Roger Penske fires Cindric, other key officials involved in latest scandal
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Team Penske has fired several key officials just days after two of the team’s cars were sent to the back of the 2025 Indianapolis 500 starting grid over mechanical violations.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the team announced that president Tim Cindric, managing director Ron Ruzewski and general manager Kyle Moyer had departed after two years of “organizational failures.”
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” owner Roger Penske said in a written statement.
Officials announced Monday that cars driven by Will Power and two-time winner Josef Newgarden would be moved to the back of the grid following the Sunday pre-qualifications discovery of car modifications presumably meant to give aerodynamic advantage.
The rear attenuator is a safety device designed to absorb and reduce the force of impacts. It is a spec part that is not allowed to be modified. Team Penske apparently filled a seam to close off airflow over the attenuator in an attempt to reduce drag — which could potentially improve straight-line speed.
At the time, Cindric said Power passed inspection but officials flagged Newgarden’s car. He also said the modification was not on fellow team driver Scott McLaughlin’s car.
“It was a bit of randomness internally there that we need to sort out,” Cindric said.
After the violation was discovered, IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway President Doug Boles initially said Newgarden and Power would join McLaughlin in starting on the fourth row of the race. But after the series gathered more facts, Newgarden and Power were penalized to the rear of the field.
“The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity,” Boles said in a Monday news conference. “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.”
On top of the back-of-grid repositioning, both were fined $100,000 and forfeited their qualification points and pit box selections.
A year ago, Team Penske was caught in a push-to-pass scandal in which Newgarden was found to have access to the additional boost of horsepower when he should not have. He was stripped of his season-opening victory and Penske suspended Cindric for two races, which included the Indy 500.
Penske also owns IndyCar, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indy 500, which he has won a record 20 times.
Read Team Penske’s full statement below: