IndyCar moves 2 Team Penske drivers to back row after violations

Will Power's No. 12 car during Indianapolis 500 qualifications on May 17, 2025. (Penske Entertainment Photo/John Grainda)

Two Team Penske cars found to have mechanical violations during Indianapolis 500 qualifications on Sunday have been moved to the back of the starting grid, IndyCar announced.

The cars, driven by Will Power and two-time winner Josef Newgarden, will move to the 32nd and 33rd starting positions for the May 25 race.

On top of the back-of-grid repositioning, both are being fined $100,000 and will lose their qualification points and pit box selections. Both strategists associated with the cars will also be suspended from Indianapolis 500 activities through the end of the month.

The weekend’s qualifications dealt a stunning blow to the team owned by Roger Penske, who also owns IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500, which he has won a record 20 times.

After the violation was discovered, IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles initially said Newgarden and Power would join McLaughlin in starting on the fourth row of the race. But after the series gathered more facts overnight, Newgarden and Power were penalized to the rear of the field.

“The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity,” Boles said. “The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33, however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”

The trouble began before the Fast 12 shootout Sunday when rival team owner Chip Ganassi was among a chorus of competitors who accused Team Penske of cheating.

Tim Cindric, president of Penske’s IndyCar program, said Power passed inspection but officials flagged Newgarden’s car. He also said the modification was not on the car of Scott McLaughlin, who had crashed in practice ahead of fast 12 qualifying.
Newgarden and Power had their cars pulled from the qualifying lineup, effectively ending their chances at the pole.

Boles said Penske was not involved in the decision and was informed of the “devastating” news in the hours before the announcement.

“I get the optics challenge, and it’s definitely something we should think about,” Boles said. “There are things that happen that don’t ever get to Roger. I can tell you that Roger Penske would not condone this. In fact, I had a chance to talk to Roger, and I can tell that this is devastating to him.”

A year ago, Team Penske was caught in a push-to-pass scandal in which Newgarden was found to have access to the additional boost of horsepower when he should not have. He was stripped of his season-opening victory and Penske suspended Cindric for two races, which included the Indy 500.

The fast 12 was also reduced to just nine cars attempting to advance to the final qualifying round, when six drivers compete for the pole. The six to advance were Felix Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, rookie Robert Shwartzman, Scott Dixon, Alex Palou and Takuma Sato.

Shwartzman won, becoming the first Indy 500 rookie to qualify on the pole since 1983.