Penske sacks IndyCar trio over Indy 500 cheating scandal

Team Penske have announced the firing of three key members of their IndyCar operation, including team president Tim Cindric.

The team's IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer have also been ousted by Roger Penske as he clears house ahead of this weekend's Indy 500.

The move comes in the wake of the team's second cheating scandal in as many years, with Will Power and 2024 Indy 500 winner Josef Newgarden being relegated to the back of the grid for the race after being found with illegally modified parts on their cars in qualifying.

Some in the sport are calling for harsher punishments given the team's history of technical infringements – with this fresh incident coming barely a year after 2024's push-to-pass scandal at the season opener – and the fact that Dale Coyne Racing's Jacob Abel was bumped from Sunday's field by apparently illegal cars.

READ MORE: Team Penske suffer HUGE demotion as official statement confirms MULTIPLE penalties

Penske blames 'organizational failures' for scandal

Cindric and Ruzewski had already been suspended by IndyCar for the race and both teams fined $100,000.

Cindric's loss may be the most keenly felt in the team, having spent 25 years with the organization, first as President of Penske Racing Inc. before being promoted to President of Penske Performance in 2005, essentially running the day-to-day of all of the organization's racing operations.

He took a large step down in the organization in February, which he claimed at the time was his own decision, but had remained president of the IndyCar team until Wednesday.

In a statement, Roger Penske said: “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.”

READ MORE: Indy 500 Qualifying Results: Rookie star stuns IndyCar rivals to take SHOCK pole

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