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Newgarden and McLaughlin finished first and third, respectively, in Race 1 of the 2024 season but have now been stripped of those results after being found to have used push-to-pass on restart laps, in contravention with IndyCar rules.
Newgarden cited the fact that push-to-pass was allowed on restarts for the exhibition race at The Thermal Club, which fell between St Petersburg and the Long Beach event where the breach began to come to light, as reason for his alleged misunderstanding.
McLaughlin, however, claims to have had no such confusion.
“We’re pretty transparent, but there’s obviously some things that weren’t said on that side and… I know that there wasn’t a rule change,” he said.
“I read the rulebook and that’s how it was, but unfortunately, I’ve pushed the button out of habit on the first race restart of the year. We’ve done it before in the past. It’s just how it is.
“I’ve read the rulebook and I do it every year. I know the rule didn’t change and it’s just a habitual thing that, that unfortunately happened.
“I can’t even remember doing it. It’s black and white, I accept the penalty.”
That comment is notable for multiple reasons, one being that he had not benefited from illegal push-to-pass when he overtook Colton Herta for third place upon the final restart, a claim which has been verified as accurate.
Arguably of more significance, though, is that Newgarden’s mistaken belief that there had been a rule change did not filter through to McLaughlin or Will Power despite Newgarden’s strategist being Team Penske President Tim Cindric.
“I learned about this whole thing on Tuesday after Long Beach,” recalled McLaughlin.
“I don’t have any recollection of actually touching the button, but the data is black and white.
“I did touch it. I accept the penalty, I move on. That’s all I can do. I’ve got to just keep pushing on and just focus on the job at hand.
“I gained no time advantage. I didn’t pass a car with it, and the restarts after that and the start of the race, I didn’t use it either.
“I had no idea that this was even an issue till the Tuesday after Long Beach. When Tim [Cindric] rang me, it was like 12 o’clock and I was just as surprised as anyone.
“And like I said, I had no recollection actually pushing it at St Pete. in the spot that I did – I genuinely, genuinely don’t – but I did and accept that and move on.”
The New Zealander also moved to again protect his reputation, a theme which was prominent in his social media statement on Wednesday (local time) following IndyCar’s bombshell announcement.
“That’s why I wanted to put out the statement,” he said.
“My integrity and reputation were put into question, and absolutely there are going to be haters out there, and that’s the way it is. I respect that. But my statement is true.
“Look, it’s a people sport. Mistakes are made. I’ll stand by my team on that. We are thorough. We work hard together. We win and lose together. I’ll stand by my team and move forward.”
Team Penske is standing by its original explanation that the software anomaly arose due to coding carried over from hybrid testing.
