Q: Has Penske ever competed in a racing series where his team wasn’t caught cheating? IndyCar, NASCAR, IMSA, Australian Supercars… Penske cheated in all of them! Don’t forget, Penske was one for 10 Indy 500 wins from 1969-78 when he was instrumental in forming CART. Penske then won nine of 17 500s before the IRL. I was hopeful that Penske would take IndyCar even higher with all his success. But he hasn’t — Penske is only about Penske!
James Boston, Oklahoma City, OK
MP: I covered the team in its one season of Grand Am and do not recall any tech issues with its Riley-Porsche Daytona Prototype.
Q: Have Roger Penske contract with Adrian Newey to set up an IndyCar design bureau to design a new IndyCar chassis to take a standard stock block engine of generic design. Have the chassis built by Dallara and provided to the teams. A fitting final project for Adrian. Just thinking out loud.
Paul
MP: I love the idea.
Q: I was very disappointed to hear Malukas was dropped by McLaren, he looked to have a great future when it was announced he was moving there. When drivers sign contracts, do they ever have clauses stating they can’t do certain sports or hobbies? Mountain bikers crash on a pretty regular basis, I would think the team would want to protect their investment, although VeeKay and Alonso, who also had bike accidents, would seem to indicate the answer is no.
Angelo, Skokie, IL
MP: Yes, they often do. It’s also a time-honored tradition for drivers who have the lockdown clauses to crash their motorcycles, get into bar fights (or similar) and then lie about it and tell us they had a cycling incident or tripped over their dog and we just nod our heads and play along because if the truth was told, they’d lose their jobs due to the clauses in those contracts.
Q: While I’ve never been a huge Team Penske fan, the past year has caused me to lose all respect for the organization. We know they have been caught cheating in NASCAR, IMSA, IndyCar and let’s not forget the Formula E situation at Portland last year. [ED: DS Penske, the Formula E team, is led by Jay Penske and is does not fall under the Team Penske umbrella].
It makes you wonder what else they’re up to in their quest for wins. Perhaps it’s time for a severe punishment rather than a slap on the wrist?
I will say, good on Will Power for not using P2P while it was illegal… or was he not privy to the cheating? Time for him to give Team Penske the double bird and drive for a classy organization.
Kevin, Vancouver Island
MP: Thanks for writing in, Kevin.
Q: Any rumors going around as to what Ganassi and Shank might be doing in IMSA next year? Great to see Rosenqvist and Shank doing well in IndyCar. Is it possible Scotty Mac and/or Will Power would seek to leave Penske to get away from all the mess going on there?
Lance Q., Greensboro, NC
MP: Indeed — we posted an IMSA GTP silly season piece last Thursday.
Q: After all the drama leading up to Barber event, there was a light moment at the end of the race. During the cooldown lap, a McLaughlin crew member was giving him instructions about the location of victory circle. McLaughlin stated: “I know where it is — I was there last year.”
With the release of Malukas, does he get some sort of severance payment?
David, Waxhaw, NC
MP: It’s not uncommon for an early-release driver to agree to a buyout or to receive the rest of their salary for the year if they don’t put up a fight and go peacefully. I don’t know on the Malukas side, but they are letting him continue to work with their trainers, so it sounds like the peaceful option might apply.
Q: As one who has been engaged in crisis management as an employee and educator, the mistakes that were made by the Penske organization, and in particular Josef Newgarden and Tim Cindric, are classic in their questionable motivation and the resulting unfortunate outcomes.
Given the history of Roger Penske and his era of achievements in racing, it is hard to believe that his organization could be so reckless, if that was indeed the case, with the P2P software. I have been involved in racing in various capacities and can certainly remember the beginnings of the “Penske Perfect” mantra, and the classic book from his legacy driver, Mark Donohue. “Unfair Advantage” told the story of preparation, strategy, and innovation. The title does not mean to suggest cheating rules and regulations, although detractors were quick to draw that conclusion.
The facts of the current controversy stemming from the St. Petersburg event and what might have continued if the problem had not been revealed, would have been far more damaging to all. As it is, the Penske team is enduring criticism, other team and driver skepticism and perhaps even lack of trust going forward. Questions are being asked and answers are inconsistent. This is a gold-plated case study example of how not to handle what quickly grew to crisis proportions.
I don’t think it is appropriate to indict the team or individuals as, at the moment, consistent transparency and facts seem to be rather fluid. It’s up to IndyCar, without allegiance to Team Penske or R.P., to investigate and reveal documented facts to all. Unfortunately, the intertwined owner and employee relationships does make that investigation difficult, but nevertheless required. Penalties to drivers are one thing. Loss of points, sure that hurts, Token fines to the team solve nothing. Does historic data from events reveal anything… who is looking? Is there a problem in the culture of the organization?
This will not go away by absolution, i.e., ignoring the situation until the anxiety cools down.
Dennis Elliott
MP: I wish someone else owned the series. Then we’d have so much less to talk about with this penalty.
Q: This past weekend I spent time with my younger sister (I’m 69 and she’s 61). As I’m from the KC area and she’s from Chicago, it’s only a once or twice a year thing. I have been a lifelong motor racing fan of all types and generally the only one in the family.
The issue of Indy came up as my sons and I plan for our annual pilgrimage. She then surprised everyone by indicating that she was now really into Formula 1. The conversation steered toward the F1 vs IndyCar thing, with Little Sis claiming she had no interest in the IndyCars nor even knew there were races other than the 500 itself.
I asked her if she knew the differences between the two, which she did not. In full disclosure, I’m a fan of all racing but get a bit bored with F1 as we always know from race to race now who will win, so I asked her about that. She iterated that it was the crowds, the Netflix series with the drivers working out, the crews in their seats that remind her of the NASA Moon landing, the tracks themselves, the celebrities, and the whole post-race ceremony.
Other than Verstappen and Hamilton, she had little recollection of any of the rest of the drivers nor had she ever heard of the name Adrian Newey.
What’s the point? With all the distraction of the St. Pete Penske P2P, we’ve gotten away from the whole conversation about marketing the IndyCar Series. It needs to be back on the front page.
Since the IMS Museum will be closed this year, will there be any additional historical cars on display? My teenage son has hyped the museum to his two friends who are making the trip with us and we want them to get the full monte.
Lastly, I don’t think there is P2P at the 500. Am I correct on that?
James Herbert Harrison
MP: No P2P on ovals. Some cool historic Indy cars will be out on race weekend. Gil de Ferran’s 2003 winner is meant to be driven by one of his friends in the pre-race parade.