Days after Penske scandal, Josef Newgarden breaks silence and explains his current mindset

Josef Newgarden and Team Penske are having some extremely tough days ahead of the 2025 Indy 500. Since last week's qualifying controversy, immense negativity has surrounded the outfit, and amid this, Newgarden has taken the time to come forward and talk about quite a few things in regard to the Rule 14.7.8.16 violation.

Motorsports journalist Dalton Hopkins shared a post on X and mentioned that Newgarden is ready to get back to business amid the ongoing saga.

"I’m just trying to stay happy,” Newgarden said.

The IndyCar court reporter for IndyStarSports, Nathan Brown, also shared additional comments from the 34-year-old driver.

"I'm ready to go to work with our group & I'm proud of what we've done."

Following the violation of the IndyCar rule relating to the discovery of modified attenuators on Josef Newgarden's #2 and Will Power's #12 Team Penske cars, both entries have been bumped to the last row for the upcoming Sunday's Indy 500 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Newgarden will start his 200-lap outing from P32, whereas Power will be in P33.

Josef Newgarden's teammate Will Power's take on Indy 500 drama

NTT IndyCar Series - DXC Technology 600 - Day 2 Practice - Source: Getty

While Josef Newgarden looks to put the Team Penske Indy 500 controversy behind himself, his teammate Will Power has also reacted to the incident. Moreover, the latter has also shared his opinion on the recent decisions by IndyCar and IMS owner Roger Penske (who also owns Team Penske).

Team President Tim Cindric was sacked alongside two key IndyCar personnel. Amid everything that has happened, Power recently shared his thoughts.

"I think Roger moves forward very quickly. I’ve known him over the years. He makes decisions. He moves forward, doesn't dwell on it, starts looking at what is absolutely best for the team. That's Roger. That's why he's so successful," Power said (via Autoweek).

Despite starting last in the upcoming 200-lap race, Power believes that he can triumph in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway event.

"It's certainly tougher these days with the very tight field but absolutely possible," Power further added.

Power and Newgarden have both previously won the Indy 500. The former triumphed in the 2018 edition of the race with Ed Carpenter in P2 and Scott Dixon finishing in P3. Newgarden, on his end, will enter the 2025 race as a two-time winner (won in 2023 and 2024).

The upcoming 200-lap spectacle will be a must-see event. Prema Racing's Robert Shwartzman will start from pole with the IndyCar legend Takuma Sato and Arrow McLaren's Pato O'Ward lining alongside him on the front row in second and third position.

Chip Ganassi's Scott Dixon will start from P4.