McLaren Racing Chief Zach Brown said the scandal involving Team Pensuke “suging questions about integrity” in the Indy 500, which said the scandal “suggests about integrity” of decision makers.
It has been discovered that Pensuke has illegally changed the rear accented Accent Tutor of Joseph Newgarden’s car.
Neither Newgarden nor Power took part in the top 12 gunfights after Penske pulled both cars from Grid in the wake of a controversy.
Indycar was forced to impose a fine against Penske on Monday, with each entry being fined $100,000, and each strategist being suspended for the rest of the month.
Additionally, New Garden and Power were sent behind the grid for the 109th run of the race, taking a major blow to the chance to add another victory to each tally.
The scandals involving Team Penske are given additional weight, and team boss Roger Penske also owns Indycar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, creating a potential conflict of interest.
Brown, boss of rival Arrow McLaren team, suggested that Pensuke intentionally corrected the rear accents of New Garden and Power cars, saying it wasn’t an “honest mistake.”
“It’s a shame this cloud will continue to hover over our great race until everything is completely resolved,” Brown told The Associated Press.
“As with my fellow team owners, I’m very concerned about Team Pensuke being discovered in a second major multicar tech breach in two seasons.
“In races, you may have a mechanic that miscalculates and everything can have manufacturing issues that can lead to honest mistakes.
“I don’t think that’s what happened here or last year. This raises questions about the integrity of decision-making within that team.”
The rival teams were wondering if Penske had escaped to avoid slipping the seams of Newgarden and Power’s cars on the first day of qualifying.
Brown did not accus IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch of alleged negligence, but he feels the series needs to do a better job finding technical violations.
“It’s clear that IndyCar needs deeper and technical resources to investigate and find violations. “I appreciate and support IndyCar’s position as moving these two cars behind the field, but there’s clearly been a question mark on Saturday’s compliance.
“If it turns out that this technical breach was on their vehicle when they qualified on Saturday, it would be very unfair that Jacob Abel and his team hit a non-compliant car.
“But I am totally confident in Roger Pensuke’s commitment to seeing the situation and ensuring that such mistakes are right.”
Josef Newgarden, Penske
©Indycar
It’s the first time in two years that Pensuke has been caught up in a fraud scandal after all three drivers, including Scott McLaughlin, could take advantage of a push-to-pass boost during the 2024 race start and reboot of St. Peter’s Bar Grace.
This lies in the illegal software Penske was using, and Indycar disqualified both race winners Newgarden and Podium Finisher McLaughlin from the race. The power was spared sanctions because it did not use the P2P button in the restricted zone.
The latest controversy has called for INDYCAR to separate the moderator process and allow independent agencies to implement the regulatory side of the series.
In response to the drama, recently appointed President Indycar Doe Boles explained that Roger Pensuke has a limited role in the day-to-day management of the championship.
He also revealed that Roger Pensuke was “devastated” to hear that he was captured in an illegal role in the Indy 500 qualifying round.
“I don’t think Roger Pensuke understands some of the things that may be happening,” Boles said.
“I am under the challenge of optics, and that is definitely something we should think about.
“I think they’re certainly under him while rolling up to Roger at the end of the day. Sometimes things happen that don’t make it to Roger.
“I can say that Roger Pensuke wouldn’t tolerate this. In fact, I had the opportunity to talk to Roger, which I can say is devastating for him.
“For Roger Pensuke, it doesn’t make any more sense than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the Indianapolis 500. That’s something I think he has to deal with at some point.”
Pensuke issued a statement following Monday’s sanctions.
“We accept the penalties issued today by the IndyCar series, which are due to a ‘Body Fit’ violation that occurred prior to yesterday’s qualifying session.”
“We are disappointed by the outcome and the impact it will have on our organization.
“Later this week we will make further announcements related to upcoming Indianapolis 500 representatives.”