Q: I’m a fan of Josef’s and want to take him at his word. But his story just doesn’t pass the smell test. I’m just wondering if it would be wise to have an independent set of eyes looking at the data for 2023? Especially at the data from one event in particular that is held toward the end of May? Is it even possible for IndyCar to call ACCUS and ask them to have a look? Just to take all looks of impropriety out of the equation?
Andy, Brighton, MI
MP We’re in agreement on the independent review. Only thing I’ll add is Josef’s choice to hold a press conference and says the conflicting things he said, which only dug the hole deeper within the paddock, will be referenced for years by PR reps and driver managers as something they will never allow.
Q: Other than the obvious job description of Roger Penske, could you give a brief overview of the job titles and descriptions for Jay Frye, Mark Miles and Doug Boles? I am slightly confused as to each of their specific responsibilities within the organization.
Joan from AZ
MP: Jay’s the president of IndyCar, as in the operations side that puts on the races. He’s IndyCar’s commissioner, like Adam Silver is the commissioner of the NBA. Before Penske bought the series, Frye was the main decision-maker for the series as a whole, well beyond the sporting commissioner/operations side. New tracks? Significant negotiations? Seeking/signing major partners? That was Frye. Since Penske arrived, almost all of that was taken by Penske Entertainment.
Miles is Penske Entertainment’s CEO. Before Penske, he had a bigger decision-making role. Since? Not so much. He’s used more as a spokesperson to represent the true executive leadership Penske directs.
Boles is the president of IMS. Of all the role changes and power shifts since Penske bought everything, Boles has undergone the least amount of disruption to what he did prior.
Q: I noticed during Barber practices, none of the pit crew members were wearing helmets. I thought this was odd, given the focus on safety these days. Now watching qualifying and every pit member is wearing a helmet. Is this just due to the lack of urgency during practice sessions?
Pongo in SoCal
MP Indeed it is.
Q: I found Newgarden’s explanation to be comical (along with Cindric’s attempts). With McLaughlin, I’d been really impressed with how he’s adapted to IndyCar, and how he’s projected himself as a driver and person. But I struggle to buy his explanation — these guys are professionals who treat P2P as a precious commodity. It’s worth remembering he left Australia with a few questions around his reputation after the 2019 Bathurst 1000 (where his team — yep, Team Penske — was fined massively and stripped of championship points for holding up the field behind a safety car).
But I’m really interested in your perspective on the intra-team dynamic at Penske. My observation last year was that Will Power was something of a lone wolf within the team, with Newgarden and McLaughlin as a clique (I know that relationship has since cooled). Getting a bit conspiratorial, but is it possible that other parts of team were up to tricks and Power just wasn’t aware? I’m biased as an Australian, and I know Power has a reputation as a bit of a whinger, but he’s always struck me as what we’d call a “fair dinkum” bloke — a no B.S., straight-up sort of character. Again, in the absence of independent and credible information, it’ll be hard to believe the truth has emerged.
Adrian, Australia
MP: As it has been characterized to me by multiple people who would know, this was very much of a Josef thing, instead of a Josef+Scott+Will thing. It can’t be an only-Josef thing since Scott used P2P illegally one time, but I have heard Josef did his walling-himself-off routine right after Long Beach.
Q: Do you think IndyCar can/should/will be launching a new chassis timeline (two-four years out) and do you think it will have a universal engine design? What specifically would you recommend as five-seven year plan to make IndyCar more relevant and grow the brand? Do you see IndyCar ever becoming a highly electric-motor series in the next 15 years or more?
With Roger Penske up in years, leaving the series with a growth plan seems to make sense as he will hand it over to his family at some point.
Tim Gleason, Chicago, IL
MP: No on the chassis and yes on the engine. The spec-ish engine plan Honda suggested to IndyCar is what I’ve backed. It gives the series the best chance of getting more manufacturers involved for a much lower annual price point. Progressively leaning towards higher levels of hybridization and exploring the possibilities of introducing hydrogen power in the 2030s would appeal to every auto brand. I can’t see a future for IndyCar without some sort of internal combustion engine included.
Q: I don’t believe for a moment that R.P. had any direct knowledge of his team’s cheating. At the same time, I believe there was some shady activity going on within the team’s inner workings. There is no way the manufacturer didn’t know about the overrides. Whether it was an innocent mistake or a deliberate cheat will never be known.
Has the complexity of the equipment overtaken the inspection tools? And going forward, should there be an independent rules body governing this stuff to eliminate the illusion of self-dealing? I remember the old CART/USAC wars and believe enforcement and competition will always be a challenge.
Pete, Ohio
MP: Plenty of his former drivers and personnel believe he knew about it because that’s been his management style — extreme micromanaging — where no decisions are made without his approval. I’ve also had a solid number of folks tell me he was clueless to what happened here, and I lean in that direction, although it’s just an uninformed opinion.
The area in the electronics/software that is said to have been exploited is one the teams have known about for a while and told the series it needs to be locked down.
What this has revealed to the public is IndyCar does not check for such things in technical inspection. I asked if the series would add more staff to handle software specifications and settings legality checks, and was told no, they have enough people to do so.
Q: There was so much talk and opinion this past week, on television and in print, on the Team Penske penalty. I saw/read responses from Penske drivers and team administration. Was there any reaction from The Captain himself, and were any team staff penalized or dismissed as a result of this?
Anthony Jenkins, Ontario, Canada
MP: Nope on the former, and no on the latter — at least that we know about.