Newgarden and Power to start Indy 500 last as Penske penalised

Josef Newgarden and Will Power will start the Indianapolis 500 from the last row of the grid after Team Penske was penalised heavily for an illegal car modification that was discovered during qualifying.

During Sunday’s Fast 12 qualifying, both Newgarden and Power were pulled from the session after an issue was discovered with the rear attenuator of Newgarden ‘s car. The same issue existed on Power’s car and Penske attempted to fix it in the pitlane.

However, these modifications were not allowed and they were denied a shot at the Indy 500 pole that was taken by rookie Robert Shwartzman.

Newgarden was set to start next weekend’s Indy 500 in 11th and Power 12th, but some competitors believed this was unfair, and on Monday, IndyCar officials relegated Newgarden to 32nd and Power 33rd on the grid – the very rear of the field. 

“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.”

IndyCar has also suspended the team strategists for both cars and fined each entry $100,000. They will also forfeit their qualifying points. Scott McLaughlin, who crashed in Sunday morning practice, did not take part in Fast 12 qualifying.

IndyCar officials still inspected the #3 car and said: “Upon review of the car, and IndyCar impounding the No. 3 attenuator, IndyCar found that the car was in fact using a legal and unmodified attenuator.”

Boles added: “The positive momentum around the IndyCar Series and the Indianapolis 500 has been on a steep crescendo over the last several months, and we want it to be clear that our intent is to maintain that momentum and discourage teams from putting IndyCar in positions where it calls into the integrity of our officiating and the levelness of the playing field.

“As we look to the remainder of the week and the race this weekend, we will do everything we can to make it clear that this is not only the best racing on the planet but racing where the best win under completely fair conditions.”