Zak Brown: Indy 500 scandal raises questions over Penske’s “integrity"

McLaren Racing chief Zak Brown said the scandal that has embroiled Team Penske ahead of the Indy 500 “raises questions over the integrity” of its decision-makers.

Penske was found to have illegally modified the rear accentuator on the cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power during qualifying on Sunday, sending shockwaves down the paddock.

Neither Newgarden nor Power took part in the Top 12 shootout after Penske pulled both cars from the grid in the wake of the controversy.

IndyCar was forced to issue a raft of penalties against Penske on Monday, with each entry being fined $100,000 and their respective strategists being suspended for the rest of the month.

Further, Newgarden and Power have been sent to the back of the grid for the 109th running of the race, dealing a big blow to their chances of adding another win to their respective tallies.

Any scandal involving Team Penske is given extra weightage, with team boss Roger Penske also owning IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, thus creating a potential conflict of interest.

Brown, the boss of the rival Arrow McLaren team, suggested that Penske had intentionally modified the rear accentuator on Newgarden and Power’s cars, saying it cannot be an “honest mistake”.

“What a shame this cloud will continue to hover over our great race until everything is fully resolved,” Brown told The Associated Press.

“I’m very concerned, as are my fellow team owners, to find that Team Penske has been found with a multi-car major technical infringement for the second time in two seasons.

“In racing you can sometimes have mechanics who make miscalculations and you can sometimes have manufacturing issues that can all lead to honest mistakes. 

"I don’t believe that’s what happened here or last year, which raises questions over the integrity of the decision-making within that team.”

Rivals teams have been left to wonder if Penske got away with smoothing out the seams on Newgarden and Power’s cars on the opening day of qualifying.

Brown did not blame IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch for any alleged negligence but feels the series needs to do a better job of spotting any technical violations. 

“It’s clear IndyCar needs more depth and technical resources to examine and spot violations, flagrant or not,” Brown continued. “While I appreciate and support IndyCar’s position to move those two cars to the back of the field, there obviously remains a question mark regarding their compliance on Saturday.

“If it turns out this technical infringement was on their cars when they qualified Saturday, then it’s incredibly unfair that Jacob Abel and his team were bumped by non-compliant cars.

“However, I have complete confidence in Roger Penske’s commitment to look at that situation and to ensure that any such wrongs are righted.”

This is the second time in two years that Penske has been caught in a cheating scandal after it was found that all three of its drivers, including Scott McLaughlin, had the push-to-pass boost available to them at race starts and restarts in the 2024 St Petersburg race.

This was down to an illegal software that Penske was using, and it resulted in IndyCar disqualifying both race winner Newgarden and podium finisher McLaughlin from the race. Power escaped sanction as he didn’t use the P2P button in any restricted zone.

The latest controversy has led to further calls for IndyCar to separate the officiating process and let an independent body run the regulatory side of the series.

In response to the drama, recently-appointed IndyCar president Dough Boles explained that Roger Penske has a limited role in the day-to-day running of the championship.

He also revealed that Roger Penske was ‘devastated’ to hear that his team had been caught running an illegal part in qualifying for the Indy 500.

“I don’t think Roger Penske understands some of the things that might be going on,” Boles said.

“I get the optics challenge, and it’s definitely something we should think about.

“While (issues) roll up to Roger at the end of the day, I think they are certainly below him. 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.

"Nothing means more to Roger Penske than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500. This is something that I think he’s going to have to address at some point in time.”

Penske 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 the qualifying session yesterday,” it stated.

“We are disappointed by the results and the impact it has on our organization.

“We will make further announcements later this week related to personnel for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.”