Newgarden won and McLaughlin finished third until they were stripped of their results more than six weeks after the fact, having used push-to-pass on restarts, in contravention of IndyCar rules.
Power also had the illegal push-to-pass system installed in his #12 Chevrolet but was hit with a lesser penalty of 10 series points, which became a net loss of two points given he moved up to second from fourth in the official race classification due to the disqualification of his team-mates.
“I was disappointed to learn about the penalty that we received this week from INDYCAR,” the two-time IndyCar Series title winner posted on Instagram.
“There was an oversight by our team and I was unaware of the situation until it was brought to our attention following Long Beach.
“As per the rules, I did not utilize the P2P capabilities during any start or restart during the St. Petersburg race.
“While I accept the penalty, I want it to be known that I did nothing wrong and followed the rules.
“Now we move forward and my focus is on Barber.”
Power is the second Penske driver to address the disqualification in a public statement, after McLaughlin took to social media to do likewise in the hours after the penalties were announced.
Team Penske President Tim Cindric, in a statement issued by the squad, put the error down to an oversight in not removing push-to-pass software used in recent hybrid testing, notwithstanding IndyCar had stated that “Team Penske manipulated the overtake system.”
Newgarden, who reduced his use of social media at least over the off-season, is yet to address the disqualifications in a public forum.
His only comments since have been those issued via the standard Chevrolet pre-event press release for this weekend’s Grand Prix of Alabama, issued just over 24 hours after the disqualification was announced.
Those comments, in full, are: “Super excited to go to Barber.
“I feel like we’re going to have a fast cadence now, that started in Long Beach, and we’re going to go really quickly through May, June, and July.
“There’s a lot of work to do. We’re focused on the work. But Barber is one of my favorite tracks. It’s the track I had my first IndyCar win at, so it’s always been special to me.
“It’s close to my home. It used to be my hometown race before we had a race in Nashville. Can’t wait to get there.
“I feel like Chevrolet has done a tremendous job in the offseason.
“I feel like as a complete team and unit, together with Chevrolet, we’re in a great spot to secure more results, and that’s where our focus is.”
Another Chevrolet-powered car, namely the McLaren IndyCar Team entry of Pato O’Ward, is now the official St Petersburg race winner.
Discussion about this post