It’s Only Cheating When You Get Caught: Team Penske’s Legacy Under Fire at Indy
There’s been cheating in motorsports since the first rules were made for racing. After all, it isn’t cheating if you’re not caught. Or is it?
Team Penske has had that familiar mantra of the “unfair advantage” since the Mark Donohue days. In fact, that was the name of the autobiography Donohue penned with the assistance of writer Paul van Valkenburgh. Seeking out the unfair advantage is something any team does. Most do so within the framework of rules; others, not so much.
Smokey Yunick made history by being a cheating machine. If NASCAR’s (or INDYCAR’s) tech department found the small – or often large – advantage Yunick had taken in car preparation, they stopped him. If they found it. Sanctioning bodies spend a lot of time and money trying to stop cheaters. Most often they succeed.
INDYCAR has had issues the past two seasons with the team owned by the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, his three-car Indy car team and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Mr. Penske also has a three-car NASCAR squad and two each IMSA GTP and WEC prototype cars, which Team Penske runs for Porsche Motorsport in the United States and abroad.
Last year, Team Penske was caught manipulating INDYCAR’s push-to-pass (P2P) system, which is not allowed for race starts and restarts. Apparently, Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet-powered Dallara had been doing just that, using the P2P system illegally. While he was declared winner of the 2024 Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg, Newgarden later had to give up that win and his strategist, Tim Cindric was banned from working the 2024 Indianapolis 500, which Newgarden won for a second consecutive time.
The Chevy/Dallara Newgarden used for his second straight 2024 Indy 500 win was installed in the newly refurbished IMS museum that celebrates the Indianapolis 500; many knowledgeable people observed the adjustments made to the attenuator on that car. And on the car that went to the White House along with Team Penske to celebrate the team’s collective achievements in IMSA, INDYCAR and NASCAR.
Do we chalk that up to “show cars” that normally don’t reflect the exact equipment used in a race? Without knowing specifics, we can’t.
As a result of this latest cheating episode, Team Penske has announced the “departure” of team president Tim Cindric, who’s had that position since 2006 and has been a part of Team Penske since 1999, the team’s managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer. These are three very smart racers; it was never stated, through the team’s press release that the trio was “fired” but they’re the ones who are taking the blame and heat for this issue.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” said Roger Penske after his team announced the trio’s firing. “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.”
When Champ Car and the Indy Racing (IRL) merged in 2008, Kevin “Rocket” Blanch was the IRL tech savant. A self-proclaimed hillbilly who came to the IRL as a former paint tech in a body shop, he learned on the job and moved up the tech ladder. He’s in charge of tech inspection. The question right now is this: does Rocket belong where he’s working or is he in over his head?
According to a variety of crew members with whom we’ve spoken, the gist of this entire problem is Rocket’s Rules, which many state are arbitrary items and rather vague interpretations of the rulebook. Remember, Team Penske’s cars went through tech inspection a dozen times thus far in the month of May; it took the 12th time to uncover the issue with two of the team’s three cars.
Josef Newgarden and Will Power were moved to the rear of the field and their teams are paying $100,000 each in fines. Each of the lead strategists for these two squads is gone, as of Wednesday morning. Scott McLaughlin’s car passed the smell test, even after he had a huge accident on Sunday, prior to the top 12’s qualifying efforts. No matter what, McLaughlin was not going to be able to qualify his No. 3 Chevy/Dallara. He remains 10th on the grid.
Several days later, there remain more questions than answers about this #attenuatorgate issue. Was the 2024 Indy 500-winning car illegal? It could have been. Will Team Penske and Josef Newgarden have to give back their win? Of course not; that’s not how Indy works. Will every car, henceforth, going through tech get the same scrutiny that fell to Team Penske? Well, they better. Will things change in the tech department? At this point, INDYCAR president J. Douglas Boles says no; he has not put any onus on Kevin Blanch and his small, full-time crew.
Sigh.
The problems – and yes, there are many – with all of the properties within INDYCAR owned by Mr. Penske, with the commonality of cheating – and the fact that Mr. Penske’s teams have been caught twice in the last two seasons with offenses that wreak havoc on the sport – and with the culture of the Indianapolis 500, which really is the Greatest Spectacle in Racing, keep piling up.
When 33 cars and drivers line up for the start on Sunday, May 25, will competitors be sure they’re racing against legal cars? Will the other 31 race cars be legal in all respects? Will anyone care once the green flags fly and the 200-lap contest is on?
Those of us that are imbued with love for Indy, the 500 and these earthbound missiles that regularly circle the 2.5 miles of pavement that constitute the Indianapolis Motor Speedway at speeds well over 200mph, remain distraught over this occurrence. We don’t like cheaters. We don’t like being fooled. No matter who does the cheating, there must be real penalties for those found guilty of cheating
Jacob Abel, a rookie racing with Honda-powered Dale Coyne Racing, had a legal Dallara with which he attempted to qualify. In a 34-car field, he was 34th fastest and there are, obviously, 33 in the 11 rows on this grid. While we all know that 88-year-old Roger Penske is determined to win again at his IMS track, that he lives to win this race, this year perhaps he should swallow his pride and allow Abel the chance to compete in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
By Anne Proffit