Team Penske 'illegal' parts row takes stunning twist with key departures

Team Penske has announced the departure of Tim Cindric, its IndyCar Team President after an illegal parts saga at the Indy 500. 

On Sunday during qualifying, the Penske machines of Josef Newgarden and Will Power were pulled out of line before going out for the Fast 12 after officials spotted a technical infringement on their cars.

It concerned the attenuator (the rear crash structure) where two separate weaves of carbon fibre had been smoothed over by the team to flatten out the join. This is something expressly banned under the technical regulations. 

The idea was that the smoother the air flow, the less drag would be created, and thus the cars could go faster. Reports from US media state that Penske mechanics had smoothed over the attenuators after receiving the spec parts back from Dallara, following modifications, and were unhappy with the aesthetics, thus smoothing them out. 

Newgarden's winning machine from the 2024 Indy 500 is currently housed in the on-site museum, and is presented with the smoothed-out areas. Photo-evidence suggests it was used during the race where he passed McLaren's Pato O'Ward on the final lap. 

Following the discovery of the parts, which had been used for well over a year and raises questions for IndyCar's technical team, Newgarden and Power were sent to the back of the field for Sunday's race, with each entry fined $200,000, with the team strategists also suspended.

Cindric, Roger Penske's right-hand man and de facto boss of the team, has now left the organisation he first joined in 1999. 

The news comes after a scandal in 2024 where Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were found to have used the Push to Pass overtaking aid illegally earlier in the season, with Cindric banned from the '24 500. 

The statement is in full below. 

Team Penske statement

"Team Penske announced today the departures of IndyCar Team President Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer from the organisation.

"Team Penske will have further announcements this week related to personnel and replacements for this weekend's Indianapolis 500."

Roger Penske himself added: "Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams.

"We have had organisational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologise to our fans, partners and organisation for letting them down."