IndyCar disqualified Team Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin for violating its “Push to Pass” regulations in their Dallara-Chevrolets during the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
As a result, Arrow McLaren driver Pato O’Ward, who had finished second, has been named the winner of the March 10 season opener (his first victory since 2022 and the fifth of his career). Newgarden had won the race, and McLaughlin had finished third.
Penske’s Will Power also was docked 10 points but kept his finishing position and was moved up to second from fourth. The updated top five finishers at St. Pete: O’Ward, Power, Colton Herta, Alex Palou and Felix Rosenqvist.
NEW FINISHING ORDER: Click here for updated St. Pete results
IndyCar officials determined that Newgarden and McLaughlin had used push to pass for an advantage on restarts while Power didn’t. All three entries also were fined $25,000 and forfeited their St. Pete prize money.
“The integrity of the IndyCar Series championship is critical to everything we do,” IndyCar president Jay Frye said in a statement. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, IndyCar discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars 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 penalty drops Newgarden from first in the championship standings to 11th. Long Beach winner Scott Dixon is the new championship leader by two points over Colton Herta; IndyCar has posted updated points standings here.
On push to parameters, IndyCar said the drivers were in violation of Rule 14.19.15 (“An indicator to enable Push to Pass will be sent via CAN communication from the timing and scoring beacon on board the Car to the team data logger. This signal must be passed on to the ECU unmodified and uninterrupted during all Road and Street Course Events.”) and Rule 14.19.16 (“Race Starts and any Race Restart that occurs before the lap prior to the white flag or prior to three minutes remaining in a timed Race Event will have the Push to Pass system disabled and will be enabled for a given Car once that Car reaches the alternate Start/Finish line.”).
Per its rulebook, IndyCar said the push to pass parameters violated a Race Procedure Penalty (9.2.2) that includes the right to reposition results with a disqualification.
In a release, IndyCar said the violations were discovered in the Sunday morning practice for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Data from the St. Pete race then was reviewed extensively, revealing “that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system” so Newgarden, McLaughlin and Power had the ability “to use Push to Pass on starts and restarts.
According to the IndyCar rulebook, use of overtake is not available during championship races until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line. It was determined that (Newgarden) and (McLaughlin) gained a competitive advantage by using Push to Pass on restarts while (Power) did not.”
The penalty could be appealed, but Team Penske said in a statement that it accepted the penalty and wouldn’t challenge the ruling.
“Unfortunately, the push-to-pass software was not removed as it should have been, following recently completed hybrid testing in the Team Penske Indy cars,” Team Penske president Tim Cindric said in a release. “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.
“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 post Wednesday night, McLaughlin said he “was not aware of the situation with the software” and pushed the button for less than 2 seconds in a section exiting Turn 9 where the overtake button is used. “I hit the button out of habit, but I did not pass any cars nor did I gain any time advantage. The data, which IndyCar has, confirms all of this information.”
— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin93) April 25, 2024
Power also posted a statement Thursday morning, reinforcing that he didn’t take advantage of the overtake button on the start or restarts at St. Pete.
— Will Power (@12WillPower) April 25, 2024
Team Penske is owned by Roger Penske, who also became the owner of the NTT IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway before the 2020 season.
In a text to Associated Press reporter Jenna Fryer, Penske said the penalty was “Very disappointing. I am embarrassed.”
Rival team owner Chip Ganassi said in a statement to the AP: “I’ve emulated Roger Penske for many years on and off the track, so today’s news is quite a disappointment for me. This is a blemish on his team, their organization, and the series. Very disappointing as a fellow owner and competitor in the series.”