Mark Miles – Syndication Server

IndyCar leadership explains its handling of Penske P2P scandal

IndyCar president Jay Frye is the commissioner of the series he runs. Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles is frequently deployed as voice of the executives, which includes series owner Roger Penske. Together, they met with the press in the Barber Motorsports Park paddock on Friday to share insights and field questions surrounding Team Penske’s push-to-pass (P2P) scandal.

A line of code was altered by the team in the Central Logger Units (CLU) that gave its drivers full-time access to P2P across two events, and in response, IndyCar has locked down open access to the CLUs starting this weekend through the deployment of software patches.

Where the engine control modules (ECU) are only accessible by engine manufacturers and the series, the CLUs are the responsibility of each team and act as the hub that captures all chassis performance data, sets the configuration of the steering-wheel mounted dash, and other functions related to monitoring and analyzing vehicle performance.

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With its interconnected link to the MyLaps timing and scoring transponder, the CLU is used to send on/off instructions to the ECU for the P2P button. With this change, IndyCar is taking control of the matter for the first time. If the series used something other than the CLU/MyLaps gateway to communicate P2P instructions to the ECU, there would be no need to restrict or police the CLUs.

The series is also adding the review of CLU P2P software settings to its technical inspections and will review data from the Cosworth-made chassis loggers after each race to look for any P2P usage infractions.

“Before, they were unlocked,” Frye said. “So that’s one way to prevent this, going forward. There’s a couple of things we’re doing from a race control perspective, that will be different that will highlight things like this (and make them) a little bit more obvious.”

Frye acknowledged IndyCar’s role in failing to catch and halt Team Penske from running its cars in an illegal configuration before the team outed itself in Sunday morning warmup at Long Beach.

“That’s something that obviously we did not catch it. And that’s on us,” Frye said. “So we have to go back and evaluate what we did or what we didn’t do at that point. Obviously, there was talk about the amount of time it took from St. Pete to Long Beach to address this. Obviously, if St. Pete and Long Beach would have been back to back versus five weeks apart, the outcome would have been the same.”

As RACER reported on Friday, Frye’s team reviewed Team Penske’s data from 2023 and did not find any P2P irregularities that warranted additional penalties.

Asked if Team Penske will be treated differently by the series — face more intense scrutiny in technical inspections or lose certain perks and priorities given to its most successful teams — Frye answered in the negative.

“We think the penalty was addressed,” he said of the disqualifications, fines, and loss of points. “It was, we think, severe. And it’s been handled and going forward (we’re) treating (them) just like we always treat everybody else.”

Miles handled the last item of interest regarding his boss. Team Penske was caught by IndyCar on Sunday. Team president Tim Cindric and Penske managing director Ron Ruzewski alerted the series to the illegal uses of P2P it found in its data from St. Petersburg on Monday. The team was informed of the penalties on Tuesday. The series announced the infractions and penalties Wednesday morning with a quote from Frye, and a quote from Cindric accepting the decision was issued at the same time. Penske driver Scott McLaughlin was the first to post a mea culpa on social media Wednesday evening and teammate Will Power followed suit on Thursday. Josef Newgarden met with the media Friday morning.

Throughout the entire affair, the one person who hasn’t stepped forward is Penske, which would seem fitting since it was his team, in the series he owns, that was ultimately punished by his commissioner — a scenario unlike any other among major sporting leagues.

According to Miles, Penske will speak if and when he chooses.

“Certainly (it’s) his choice as to when he wants to… where and how to conduct himself and whether he’ll communicate and with whom is on him to decide whether and when,” he said. “I would just say from our perspective — I think Jay feels exactly the same way — what was really important to us was there was never any question of any interference (from Penske). We could be objective and handle the data. In the same way that we would have handled it for any other team.”

Brown joins IndyCar marketing taskforce

Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles has recruited McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to be part of a small new taskforce designed to help the IndyCar Series improve its marketing efforts. More accurately, and humorously, Miles stated as such in an …

Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles has recruited McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown to be part of a small new taskforce designed to help the IndyCar Series improve its marketing efforts.

