Roger Penske owning IndyCar “hinders its legitimacy” - James Hinchcliffe
James Hinchcliffe among those questioning Penske as the accentuator controversy refuses to die down.
Former Andretti and Schmidt Peterson driver James Hinchcliffe believes Roger Penske’s ownership of both IndyCar and Team Penske “hinders the legitimacy” of America’s premier open-wheel series.
Team Penske has been competing in IndyCar racing since 1968, but its billionaire owner stepped up his involvement in November 2019 when he bought the championship and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway from the Hulman family.
Since then, there have been repeated calls for IndyCar to introduce an independent officiating process to separate the commercial and regulatory sides of the series.
IndyCar’s operations have been thrust into the spotlight again after Team Penske was found to have illegally modified the rear crash support structure - called the accentuator - on the cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power in the Indy 500 qualifying last weekend.
IndyCar penalised Newgarden and Power by sending both to the back of the grid for Sunday’s race, while also imposing a hefty $200,000 fine on Penske, but the controversy has remained a hot topic in the build-up to the event.
Six-time race winner Hinchcliffe has now questioned the level of control Roger Penske has over IndyCar, saying the owner of a championship or a sporting league should not be allowed to run a team in it.
“It’s not a great look,” Hinchcliffe said on the Awful Announcing Podcast. “It’s been a topic of discussion over the last few years. I don’t know of any other professional sporting body where the owner of the sport and the series also owns a team.
“I don’t think the track part plays a huge element to it, to be honest. It’s more having the series and a team that competes in the series under the same ownership [that] brings up a lot of questions of conflict of interest.”
Asked if he feels Roger Penske should be allowed to remain the owner of both IndyCar and Team Penske, he added: “No, I don’t. From either position.
“[NFL commissioner] Roger Goodell doesn’t own a football team. [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver doesn’t own a basketball team. I don’t know of any professional sport where that happens. And it actually hinders IndyCar’s legitimacy on the global sporting platform, operating the way that we currently are.”
Following the qualifying scandal, Penske fired three long-time staff members from the team, including its IndyCar chief Tim Cindric.
During the announcement, Roger Penske said that “nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams.”
The interview with Hinchcliffe was recorded prior to Penske’s ousting of Cindric, Ron Ruzewski and Kyle Moyer.
Rival team bosses from Arrow McLaren and Chip Ganassi also questioned Penske’s “integrity” in the wake of the controversy.
Scott McLaughlin, the only Penske driver not to run a modified accentuator, hit back at those trying to drag Roger Penske’s name through the mud.
