By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
INDYCAR mogul Roger S. Penske fired three prominent members of Team Penske management Wednesday morning, the aftershock of a technical rules violation that developed during qualifying for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 last weekend.
Penske, 88, announced that he had dismissed longtime Team President Tim Cindric, INDYCAR Managing Director Ron Ruzewski and INDYCAR General Manager Kyle Moyer after two of the team’s entries for “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” were found in violation of INDYCAR rules last Sunday.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” team founder/owner Penske said in a statement released to media. “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.”
The No. 2 Shell V-Power NITRO+ Team Penske Chevrolet driven by two-time/reigning Indy 500 champion Josef Newgarden and the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet driven by Will Power did not make an attempt Sunday during the Top 12 Qualifying session for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
Pre-qualifying technical inspection found both cars to be in violation of INDYCAR Rule 14.7.8.16, an unapproved body fit on the rear attenuator of the car. Penske crew members then drew the attention of rival owners and drivers as they attempted to modify the attenuator along pit road _ a clear and obvious violation of the rulebook.
On Monday, INDYCAR dropped the two Penske entries to the rear of the field _ 32nd (Newgarden) and 33rd (Power), respectively _ for Sunday’s 200-lap/500-miler around the 2.5-mile Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval. In addition, each entry was fined $100,000 by INDYCAR.
Penske fields the cars driven by Newgarden, Australian Power and native New Zealander Scott McLaughlin fulltime during the 17-event NTT IndyCar Series season. Penske also owns the series, the iconic Indianapolis Motor Speedway and Penske Entertainment Corp. _ a confluence of wealth and power that has increasingly created transparency issues among rival teams over rules enforcement.
Approximately two months after the 2024 season-opening street race in St. Petersburg, Fla., in March, Team Penske belatedly was found to be in violation of two “Push-to-Pass” parameters, INDYCAR Rule 14.19.15 and 14.19.16. Newgarden’s winning No. 2 Chevrolet and McLaughlin’s No. 3 Chevy were disqualified from that event, and Power’s No. 12 team was slapped with a 10-point penalty.
Pato O’Ward, a native of Mexico with family ties to San Antonio, was awarded the win in his No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet. O’Ward later finished second to Newgarden in the 108th running of the Indy 500 after the Penske ace completed a dramatic, last-lap pass to cap the rain-delayed event.
Newgarden, a 34-year-old native of Nashville, Tenn., is bidding to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500s on Sunday, albeit now from the middle of the 11th and final three-car row. Newgarden and Power are both two-time series champions. Power, who won the Indy 500 for Penske in 2018, is in the final season of his current contract. At 44, Power’s future with the winningest organization in the history of the Indy 500 remains in question heading into the series’ premier event.
A Team Penske statement said further announcements will be made this week related to personnel and replacements for Sunday’s Indy 500. Teams will run on-track for the last time before the race Friday morning during the traditional two-hour Carb Day Practice, followed by a Pit Stop competition.
Cindric joined Team Penske at the end of the 1999 INDYCAR season as the white-shirted president of Penske Racing Inc. He was elevated to the role of president of Penske Performance in 2005, and generally viewed as anointed successor to “The Captain,” whose industry honors include induction into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. Cindric is the father of NASCAR Cup Series regular Austin Cindric, who drives the No. 2 Ford Mustang Dark Horse fielded by Penske’s North Carolina-based NASCAR organization.
Ruzewski came to the team at the start of the 2005 INDYCAR season. He was named managing director before the 2019 season after serving as the team’s technical director.
Moyer joined Team Penske before the 2015 INDYCAR season. He moved into the role as general manager for Team Penske’s INDYCAR program in 2019.
