“I just see a bigger mountain, that’s all I see.” These words came from Josef Newgarden in a recent Indianapolis media session. These words of wisdom are well becoming of the two-time Indy 500 winner and Team Penske legend. They show how Newgarden can weather any challenge, even if it is starting from the rear of the race while shouldering blame for a technical infraction. Yet those very words are most needed at present by Newgarden’s immediate past chief race strategist, Tim Cindric.

Roger Penske’s fold has seen a turbulent storm wash over it in the past week. The 2024 push-to-pass scandal has barely faded from people’s memories, and another controversy is now at their doorstep. As a result of that, Penske had to absolve a 26-year work bond – yet the receiving end is not letting go easily.

Roger Penske’s executive argues his case

At first glance, it was yet another Penske scandal. Raised eyebrows and shaking heads pervaded the IndyCar Series atmosphere, as Roger Penske’s name again rocked the headlines for the wrong reasons. In 2024, a ‘webbed glove’ maneuver at the NASCAR Cup Series accompanied IndyCar’s push-to-pass scandal. In 2025, the No. 12 car of Will Power and the No. 2 car of Josef Newgarden failed technical inspection due to modified attenuators. As a result, the drivers lost their qualifying spots and incurred $200,000 penalties. Yet the most harrowing consequence that left Roger Penske awake overnight was dismissing his executives, Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski, and Kyle Moyer. However, having worked at Penske’s fold since 1999, Cindric was not ready to go without a fight.

NASCAR Cup Series driver Austin Cindric’s father already posted a defiant message on X. While “still standing tall”, Roger Penske’s ousted man also proceeded to explain what exactly went wrong. He shared a Motorsport.com article on X to prove his point. Cindric wrote, “For those who truly want to understand more about the technical side of the part that was in question during Sunday’s Indy 500 qualifying session, I would encourage you to take the time to read this article if you haven’t already.”

According to the article, Team Penske modified the 2024 Dallara attenuators for aesthetic purposes. The technical team “instructed members of their team to “clean up” the edges on the pieces in order to make the bright glue stand out less, so these technicians applied a dark compound to the edges and smoothed them out.” These updated parts were in use since last year, and had gone unnoticed. It was only when Penske pulled their cars out of line for inspection of a ‘body-fit violation’ that suspicions were raised.

Initially, the advantage that Penske seemingly got was reduced drag and smoother airflow. But even that was disproved. Industry experts claimed that “there isn’t laminar flow across the sides of the rear attenuator which means that the airflow over the car isn’t close enough to the side of that attenuator for a rough step or smoothed out transition.”

Clearly, Roger Penske‘s latest scandal is less disappointing than it seems. While Tim Cindric tries to pick apart his seemingly unfair dismissal, the drivers are making the best of their chances. In fact, one driver swore to make up for this mishap.

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Taking up a tough challenge

Well, dismissing his top three executives was not the only nerve-racking decision that Roger Penske had to make. The motorsports veteran also had to deal with pointed criticism from the racing community. Team Penske bore the brunt of backlash for its repeated rule infractions. So the onus is on the drivers to restore that prestige. Last year, Josef Newgarden went on to win his second Indy 500 race after the push-to-pass scandal. The 31-time IndyCar race winner has the same drive ahead of the 109th iteration of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, despite starting from the rear of the grid. What is more, his teammate, who dodged judicial scrutiny, is now shouldering a massive responsibility.

Scott McLaughlin hit the wall hard on a practice lap before qualifiers. He crashed his car and collected a 10th-place starting spot for the Indy 500. Despite having a backup car to perform in, Roger Penske’s driver is focused on his goals. “I’m determined to bring back respect to Roger’s name and make sure he gets the respect he deserves,” he said. McLaughlin additionally reflected on how he misses the dismissed executives. After all, Kyle Moyer was working as his race strategist. McLaughlin said, “Those three guys that have now departed the team, they’ve done a huge amount for my career, and they’re friends of mine. So I can understand that was certainly a tough decision for Roger [Penske] to make, it was a business decision.”

Evidently, every person in the Team Penske fold is currently battling their own storm. Here is to hoping that the stellar team’s problems get solved quickly.