Down in Daytona Beach, NASCAR had been watching IndyCar do an exemplary job of hand-delivering its fourth manufacturer. But in the wake of the Team Penske attenuator controversy, Roger Penske has started taking the sort of action that may help ward off that scenario.
In response, Penske just fired his three senior Team Penske leaders in Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski, and Kyle Moyer, citing systemic failures in oversight.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said. “We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners and our organization for letting them down.”
And now it’s time to turn the focus inward to the series he owns where those oversights were allowed to pass for an entire year.
Honda isn’t willing to speak on the record, but it’s been well-known within the paddock for quite some time that the rule-breaking by Roger Penske’s team is pushing Honda to the edge.
As well, the auto company is said to have a perception of an institutional favoritism towards Penske’s team and drivers whenever TV time is available, advertising opportunities are presented, and favorable race control decisions are made. Altogether, the unsavory actions and beliefs are leading American Honda to look elsewhere to spend its mighty U.S. motorsports budget.
Simply put, Penske Entertainment has lost Honda’s trust. And the trust of a growing number of team owners, crew members, drivers, fans, and sponsors after creating the second significant controversy due to his team’s seeming inability to avoid making illegal modifications – be it software or bodywork – to its cars.
The stories shared this week by team owners and their marketing executives of having to calm the nerves of sponsors, those who didn’t sign up for the embarrassment coming out of Penske’s series and halo event, are real, and serious. The blowback isn’t limited to those in the center of the self-made storm. The bruises are being felt throughout the paddock.
In the mounting absence of faith in Penske Entertainment to both own IndyCar and have its Team Penske cars abide by the rulebook –the same rulebook written by Penske Entertainment employees – a demand was made for a change to Penske’s governance of the series. For Honda to continue in the series beyond the end of its supply contract that runs through 2026, a stipulation is understood to have been made where Penske Entertainment must divest itself from policing itself in the series it owns.
Honda’s desire to see a break between Penske’s control of the series, a team and IndyCar’s governance is expected to be granted. Chris Owens/IMS Photo
Beyond the overdue need for the proverbial separation of church and state, RACER has learned that IndyCar’s parent company already agreed to Honda’s call for the removal of any possible conflict of interest by implementing an independent oversight group that would not be on Penske Entertainment’s payroll, and would not be subject to interference from Penske in any way.
In a press conference on Wednesday, new IndyCar president Doug Boles acknowledged the intent to form such a group – this coming hours after RACER asked for comment from Penske Entertainment, which was declined – but failed to mention its roots as an insistence for change from one of its two remaining manufacturers.
“We have been working very, very hard to create an entity, an officiating entity,” Boles said. “And by officiating, I mean race control and tech inspection, and an entity that is completely removed from anything that has to do with Penske Entertainment or Roger Penske or the Indianapolis Motor Speedway or the IndyCar Series. We want to ensure that we have an officiating entity that has no ability for folks to say it’s got influence from Roger Penske.”
The unprecedented situation where the owner of a sports league competes in the league with a team of his own, while the officials in charge of the events are paid by the owner, has been problematic for some within IndyCar since the purchase was made by Penske leading into 2020. In its sixth season of operation as a Penske-owned series, and after the latest breach of confidence with its constituents, Boles suggests a new urgency to remove the perception of conflicts was reached.
“For the last six months, I’ve been involved in a conversation on the periphery, and certainly more so in the last three months, as our organization has continued to grapple with the optics issue, and how can we remove conversations like the ones we’ve been having for the last 72 hours out of the conversation, so that they know it is absolutely clear that there are not any optics challenges,” he said.
It’s unclear how deep the group’s reach would extend, but RACER understands the unaffiliated group concept revolves around recruiting well-established figureheads within racing, some with IndyCar experience and some without, to act as the on-the-spot referees to police technical violations and competition violations. Their authority would extend to all teams and drivers, not just adjudicating driving penalties or inspection failures by Team Penske.
The group would be limited to the on-track racing side of IndyCar. The matters of running the series on a day-to-day basis, directing its future, and all other operational aspects of facilitating a sports league would remain in the hands of Penske Entertainment’s existing leadership. But when it’s time to go racing, the independent board would assemble and intercede for racing matters at the track.
RACER also understands the timeline for the group’s implementation has been for the 2027 season – the same year a new engine formula is meant to debut – which suggests the creation of the independent oversight body might be tied to a supply extension agreement executed by Honda.
In light of the latest oversight concerns that sprang forth last weekend, moving forward with the swift creation of the independent body in time for the 2026 season, and without any potential conditions placed on signing an engine supply contract, would help the series to improve its optics on a more reasonable timeline.
It’s unclear whether fashioning the new race governance board is dependent on Honda, or if there is insufficient time to establish the independent board before the end of the current season which ends on Aug. 31, but if the series is determined to improve its standing, moving the board’s debut to 2026 would send a powerful message to its paddock.
There’s no guarantee Honda will stay, but the moves made by Roger Penske with his team, and the apparent commitment from Doug Boles to protect the series’ integrity by heeding Honda’s call for officiating independence, just might extend the brand’s rich history in IndyCar.
We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy
