Penske suspends the president and other members of the IndyCar team for cheating

“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,” Penske said.

“Everyone at Team Penske, as well as our fans and business partners, should know that I apologize and deeply regret the mistakes made.”

IndyCar announced strict disciplinary action against three Team Penske drivers on April 24 for their roles in violating “push-to-pass parameters.”

The push-to-pass system allows the driver to press a button, increasing power through a turbo boost in the vehicle. Use of the system is only permitted during a predetermined period of a race.

Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified while Will Power received a 10-point penalty at the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. Newgarden initially won the race. McLaughlin finished third while Power finished fourth in the season opener March 10 in St. Petersburg, Florida.

On Tuesday, in addition to Cindric, Penske also suspended No. 2 race engineer Luke Mason, lead data engineer Robbie Atkinson and Team Penske general manager Ron Ruzewski for two races.

IndyCar said it discovered Team Penske’s “possible rules violation” during an April 21 warm-up session for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

IndyCar’s extensive review of the St. Petersburg race also revealed that the team “manipulated the overtaking system” so that the numbers 2 (Newgarden), 3 (McLaughlin) and 12 (Power) used the push-to-pass system at the start could and restarts.

The review found that Newgarden and McLaughlin “gained a competitive advantage” by using the system in starts and restarts, but Power did not. All three drivers were fined $25,000 and forfeited all prize money associated with the race.

Pato O’Ward was credited with the victory after being taken away from Newgarden.

“The facts are extremely clear,” Newgarden told reporters last month. “There is no doubt that we broke the rules in St. Petersburg. I used push-to-pass twice at inappropriate times, on two different reboots. There’s really nothing other than that. Those are the rules and we didn’t follow them.”

Newgarden said he knew “exactly when” he pressed the button, while McLaughlin said he had “no recollection of pressing the button.”

McLaughlin won the Children’s of Alabama Indy Grand Prix on April 28 in Birmingham, Alabama. Power finished second, followed by Linus Lundqvist. Newgarden finished 16th.

Newgarden finished second in the $1 Million Challenge All-Star Race on March 24 and fourth in the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21.

The reigning Indianapolis 500 champion now has to do without several important team members in his title defense. Power, who won the 2018 Indianapolis 500, finished 12th in last year’s event while McLaughlin finished second.

Colton Herta, who finished in the top three in two of three championship events this season, leads the Drivers’ Championship. He finished in the top 10 in every event.

Power (100 points) is in second place, one point behind Herta. McLaughlin (59) is in ninth place, while Newgarden (48) is in 16th place.

The Sonsio Grand Prix is ​​the next race on the NTT IndyCar Series schedule. This event will take place at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. EDT and will be broadcast on NBC.

The 108th Indianapolis 500 will take place in Indianapolis on May 26 at 11 a.m. and will also be broadcast on NBC.