More accurately, and humorously, Miles stated as such in an interview before the outreach to Brown had actually been made. The oversight was handled with grace.

“I’ve read that,” Brown said in a wry manner. “I’ve since spoken with him. And I’m happy to help because I definitely have lots of opinions on opportunities I think we’re missing to make the sport much better and to capitalize on what I think the sport can become.”

As a young driver on the American and European junior open-wheel scene, Brown stood out among his rivals with his ability to attract sponsors. After moving into the business side of racing with the formation of the ultra-successful Just Marketing Incorporated, his savvy is what drew the interest of McLaren where he’s led the Formula 1 team while finding partners who’ve infused the company with immense investments.

Conversely, Penske’s core strength have been demonstrated in business-to-business deals which, for the most part, have required minimal marketing on behalf of the series’ owner. Recruiting Brown and other sharp marketing minds to address IndyCar’s greatest longstanding weakness is a smart move, and as the Los Angeles native said, he’s not lacking in opinions or ideas where the series can make vast improvements.

“I think there’s a lot of room for optimizing the race schedule,” Brown said. “I think some of these most recent changes are OK. Having a non-championship race once the season started…preseason…testing…race…might make a lot more sense. I think it’s unfortunate to lose Texas, which is a great market. I think the doubleheader thing, sponsors don’t view it as two races. It’s one weekend, so I don’t think doubleheaders is the solution to expanding the race calendar.

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“I think we need some, and I’ve said this for a while now, new cars. I think we shouldn’t be introducing new technology in the middle of the season. I think that’s high risk for a little reward with hybrids coming. Why don’t we get this season done and out of the way? What’s the rush to do it with seven eight races to go? Wouldn’t it just be better to get all the testing done and give all the teams a chance to properly modify their equipment and come at it in ’25?

“I think the drivers are the stars and we need to put them on a pedestal. And proper podiums. That might sound like a small thing, but if you look at the attention that podium ceremonies get you in the imagery that comes from that…

Brown was among the many who felt embarrassed for the series and its drivers who stood on a cut-rate podium at The Thermal Club’s $1 Million Challenge.

“I thought that was not adequate for the level of IndyCar,” he continued. “I think you need to invest. And then I think these can be sponsored — a proper podium. Now, sometimes that might mean you have to invest and then go get the sponsors and just wait for the sponsor, but I think so much social media and imagery and exposures created from the podium, to not have proper podiums in a missed opportunity.”

Brown wasn’t impressed with the podium at the Thermal Club. James Black/IndyCar Media

Formula 1’s broadcasts are rich with analysis and strategy projections that engage viewers on a deeper level. It’s another area where Brown would welcome changes for IndyCar.

“I think, with whoever the new broadcaster is — whether that’s the same broadcast or whatever our new TV deal is — I think we can do a better job of the way we show the races,” he said. “I think getting into predictive scenarios (would be good.) I hear a lot of, ‘They’re on red tires.’ Unless you’re really avid fan, and I consider myself to be an avid fan, I’d like to have next-level of information, which is, ‘Soft tires, so they’re going to be a half a second lap faster for eight laps and if Pato doesn’t catch Josef by lap 8, his tires are going to fall off and the strategy wouldn’t work.’

“So helping fans understand how races play out and strategies behind them, because I don’t think that’s necessarily always clear, I think there’s room for improvement.”

Car counts, charters, and IndyCar’s overall value was another major area of concern for Brown.

“We need to make sure that we focus on quality over quantity,” he said. “I think the NASCAR show is no worse off by having a smaller car count than the magical ‘you have to have 43 cars.’

“We have 20 cars in Formula 1, 27 (Indy) cars, 29 cars, create a lot of red flags at Nashville, create a lot of yellows in Laguna Seca. So I think we need to be very focused on quality over quantity on what we do. I don’t think the fan pays too much attention after about 20 cars. So what are those other 6, 7, 8, 9 cars bringing to the table other than a lot of times creating red flags?

“So I think there’s lots of opportunities for improvement. I think the schedule would really need to get into the East Coast. I think there’s two things to play for growing the value of the sport. There’s cash generative, but then there’s also franchise value.”

