Penske drivers' very different reactions to Indy scandal and sackings

Team Penske's trio of IndyCar drivers have addressed the controversy surrounding the team after the firing of most of the senior leadership team after a rules breach in Indianapolis 500 qualifying, with one driver in particular going for an aggressive defence of his team and boss.

Tensions have run high ever since the saga began with Josef Newgarden's #2 car failing inspection in qualifying for the Fast 12 last Sunday, after which Will Power's car was also pulled from the session. Both had modified attenuators - the rear crash structure on the car - in breach of the rules and next day were put to the back of the grid for Sunday's race.

Scott McLaughlin was the only Penske driver without a modified attenuator but crashed in practice before qualifying, so he didn't get to put a lap in during the Fast 12 and starts 10th.

While he was joking with his fellow drivers in the media session, McLaughlin got serious, and criticised unnamed drivers and members of the media for their role in Roger Penske's name being "dragged through the mud" and president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer all being released by Penske.

"Ultimately, those three guys are friends of mine and have done a tremendous amount in my career to get me to this point," said McLaughlin.

"There's a sadness from my perspective. At the end of the day I drive for Roger Penske. 

"I respect the decision. I understand the decision. We move forward.

"I think I'm disappointed in some of my peers and people in this room [media], just how it was taken out of proportion in some ways.

"At the same time, I think people forget just what Roger's done for this sport in general, and that definitely gets thrown to the side a little bit, which I have a hard time not being passionate about.

"But ultimately what's done is done. This happened. We have to move forward. The penalties are accepted.

"Personally I think I had the fastest car, I put it in the fence. I didn't have what was said.

"Smart people in this paddock know there was no gain with that, you know?

"It's frustrating that this is blown up like it has and it's cost three people that I'm very close with their jobs. But overall, my view on it right now is just to focus forward and win Roger his 21st [Indy 500].

"I tell you what, there's that much motivation in our garage, within the team, within my stand."

McLaughlin said he wouldn't "call people out" by name, referring to other drivers, and said he understood other competitors wanted to point out potential rules breaches as just part of the game.

But, he again spoke passionately in defence of his team owner:

"I'm disappointed with how Roger's name has been thrown through the mud, his integrity, our team, the people on the floor, the people that spend hours away from their families trying to build these cars.

"Basically, they're being thrown to the mud. I take that personally."

It's worth bearing in mind McLaughlin lost the most out of the trio and had the least grounds for doing so. His car didn't have the modified attenuator, starts 10th still and yet he has lost his strategist, Moyer, for the biggest race of the year.

It's easy to see why he's the most annoyed out of the group.

Power's lower-key approach

Power was slightly more measured in his response to the situation, not that McLaughlin went too far or was unsavoury in any way, Power was simply just slightly more low-key in delivering a similar message.

"It's kind of a shock and a pity," said Power.

"They're all extremely good at their job. It was just the pressure from outside. I guess Roger had to make a tough decision, but I can tell you these were very credible people. They really were.

"As you know, the infraction was very minor. It wasn't a performance gain.

"I feel bad for everyone involved in that situation, I really do.

"They're all extremely good people, great at their job, won a lot of races, championships, created an incredible team. A real pity."

Roger Penske didn't sleep the night before the decision to release most of his senior leadership team, according to Power, who added "I know it was very tough for him".

"He's in a very tough spot in that situation," he added.

"You could tell it was heavy on him. Tough, tough for him to have to do that."

The most intriguing response?

McLaughlin will get the headlines for his passionate and emphatic approach, but reigning and two-time 500 winner Josef Newgarden basically talked around the subject but wouldn't engage on many specifics of the story.

It was a far cry from when he called a press conference to give an emotional and tear-filled explanation of his actions during the push-to-pass scandal last year, although it should be added that Newgarden and the other drivers had no blame in anything that's happened here. 

"Well, we've got a lot of people sitting here today, it looks like," said Newgarden in his media session.

