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Roger Penske suspends Tim Cindric and three others amid IndyCar cheating scandal

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After a cheating scandal that rocked IndyCar ahead of the Indianapolis 500, Roger Penske has decided to suspend the president of Team Penske, Tim Cindricamong other things, for their commitment.

Cindric, the father of NASCAR Austin Cindric, helmsman of Team Penske’s No. 2 Ford, obviously plays a prominent role in the team’s operations. While Roger Penske noted that the team had “malicious intentions from someone,” he still decided to suspend four key members.

“Roger Penske said Tuesday he has suspended the president of Team Penske along with three others for two races for their roles in the cheating scandal that rocked IndyCar ahead of the Indianapolis 500,” the AP’s Jenna Fryer wrote. Penske said in an interview with The Associated Press that a review conducted by his general counsel found the team had no “malicious intent from anyone” and called the incident a breakdown of internal processes and miscommunication.

“He also said he remains committed to reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and is actively seeking to sign the two-time IndyCar champion to a contract extension.”

The suspensions are due to “an illegal software system being installed that allowed drivers to use the push-to-pass feature on starts and restarts.” “The system is controlled by IndyCar and is disabled on starts and restarts, if the additional performance increase is illegal,” Fryer noted.

Additionally, Team Penske and Roger Penske released a statement regarding the entire matter, in which Team Penske explained the extent of the suspensions.

“Following the penalties imposed on the Team Penske INDYCAR team and drivers after Long Beach, Team Penske has completed an internal review. After a complete and comprehensive analysis of the information, Team Penske determined that there were significant errors in our processes and internal communications,” Team Penske’s statement said. “As a result, Luke Mason (No. 2 Race Engineer) and Robbie Atkinson (Senior Data Engineer) are suspended from Team Penske for the next two INDYCAR races, including the Indianapolis 500

“In addition, Ron Ruzewski (General Manager, Team Penske INDYCAR) and Tim Cindric (President of Team Penske), who is responsible for overall Team Penske operations, will also be suspended for these two races.”

Roger Penske’s statement was an apology and let the IndyCar family know how sorry he is that his team is currently in such a poor state.

“I recognize the magnitude of what happened and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I have dedicated so many decades,” Roger Penske’s statement said. “Everyone at Team Penske, as well as our fans and business partners, should know that I apologize and deeply regret the mistakes made.”

Unfortunately, suspending Tim Cindric and others for the two races they now have to miss, including the Indianapolis 500, will hurt Roger Penske and Team Penske as a whole. We’ll see what effect that has on their team’s time frame.

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