Ex-NAFTA Chief Speaks Out on Penkse Exit, Safeguarding His Good Name

“It’s simply a larger mountain that I’m seeing.”
These insights were shared by Josef Newgarden during a recent press conference in Indianapolis. As a two-time Indy 500 champion and a celebrated member of Team Penske, his remarks reflect an ability to handle any adversity, including beginning races towards the back due to self-imposed penalties for technical issues. Currently, these sentiments are particularly relevant for Tim Cindric, who was previously Newgarden’s lead race strategist.

Roger Penske’s team has been hit with a wave of turmoil in recent days. Just as the dust was settling on the 2024 push-to-pass scandal, another controversy has emerged. Consequently, Penske had to release a 26-year employee loyalty pact—yet the individual involved isn’t backing down readily.

Roger Penske’s executive presents her argument

Initially, it seemed like just another Penske controversy. The IndyCar Series community responded with raised eyebrows and disapproving head shakes as Roger Penske once again found himself embroiled in negative press. In 2024, alongside an incident involving a ‘webbed glove’ tactic during the NASCAR Cup Series, came the push-to-pass scandal within IndyCar. Then, in 2025, both Will Power’s No. 12 vehicle and Josef Newgarden’s No. 2 car were disqualified from qualifying after failing inspections because they had altered attenuators. This resulted in each driver losing their starting positions and being fined $200,000. But perhaps the biggest blow that kept Roger Penske up all night involved firing key executives: Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski, and Kyle Moyer. Notably, however, Tim Cindric—who had been part of Penske’s team since 1999—wasn’t prepared to exit quietly without putting up a struggle.

NASCAR Cup Series racer Austin Cindric’s dad
has already shared a bold statement on X
. While
“still standing tall”
, the driver who was removed from Roger Penske’s team also detailed what precisely led to his departure. To support his explanation, he posted a Motorsport.com article on X. Cindric penned this message.
For those genuinely interested in grasping the technical aspects of what was discussed during Sunday’s Indy 500 qualification round, I highly recommend reading this article if you have not done so yet.

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As stated in the article, Team Penske altered the 2024 Dallara diffusers for visual reasons. The engineering group took this step.
informed their team members to ‘refine’ the borders of the components to minimize the prominence of the vivid glue, hence the technicians added a darker substance to the edges and blended them smoothly.
The revised components have been in service since last year without detection until then. It was during Penske’s removal of their vehicles from the lineup for an ‘illegal body fit’ check that concerns began to surface.

At first, Penske appeared to have an edge due to decreased drag and improved air flow. However, this advantage was also debunked. Experts in the industry asserted that
there is no laminar flow along the edges of the rear diffuser, indicating that the air flowing around the vehicle doesn’t hug closely enough to the sides of the diffuser, resulting in either a jagged edge or an insufficiently smooth transition.

Clearly,
Roger Penske
His most recent controversy appears more manageable than it initially comes across. As Tim Cindric attempts to dissect what he perceives as an unjust firing, the racers are capitalizing on their opportunities. Actually, one racer vowed to compensate for this error.

Embracing a difficult challenge

Dismissing his top three executives wasn’t the only challenging choice facing Roger Penske. He also faced intense criticism from the racing world due to multiple violations committed by Team Penske. This led to significant backlash against the team. Thus, the pressure falls on the drivers to reclaim their reputation. In last year’s event, following the push-to-pass controversy, Josef Newgarden managed to secure his second victory at the Indy 500. As one of the thirty-one winners in IndyCar history, he remains determined as they approach the 109th running of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,’ even though he will start near the back of the pack this time around. Moreover, his teammate—who avoided legal consequences—is now carrying a substantial burden of expectation.

Scott McLaughlin
He hit the wall forcefully during a practice session prior to the qualifying rounds. The crash resulted in him securing a 10th-place start at the Indy 500. Even though he had to switch to a replacement vehicle, Team Penske’s racer remains dedicated to achieving his objectives.
I’m committed to restoring honor to Roger’s reputation and ensuring he receives the recognition he merits,
He mentioned. McLaughlin also shared that he feels nostalgic for the departed executives. In fact, Kyle Moyer served as his racing strategist. McLaughlin stated,
The three individuals who have left the team contributed significantly to my career development, and we were also good friends. Therefore, I can comprehend why that must have been a difficult choice for Roger [Penske], as it was primarily a strategic business move.

It seems that everyone within the Team Penske is facing their individual challenges. Let’s hope that these issues for such an outstanding team are resolved swiftly.

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