Chip Ganassi blasts $6B rival's Team Penske for ‘compromising integrity and sportsmanship’ to win the Indy 500

Team Penske, owned by Roger Penske, who is valued at $6 billion (via Forbes), has been one of the most successful teams in the Indianapolis 500. However, this is the second year running the team's car has failed an inspection and has been disqualified. This year, both cars #2 and #12 were found to be illegal. Chip Ganassi Racing team CEO Chip Ganassi spoke about this issue recently.

On Sunday, May 18, minutes after qualifying ended, the Team Penske cars were found to be illegal and were quickly disqualified. This gained the attention of drivers and team owners alike, and one of the team owners who spoke about this issue was Ganassi.

On Tuesday, May 20, the Harvick Happy Hour podcast hosted by NASCAR driver Kevin Harvick shared a clip of the Chip Ganassi Racing team owner discussing the issues. He spoke about how issues like these compromise the integrity and sportsmanship of the sport. Chip Ganassi said (via Harvick Happy Hour on X):

"They had an issue there, and I think ... all teams have a certain responsibility to uphold the integrity of the sport in any series, and no team more than Team Penske. They’ve had so much success over the years, and it’s a team everybody knows and everybody’s heard of, and they have a lot of success around the world in a lot of different series, so I think they need to be held to an even higher standard to protect the sport."

"Especially with the investment Roger Penske has at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and in the IndyCar Series and in all these other series he’s involved in, and his businesses for that matter. So they have a responsibility to respect the sport, and we all need to. Everyone that’s in it has to protect the sport, and it’s certainly a problem when the pursuit of winning compromises integrity and sportsmanship. That’s what you have," he added.

Team Penske was initially penalized and was handed a fine of $100,000. It was later announced that the cars would be sent to the back of the grid as it was protested by many of the fans of the sport, along with the drivers. Moreover, the team strategist of both car #12 and #2 has been suspended.

A similar issue was seen with Team Penske during the 2024 St. Petersburg Grand Prix, where the cars were found using the push-to-pass system at non-permitted times. The cars #3 of Scott McLaughlin and #2 of Josef Newgarden were later disqualified, along with some other officials from the team.

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Team Penske handed a $200,100 fine after failing technical inspection

Team Penske is in the headlines for yet another controversy. The Mooresville-based team cars failed the technical inspection and were handed a $100,000 fine and a suspension of the strategist.

Josef Newgarden and Will Power will start at the back of the grid in 32nd and 33rd place, respectively. IndyCar reporter Marshall Pruett shared the statement put out by IndyCar, which read:

"Upon further review last night and early this morning, INDYCAR will be moving cars No. 2 and 12 to the 32nd and 33rd starting positions for this year’s Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge. They will start in order based upon their qualifying times from Saturday."

"Additionally, INDYCAR is suspending the team strategists for the Nos. 2 and 12 for the remainder of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, both cars will forfeit Indianapolis 500 qualification points and each entry has been fined $100,000. Car Nos. 2 and 12 also will forfeit their pit positions and will select their pit boxes after the remainder of the field has an opportunity to adjust accordingly," it added.

The situation with Team Penske's #3 car remains unclear, as it crashed during the practice session and couldn't be inspected.