IndyCar Team Was Caught Cheating During 2024 Race
24/04/2024 21:33
One IndyCar team has been penalized for cheating during the opening race of the 2024 season, and the winner of that race has been changed in the series' official record books.
Newgarden won the race, and that win has now been given to Pato O'Ward, who finished second.
Another Penske driver, Will Power, was also penalized. Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified, while Power was docked 10 points.
All three Penske drivers were fined $25,000 for the incident, and they were required to forfeit all prize money associated with the St. Petersburg race.
"The integrity of the INDYCAR SERIES championship is critical to everything we do," said IndyCar president Jay Frye.
"While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, INDYCAR discovered the manipulation during Sunday's warm up 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."
Team Penske says that it accepts the penalties, and accepted responsibility for the actions of both Newgarden and McLaughlin.
Power has not been accused of any wrongdoing, but IndyCar has determined that Newgarden and McLaughlin used the push-to-pass system during restarts, which is forbidden under the series rules.
As the new winner of the race, O'Ward is now up to fourth in the series standings this year, trailing Scott Dixon, Colton Herta and Alex Palou.
Newgarden is now out of the top 10 in the point standings, and no Team Penske drivers are among the top 10 for the first time this season.
