Ahead of the Indy 500 on Sunday, Team Penske has made the massive decision to dismiss three of their biggest names on the IndyCar side as they look to rebuild their reputation.
Team President Tim Cindric, Managing Director Ron Ruzewski, and General Manager Kyle Moyer have left the organisation. It’s a huge development as all three men have spent many years at Penske. Cindric joined in 1999; Ruzewski was next in 2005; Moyer was there since the middle of the last decade. Cindric and Moyer also worked as strategists on the Newgarden and McLaughlin cars respectively.
Two-time defending Indy 500 winner Newgarden and previous victor Will Power got sent to the back of the grid after their attenuators were modified ahead of the Fast 12. They were not allowed to participate in it initially, before getting put to the back.
“The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the INDYCAR rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” INDYCAR President J. Douglas Boles said. “The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”
It follows on from St. Pete last year when two of the three cars got disqualified in a scandal involving push-to-pass. Josef Newgarden had initially won the race. Suspensions had been handed down. Now, bigger action is taken.
Team Penske IndyCar statement
“Team Penske announced today the departures of INDYCAR Team President, Tim Cindric, INDYCAR Managing Director, Ron Ruzewski and INDYCAR General Manager Kyle Moyer from the organization. Team Penske will have further announcements this week related to personnel and replacements for this weekend’s Indianapolis 500.”
Roger Penske:
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams. We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”
