Chip Ganasi racing driver Scott Dixon aimed for Team Pensuke as two of the three cars failed to pass technical inspections during the qualifying round for the Indianapolis 500.
Penske has changed its rear Accent Tutor in two of its three Chevrolet-powered cars, so many rival drivers and teams are thinking about the scandal.
Arrow McLaren Chief Zach Brown said Saga questioned the “integrity” of Pensuke’s decision makers and argued that the changes to the spec parts were intentionally made.
Former Indy 500 winner Dixon is lacking in his opinion, and the entire controversy says the series, owned by Roger Pensuke himself, doesn’t look good.
“That’s not my problem. I’m here to race legally,” he said. “It’s just a bad look, right? It’s (owner) Roger’s (Pensuke) series and his tracks.
“That’s not something that none of us want to see. But that’s what it is. It’s kind of sad.”
CGR Managing Director Mike Hull emphasizes the importance of protecting the “integrity” of the Indy 500 scale race when asked to think about the incident.
“The Indianapolis 500 is a global event, not a domestic event,” he said. “It’s not an internal (interstate) 465 event. It’s a global event and needs to be consistently handled by the integrity of the teams represented in the grid.”
Indycar found an illegally changed rear accent accent on both Josef Newgarden cars, increasing the power ahead of the final part of Sunday’s qualifying.
Both drivers were then sent to the back of the grid on Monday, but Pensk was fined $100,000 for each entry.
Scott McLaughlin is the only Pensuke driver who has not been affected by chaos after attacking the car on Sunday, as IndyCar failed to find a fix.
Meyer Shank’s Helio Castrones defended his previous team in the wake of the drama, saying that Pensuke “don’t need that kind of thing to go fast.”
“I think they did something that looked good. I don’t think the little lips are going to make them 3 mph faster,” he said.
“To be honest, I know how Roger works. He wants everything to be beautiful, perfect, shiny, and I think it touches on that area that isn’t.”
“They don’t need that kind of thing to go fast,” Castroneves said. “I don’t think this is a situation where people are creating and creating something big.”
NASCAR Cup Series star Kyle Larson competes with Arrow McLaren for the Indy 500, but said he prefers to move away from the saga to complete his double duty on Memorial Day weekend.
“I have no opinion on it. I’m away from it,” Larson said. “Even on the NASCAR side, when (Chris) Buescher got the penalty, I didn’t know what it was and really didn’t care. It doesn’t affect me and our team.