The defending Indianapolis 500 champion has been stripped of his victory in another race for abusing his push-to-pass system.
The Associated Press reports that Josef Newgarden of Team Penske was disqualified from the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, which he won on March 10.
His teammate Scott McLaughlin, who came in third place, was also banned. Will Power, who finished fourth in St. Petersburg, was not disqualified, but he was fined ten points.
All three Penske entries were fined $25,000 and forfeited all race-related prize money.
“Very disappointing,” owner Roger Penske wrote in a text message to The Associated Press. “I am embarrassed.”
Other owners voiced alarm about the infractions, citing Penske’s status as a motorsports legend.
This is the team’s second cheating offence of the season, following Joey Logano’s $10,000 punishment and loss of second-place starting position in a NASCAR race at Atlanta after being spotted wearing an unauthorised glove during his qualifying lap.
“I’ve emulated Roger Penske for many years on and off the track, so today’s news is quite disappointing for me,” rival team owner Chip Ganassi told the Associated Press. “This reflects poorly on his squad, their organisation, and the series. “Very disappointing as a fellow owner and competitor in the series.”
Pato O’Ward, who finished second, won due to disqualifications. According to IndyCar, the modification was not found until a warmup in Long Beach, California on April 21.
“The integrity of the IndyCar Series championship is critical to everything we do,” IndyCar President Jay Frye stated. “While the infringement went undetected in St. Petersburg, IndyCar found the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and corrected it quickly, ensuring all vehicles were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
“Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”
The Team Penske drivers are accused of rigging the overtake mechanism to enable push-to-pass on starts and restarts. According to IndyCar rules, the overtake is not allowed until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line.
According to Team Penske president Tim Cindric, “push-to-pass software was not removed as it should have been, following recently completed hybrid testing in the Team Penske Indy cars.”
The disqualification dropped Newgarden, a two-time IndyCar champion, from lead to 11th in points.