Team Penske parted ways with IndyCar Series team president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer on Wednesday amid the discovery of a violation of IndyCar rules by the team.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” team founder and chairman 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.”
Team Penske said in a statement that it will have further announcements in regard to personnel later this week.
The news comes in the wake of the discovery that the cars driven by two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and teammate Will Power had modified attenuators during the second day of qualifying on Sunday. IndyCar announced Monday that Newgarden’s No. 2 and Power’s No. 15 will start 32nd and 33rd, respectively.
Last April, it was discovered that Penske drivers were allowed access to the push-to-pass system when they should not have been.
The team strategists also were suspended for the race for both cars, which will also forfeit Indy 500 qualification points and each pay a $100,000 fine.
“The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the INDYCAR rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” IndyCar president J. Douglas Boles said Monday. “The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”
Cindric, 57, joined Penske in 1999 and watched one of its drivers win the Indianapolis 500 on 10 occasions, including Newgarden in 2023 and 2024.
On Jan. 31, Cindric elected to take a step back as the overall day-to-day leader of Team Penske’s racing programs.
Cindric’s son, Austin, is a NASCAR Cup Series driver for Team Penske. He won the 2022 Daytona 500.
–Field Level Media
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