Josef Newgarden offers blunt response to Penske Indy 500 scandal questions

Josef Newgarden was unwilling to talk about the cheating scandal that has embroiled Team Penske ahead of the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500.

It was Newgarden’s car that first caught the attention of IndyCar’s technical inspectors during qualifying for the Indy 500, triggering a chain reaction that saw both him and teammate Will Power missing the session.

The rear accentuator - which forms the rear crash structure on the car - was found to have been illegally modified by Penske, with the squad having filled the seams to smoothen the part.

The whole saga initially left Newgarden and Power 11th and 12th on the grid as they skipped the Fast 12, but both were later sent to the back of the grid as part of a raft of penalties imposed by IndyCar on Monday.

The cheating controversy, the second for Penske in a little over a year after the push-to-pass saga that saw Newgarden being stripped of victory at St Pete in 2024, has become a mainstream topic of interest in the wider sporting world.

All three Penske drivers appeared in front of the media on Thursday, making their first public comments since the scandal broke out.

But while McLaughlin expressed his disappointment over Roger Penske’s name being dragged through the mud, and Power blamed external pressure for the team sacking three key staff members, Newgarden preferred not to directly comment about the news.

“I don’t want to disappoint or offend anybody. I’m here to talk about the race,” he said. “I’m here with my team. I’m ready to go racing.

“I love this race. My goodness, I’ve been enjoying being here this whole time. I look forward to it every year, as we all do. Ready to go to work with our group. Proud of everything that we have done up to this point. Ready to go racing. So that’s what I got to say.”

Newgarden is aiming to become the first driver in history to score three victories in a row at the Indy 500, having triumphed at the fabled race in both 2023 and ‘24 with Penske.

However, his task will be exponentially harder from 32nd on the grid; no driver has won the race from lower than 28th on the grid.

However, the American driver is not concerned about his starting position, believing he has what it takes to score a record-extending 21st win for Penske in IndyCar’s blue riband event.

“You can win this race from any seat in the house. There’s no bad seat in this house,” Newgarden said. 
“I like the challenge of coming from 32nd. We do have a great car. It just seems to be getting better every year. I’m trying to protect that right now. It’s one of these things where every day changes a little bit at the Speedway. You have to stay on top of it.

“Sunday is really going to be the day that counts. We have to make sure we’re in the right place for that day. If we can do that, we should be in a good spot.”