Having brought McLaren into the all-electric Formula E series ahead of he 2022-23 season, Brown wonders how a 10-year-old series with a modest fan base is worth so much more than IndyCar whose roots extend back more than a century.

“If you look at what Formula E is worth, and I don’t know what number IndyCar was purchased for — if you believe the rumors of 300 million-ish — but on the finance side, when Formula E is trading at twice that, with all due respect to Formula E, it does not have the history of IndyCar, there’s a lot of value creation that I think is a massive opportunity for growth,” he said.

“So I think you can take a view, and you can invest in doing street races, where the street races themselves might not make the money, or maybe we could potentially lose a few bucks, but if that helped (improved) the valuation of IndyCar and you limited the amount of teams and therefore had a scenario if you had more demand and supply because you’re limited to — pick a number — 22 teams, you can create a dynamic where IndyCar racing is worth a lot more because of the demand; you get a more lucrative media deal.

“You have more sponsors that come in, therefore more teams that want to come in. But if you’re limited on teams, you then have to create franchise value. So I think that’s what we as an industry need to be looking at.”

IndyCar looking to add new, major event for 2025, Miles says

Having watched as NASCAR made a big splash in Chicago with its first street race and Formula 1 continued to thrive in the U.S. with huge new events in Miami and Las Vegas, Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles says the NTT IndyCar Series is looking to …

“The answer to that question is yes,” Miles told RACER. “But I want to go back and reiterate the move (in 2023) from Belle Isle to downtown [Detroit] around the Ren Center was that sort of major change and it definitely had a much bigger impact in Detroit than we had before. Taking over the city, lighting up the skyline, I thought it was a very important, very impactful improvement.

“Gracefully moving Nashville next year downtown and making it the finale, maybe that’s in between. And everybody’s anticipating (the return to) Milwaukee; we’re stoked about being back there. Saying that, we’re working on at least one that I think people would see as high impact, a very different opportunity for 2025 in the United States that it’s too early to talk about, but we’re certainly looking for big events and big partners in the process.”

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IndyCar has one non-points event on its 2024 calendar in March at California’s Thermal Club, and the fate of a second in Argentina, intended to run after the season ends in September at the Autódromo Termas de Río Hondo road course, is nearing a decision.

“I don’t know if we’re in the red zone or just inside the 50-yard line,” Miles said. “But I think it’s quite feasible, even for the offseason — the post-championship part of the 2024 calendar. The [Argentinian] presidential election happened; by all indications, that has not presented any new challenges to us.

“We have a promoter who is putting together the components to organize a great event. We’ve got a fantastic facility that’s available to us. So I think it could be an example of the kind of thing that we could do. We’ve just got to get all the I’s dotted and T’s crossed, and hopefully, it can happen and it could be formalized and made public in probably the early part of the first quarter of next year.”

While some team owners have expressed limited interest in making the trek to Argentina, others have been supportive of the concept. Miles says the event, if it moves forward, presents the possibility for its teams to earn a profit through subsidized travel costs and increased payments to those who’ve earned the 22 Leaders Circle contracts which provide almost $1 million in guaranteed prize money.

“[The] characterization of the reactions in the paddock are pretty good,” he said. “There’s a couple who say, ‘Well, the money doesn’t really move the needle for us.’ For most, they think that it’s quite helpful. It could be, in total, a meaningful increase in the Leaders Circle. For example, if we put $200,000 into the Leaders Circle per car, and if we only took 22 cars, for the Leaders Circle teams, it’s $4.4 million, which is a healthy increase in the total compensation.

“And I’m not saying that the money [will] be limited to 22. But I think it’s a meaningful amount of money, especially when you consider we wouldn’t do it if the organizer didn’t also pay for all the costs to get the cars, the freight, the teams, the people [there], the room and board. I’m not saying they’d have zero costs, because crashes and things happen, but the logistical and travel costs, all of that would be paid. So whatever is added to that Leaders Circle for an event like this, in our minds, it would be additive, and really quite helpful.”