Newgarden stripped of season-opening IndyCar victory for manipulating system

Team Penske was dealt a humiliating disqualification Wednesday when reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden was stripped of his victory in the IndyCar season-opening race for manipulating his push-to-pass system.

Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, who finished third in the opener on the downtown streets of St. Petersburg, Florida, was also disqualified. Will Power, who finished fourth at St. Pete, was not disqualified, but docked 10 points.

Additionally, all three Penske entries were fined $25,000 and forfeited all prize money associated with the race. Power has not been accused of any wrongdoing.

Roger Penske owns the race team, the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, host of the Indy 500.

“Very disappointing,” Penske said in a text message to The Associated Press. “I am embarrassed.”

The reverberations were immediate throughout the paddock.

“I’ve emulated Roger Penske for many years on and off the track, so today’s news is quite a disappointment for me,” rival team owner Chip Ganassi told the AP. “This is a blemish on his team, their organization, and the series. Very disappointing as a fellow owner and competitor in the series.”

The disqualifications gave the victory to Pato O’Ward, who finished second. It is the first win for McLaren’s IndyCar team since 2022.

Although Newgarden is accused of cheating in the March 10 opener, IndyCar said the manipulation wasn’t discovered until Sunday morning’s warmup in Long Beach, California — nearly two months later.

“The integrity of the IndyCar Series championship is critical to everything we do,” IndyCar President Jay Frye said. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, IndyCar discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports

Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”

A review of the data from the St. Petersburg race showed that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system so the three Penske drivers could use push-topass on starts and restarts. According to IndyCar rules, the use of the overtake isn’t available until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line.