Newgarden, McLaughlin disqualified from IndyCar opener over P2P ‘manipulation’

Penske’s third driver, Will Power, has been hit with a 10-point penalty after he took the chequered flag in fourth that day, while McLaren’s Pato O’Ward is now the official race winner.

Team Penske was found to have violated the following push-to-pass parameters:

Rule 14.19.15. An indicator to enable Push to Pass will be sent via CAN communication from the timing and scoring beacon on board the Car to the team data logger. This signal must be passed on to the ECU unmodified and uninterrupted during all Road and Street Course Events.

Rule 14.19.16. Race Starts and any Race Restart that occurs before the lap prior to the white flag or prior to three minutes remaining in a timed Race Event will have the Push to Pass system disabled and will be enabled for a given Car once that Car reaches the alternate Start/Finish line.

IndyCar has advised, though, that:

“An extensive review of data from the race on the Streets of St. Petersburg revealed that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system so that the No. 2, 3 and 12 cars had the ability to use Push to Pass on starts and restarts.

“According to the IndyCar rulebook, use of overtake is not available during championship races until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line.

“It was determined that the No. 2 [Newgarden] and the No. 3 [McLaughlin] gained a competitive advantage by using Push to Pass on restarts while the No. 12 [Power] did not.

“Additionally, all three entries have been fined $25,000 and will forfeit all prize money associated with the Streets of St. Petersburg race.”

The possibility of breaches was discovered by officials during the Warm Up for last weekend’s Grand Prix of Long Beach.

Per the series’ rulebook, the violation is a Race Procedure Penalty (9.2.2.), the sanctions for which include which include repositioning of the Driver/Car in the posting or results, and a disqualification (9.2.2.6.) that includes the forfeiture of points and awards.

“The integrity of the IndyCar Series championship is critical to everything we do,” said IndyCar President Jay Frye.

“While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, IndyCar discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.

“Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”

Ironically, Power only loses two series points in net terms given he assumes second place in the official St Petersburg classification.

Long Beach winner Scott Dixon (Chip Ganassi Racing) now leads the series, by two points over Colton Herta (Andretti Global w/Curb-Agajanian), with Power fifth, Newgarden plummeting from first to 11th, and McLaughlin last of 29 drivers to race so far in 2024.

The season continues this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park.

UPDATE: Team Penske accepts St Petersburg disqualifications

Results: Race, Streets of St Petersburg Updated

Race winner: 100 laps

Series points Updated