Roger Penske said Tuesday that he and three others have suspended Team Penske’s boss for two races for their role in the cheating scandal that rocked IndyCar ahead of the Indianapolis 500.
Penske said in an interview with The Associated Press that a review by his general counsel found the team had “no malicious intent by anyone” and described the incident as a breakdown in internal processes and miscommunication.
He also said he remains committed to reigning in Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and is actively trying to sign the two-time IndyCar champion to a contract extension.
“We are the same company we have been for 50 years and I will hold my head up high,” Penske told the AP. “This is an unfortunate situation, and when you are the leader, you have to take action. We did that and we are going to move forward. I am not trying to have a popularity contest.”
Tim Cindric, who oversees all Team Penske operations and is Newgarden’s strategist, is the first name to receive a two-race suspension. Team managing director Ron Rosowski, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and chief data engineer Robbie Atkinson have also been suspended.
Penske told the AP that Cindric and Roszewski “raised their hands as team leaders” to accept responsibility for the mess.
“For Ron and I as leaders of this team, it’s not about what we did, it’s about what we didn’t do. It is our responsibility to provide the team and all our drivers with the right processes to ensure something like this doesn’t happen,” Cindric said in a statement. “For that, I apologize to Roger and our team.” And everyone who supports us. Our first mission is to protect and enhance the reputation of our brand and those that support us.
“In this regard, as Commander-in-Chief, I have failed, and I must raise my hands and be accountable to others. This is a team, and in my position this is the right thing to do.”
Both Ruzewski and Atkinson work on Will Power’s car — Ruzewski is a strategist — and Power is the only one of the three Penske drivers who has not been accused of wrongdoing in the pay-to-pass scandal. Penske admitted that Bauer had done nothing wrong and said the suspensions of his crew members were based solely on their roles within the team.
No members of Scott McLaughlin’s team were punished.
The suspensions are for two races, covering this weekend’s event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500, which Penske is trying to win for a record-extending 20th time.
“This is a big deal, and it has a big impact on the team and the individuals involved,” Penske told the AP of the Indy 500’s inclusion in the suspension. I talked to all of them and the goal was: How can we move forward and be able to compete and win? Win the next two races? “That was the feeling I had when I left the meeting.”
Asked how Newgarden could move forward and regain the respect of his rivals, Penske said: “He has to do it on the race track. I think he understands the seriousness of this matter and I need to support him.”
He said contract talks with Newgarden are ongoing but “I definitely want to” want to re-sign him.
In a statement issued when the suspensions were announced, Penske apologized for the team’s actions.
“I recognize the magnitude of what happened and its continuing impact on the sport to which I have dedicated so many decades,” Penske said in the statement. “Everyone at Team Penske as well as our fans and business partners should know that I apologize for the mistakes made and I deeply regret them.”
The team said an internal review was completed after IndyCar discovered that all three Penske cars had an illegal software system installed that allowed drivers to use the push-to-pass function when starting and restarting. The system is controlled by IndyCar and is disabled at startup and restart, when the additional horsepower boost is illegal.
IndyCar caught it on the Penske cars in the morning warm-up at Long Beach when a software glitch took them out of all but the three Penske entries. An IndyCar investigation later showed that the software was in place at the opening race of the season and Newgarden used it to his advantage and confessed three times.
McLaughlin said he used it once in St. Petersburg and Bauer never used the software illegally. IndyCar stripped Newgarden of St. Pete’s win and McLaughlin of third place, while all three drivers were fined $25,000 and deducted 10 points.
Penske owns the race team, IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and has been working on damage control since series officials discovered the tampering late last month. Cindric said the software had been inadvertently left on the cars since last August when it was installed to test the upcoming IndyCar hybrid engine.
IndyCar said it is working on its processes to determine how screening could not be found in the first three events to open the season.
Meanwhile, Newgarden confirms that he believes there has been a rule change and that P2P is now legal upon reboot. McLaughlin said he pressed the button out of habit and gained no benefit from the horsepower boost that lasted less than two seconds.
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Motorsport AP: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
