Indy 500: Team owners 'livid' discussing Team Penske, Josef Newgarden illegal parts controversy

There is drama in Indianapolis, folks. The Indy 500 is under heavy scrutiny amid a possible illegal parts scandal with Team Penske. It all started when Will Power and Josef Newgarden were disqualified from making qualifying laps in the IndyCar Fast 12 this weekend.

The reason for it, IndyCar officials found that Team Penske had modified the attenuator of the cars. Penske appears to have filed down a gap to make it smooth. As a result, Power and Newgarden have been sent to the back of the Indy 500 field for next week, their qualifying results taken away.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, it gets worse. It appears that Team Penske got away with doing the same exact thing in 2024. You know, the race that Josef Newgarden won to claim his second Indy 500 in a row? Yeah, not great.

Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press reported that team owners are not happy. They have had a meeting today, and the owners have decided not to abide by a requested media embargo regarding the matter.

“New: Doug Boles and Mark Miles held a team owners meeting to discuss the Penske situation. Sources said the owners were unanimously livid and many declined an IndyCar request to move on and not talk to the press. Penske was not part of the meeting.”

Penske not being at the meeting is telling. How the other team owners react to this news is going to be major.

2024 Indy 500 has a legitimacy issue

This is an ugly situation. Roger Penske owns IndyCar. He owns the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Now, his teams have been caught not just cheating this year, but also a year ago when they won the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. This is a serious issue that has to have consequences.

I’m not sure what IndyCar will do. I do not think you can vacate the win. I’m not sure Arrow McLaren would want to do that, despite Pato O’Ward finishing second to Newgarden a year ago. But you never know. There is a lot of tension at Indianapolis just days before the Indy 500.

So, what happens now? Roger Penske was caught. Newgarden’s Indy 500-winning car from 2024 is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum. In this video from Racer Mag’s Marshall Pruett, clear as day, you can see the attenuator is shaved down like it was for this year.

I can’t say if the illegally blended attenuator was on the 2024 #Indy500 race-winning car when it crossed the finish line, but it is on the winning car currently on display in the IMS Museum. pic.twitter.com/he5PQqr1Wx

— Marshall Pruett (@marshallpruett) May 19, 2025

Having the qualifying times disqualified was bad enough. Team Penske appears to have done this to all of its cars. That three-peat for Josef Newgarden is going to be much more difficult than originally thought. He will start all the way in the rear and no one will be kind to him on the track.