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“INDY 500-GREEN FLAG & BLACK FLAG”
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A stunning story at the Old Brickyard, where the owner of the Indianapolis Speedway, who puts on the Indy 500, and has the top team in the circuit, dropped a black flag on the people who run his organization.
Roger Penske, who has won 20-Indy 500s, and runs the sport and the Speedway, saw his team ensnarled in a scandal over an aerodynamic rule, that knocked two of his top drivers off the front row, sent them to the back row.
It’s the second scandal in two years for a Penske team. He terminated the top 3-execs in his organization in a stunning move.
The race comes Sunday, but key Penske drivers may have a tough time winning.
Green flag on Sunday. Black Flag already out. Details from the Associated Press story:
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INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Roger Penske attempted to close the latest cheating scandal engulfing his race team — this one at his beloved Indianapolis 500 — by firing his top three executives at Team Penske after two of the Penske cars were found to be illegal.
Penske fired team president Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer on Wednesday in the wake of this Indianapolis 500 cheating scandal.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said in a statement. “We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”
Penske is owner of the three-car team, IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500. He has won the Indy 500 a record 20 times.
The firings and Penske’s statement have been his first public reaction since two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and teammate Will Power were found to have an illegally modified spec part on their cars ahead of Sunday’s final round of qualifications for the 109th running of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
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Penske after the firings were announced held a team owner’s meeting remotely in which he took responsibility for his team’s actions. Some who dialed-in told The Associated Press the meeting lasted 20 minutes and the owners were satisfied with the outcome; no owners called for the Penske cars to be kicked out of the race, and the only questions asked were about how IndyCar moves on from the scandal ahead of the biggest race in the world.
“What he did in firing three people is a big deal,” Arrow McLaren team principal Tony Kanaan told The Associated Press. “I think everyone recognized how big of a deal this is to Roger and now it’s just a question of how to move on and how to make sure tech doesn’t miss these things again.”
Neither Newgarden or Power were allowed to qualify Sunday when rivals pointed out the illegal modification. Both drivers on Monday were dropped to the back of the field and will start 32nd and 33rd. Rival teams have been arguing it was not enough since it’s the second cheating scandal in two seasons and potentially illegal cars bumped Jacob Abel of Dale Coyne Racing from the field.
Newgarden is attempting to become the first driver in history to win three consecutive Indy 500s; no driver has ever won starting from the last row.
Cindric and Ruzewski had already been suspended by IndyCar for the race and both teams fined $100,000. It is the second consecutive year Cindric and Ruzewski were suspended from the Indy 500.
Rivals have been calling on Penske to address the situation since Sunday while questioning if IndyCar and the Indy 500 can continue to operate without an independent governing body absent of any Penske employees.
The trouble for Team Penske began before the fast 12 shootout on Sunday, when rival team owner Chip Ganassi was among a chorus of competitors who accused it of cheating. They noticed unapproved changes had been made to the rear attenuator, a safety device designed to absorb and reduce the force of impacts, and the assumption was the modifications would have given the two Team Penske cars an aerodynamic advantage in their four-lap qualifying runs.
