been suspended in response to the team’s recent push-to-pass IndyCar scandal.

Both winner Josef Newgarden and third-place Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the season-opening race at St Petersburg for illegal use of the push-to-pass system.

Will Power also had the same software, which formed from a coding change during hybrid testing and was not removed before the first race, but the Aussie was not disqualified due to not using it, but was still docked 10 points and like the others fined $25,000.

With the integrity of Team Penske under the spotlight, “The Captain” Roger Penske has suspended four senior members of his team.

The suspended quartet are led by Cindric, but also include veteran managing director Ron Ruzewski and Newgarden’s race engineer Luke Mason and his senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson.

All four have been suspended for two races, which include the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500, of which Newgarden is the defending champion.

These actions shows how seriously Roger Penske has taken the breach and apologised for the team’s “errors”.

“I recognise the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades,” Roger Penske said.

“Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologise for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”

Cindric posted his own statement on X and also apologised.

“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 wrote.

“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 apologise 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 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.”

Team Penske released the below statement on the situation, labelling it as a “significant failure.”

“Following the penalties to the Team Penske INDYCAR team and drivers after Long Beach, Team Penske has completed an internal review,” it read.

“After a full and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske has determined that there were significant failures in our processes and internal communications. 

“As a result, Luke Mason (No. 2 Race Engineer) and Robbie Atkinson (Senior Data Engineer) will be suspended from Team Penske for the next two INDYCAR races including the Indianapolis 500.

“In addition, Ron Ruzewski (Managing Director, Team Penske INDYCAR) will also be suspended for these two races, along with Tim Cindric (President of Team Penske), who has accountability for all of Team Penske’s operations.”

Photo by Scott R LePage / LAT Images

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