"I don't want to disappoint or offend anybody. I'm here to talk about the race. 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've got to say."

He did concede some ground when asked if he came into the race angry, frustrated, etc. He said "right now I'm trying to remain… what's the way to put this… trying to remain happy".

Asked if it was easy to stay happy, he joked Indianapolis was too wet and cold to do so.

Unlike Power, who sat down in person with Penske to learn of the decision to change personnel, Newgarden was on a press tour in New York, so he got told over the phone.

He was asked how he reacted when he heard, and he said: "I just see a bigger mountain, that's all I see".

Newgarden reckons he can "absolutely" still win the race from 32nd, despite it never having been done before.

"You can win this race from any seat in the house, there's no bad seat in this house," he said.

Towards the end, Newgarden was asked how he hopes to be there for Roger Penske in this difficult time.

"I'm not going to comment further on the actions that have happened with the team this week, like I said earlier," was all he would say in response.

A defence of Newgarden last year

Despite Roger Penske appearing to admit Josef Newgarden's car had an illegal part on it when it won the 2024 Indy 500. IndyCar president Doug Boles has said that result won't be changed.

Pato O'Ward - overtaken by Newgarden on the last lap last year - spoke about the decision to leave last year's race result as it stood.

"You know what, whatever it was, I would have never wanted to win an Indy 500 a year later just because one car got caught being illegal, whatever," said O'Ward. 

"I truly believe Josef won that race. He timed it better than I did.

"I want to be able to experience what any Indy 500 winner gets to experience, the whole energy. That's ultimately what takes the experience to the next level, just being an Indy 500 winner."

O'Ward will start from his best starting position of third for this year's race.

What have other drivers said?

Media day is still ongoing, but there have been other reactions to the controversy.

Helio Castroneves, who spoke out in support of his long-time team Penske by saying the attenuator alterations were to make things "look nice" and not a performance gain, added, "I don't think the team is going to be affected at all, to be honest".

Ed Carpenter, driver and team owner, addressed the potential for an independent rules and regulations body which would make things like technical inspection independent.

"All that I'll really say about that, just because there's a lot to really be discussed still, I think the start of the conversations that have happened this week have been positive and productive. I look forward to hopefully being part of that as it develops.

"I think this week kind of set the stage for what should be some productive work into the future."

Scott Dixon said he hoped the attention would return to key storylines rather than focusing on

"It's a difficult situation for them, right?" said Dixon.

"I think they're under the magnifying glass anyway with what happened last year, then what happened last weekend. It's unfortunate I think mostly just for the series.

"I don't want to get involved with it, to be honest. We've seen how it's playing out. They're doing the best they can at this moment.

"The downside is that most of the talk going into our biggest race of the year is about that as opposed to someone like [Robert] Shwartzman getting the pole, rookie team. There's so many cool stories going into it. Hopefully that definitely ramps up."

One final nugget from the day was Alex Palou addressing a video of him laughing with Josef Newgarden just before the Fast 12 while work went on the car and Power's car too.

You can watch it in the video below.

"I was there like 10 minutes before Fast 12. Josef's car was right in front of us. I was just focused on my qualifying. Before getting into the car, I saw a lot of movement there.

"I know that you're allowed to change front wing, rear wing, but nothing else. I was just there, just trying to be funny. I asked if they were trying to cheat. I didn't know what was going on. I didn't get an answer there.

"Then suddenly I found what was going on! But I honestly didn't know what was going on. I just tried to be funny at that moment.

"That's a…sorry."

Personnel changes

Penske has confirmed the personnel changes it will make to cover for the loss of Cindric, Ruzewaki and Moyer.

Unlike last year, Jonathan Diuguid will not be strategist for Josef Newgarden, as the latter's engineer Luke Mason will take that role. Rapha Matos will engineer the car.

For McLaughlin, there's a similar swap with his engineer Ben Bretzman moving to strategist and Malcolm Finch will engineer. Will Power keeps Dave Faustino as engineer with Diuguid as race strategist.