INDIANAPOLIS — Four key members of Team Penske have been suspended ahead of the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500.
Penske's No. 2 engineer Luke Mason, senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson, managing director Ron Ruzewski and president Tim Cindric have all been suspended for the next two IndyCar races — the Sonsio Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's road course and the Indy 500.
Atkinson, Mason, Ruzewski and Cindric were punished by Team Penske for their involvement in a manipulation of push-to-pass systems during the Firestone Grand Prix in St. Petersburg, Florida.
Team Penske's Josef Newgarden crossed the finish line first in the NTT IndyCar Series' opening race of the year. He wasn't, however, officially declared the winner of the race.
Newgarden was disqualified and stripped of a victory for manipulating his push-to-pass system. His Penske teammates, Scott McLaughlin and Will Power were also penalized after season-opening race.
McLaughlin finished third and was disqualified, while Power, who placed fourth, was docked 10 points.
All three Penske entries in the race were fined $25,000. The racers also forfeited all the prize money associated with the race.
Newgarden's disqualification paved the way for Pato O'Ward, who technically finished one spot behind Newgarden, to win the race. O'Ward's victory marked the first for McLaren's IndyCar team since 2022.
Previous reporting shows that Team Penske manipulated overtake systems, allowing their three drivers to use push-to-pass on starts and restarts. IndyCar rules dictate that an overtake system should not be used until a driver crosses the alternate finish line.
At the time of Newgarden's disqualification, Cindric said that the push-to-pass software was not removed from Penske's vehicles following recent hybrid testing the team had been conducting.
“This software allowed for push-to-pass to be deployed during restarts at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix race when it should not have been permitted,” Cindric said after the Firestone Grand Prix. “The No. 2 car driven by Josef Newgarden and the No. 3 car driven by Scott McLaughlin, both deployed push-to-pass on a restart, which violated IndyCar rules. Team Penske accepts the penalties applied by IndyCar.”
In a statement posted on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter, Team Penske indicated that it had conducted a comprehensive internal review of the situation. The team discovered "that there were significant failures in (its) processes and internal communications" during its investigation.
"I recognize the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I've dedicated so many decades," Roger Penske wrote in a prepared statement. "Everyone at Team Penske, along with our fans and business partners, should know that I apologize for the errors that were made, and I deeply regret them."
Team Penske's infractions allegedly happened in Florida but weren't discovered until its drivers were warming up for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach in California more than a month later.
Penske's NASCAR team was also penalized earlier this year. Driver Joey Logano was fined $10,000 and stripped of his second-place starting position for a race at Atlanta Motor Speedway.
A black glove made of unspecified material was found on his left hand. Some alleged that Logano had the glove altered so he could place his hand out his window as an aerodynamic blocker during qualifying.
The Sonsio Grand Prix will begin on Saturday at 3 p.m. Indy NXT races will precede the series event at 6:10 p.m. Friday and 1 p.m. Saturday.