Former IndyCar champ ridicules Roger Penske-led team as 2025 Le Mans disqualification mirrors Indy 500 scandal

Roger Penske's name has been dragged through the mud in the past month owing to various scandals that his racecars have been found guilty of. While the trend started at the IndyCar front, it reached the classic endurance in France, at the infamous 24 Hours of Le Mans, where the No. 6 car was disqualified from the qualifying session, leading former IndyCar champion, Paul Tracy, to take a jibe at the motorsport tycoon owner.

A Team Penske car has never graced the podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, despite the 88-year-old sending a fleet of skillful drivers in the past three years. However, Roger Penske wanted to put an end to this curse and used the help of Porsche cars that have a vast history of winning the pinnacle of endurance racing.

With the team taking three Hypercars for the race in France, the initial qualifying segment to guarantee a spot to fight for the pole position was opened on June 11. All three Porsche Penske cars put up respectable lap times and advanced into Hyperpole 1, which would take place on June 12.

While the team was relieved of any major setback, this relief did not last for long as the No. 6 car was found to be underweight by the FIA. This led to the car being disqualified and placed on the final grid spot for the Hypercar category (21st) for the fabled race.

With the wounds of the IndyCar scandal being fresh, Tracy jibed at Penske's condition in the motorsport sphere, and wrote on his Instagram story:

"Cheating again."

Paul Tracy's Instagram story on June 12 | Source: Instagram/@paultracyofficial

Kevin Estre, Laurens Vanthoor, and Matt Campbell are going to pilot the No. 6 Porsche Penske car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

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How did Roger Penske's No. 6 Porsche drivers react to the news of their car being disqualified?

Porsche Penske No. 6 car at the 24 Hours of Le Mans 2024 - Source: Getty

The Roger Penske-led operation suffered a major heartbreak with the disqualification, as they were in contention for the pole position. However, this did not demotivate the drivers, who kept their heads up, as there is a long race to come this weekend.

Kevin Estre shared a concise message on Instagram and wrote:

"Disqualified after qualifying, which means we’ll be starting P21. A 24-hour race to fight back."

On the other hand, Laurens Vanthoor shared a meme over his situation and wrote on X:

"Unfortunately we will start last on Saturday as we were disqualified from qualifying. Looking forward to fight my way upfront."

Lastly, Matt Campbell remained realistic and focused on the bigger picture ahead, as he wrote on X:

"Well that was less than ideal… we’ll be starting P21 on Saturday after losing all our times in Qualifying for being under weight. It’s a long race & we all are quite happy with our 6 @PorscheRaces #RACEBORN."

With the disqualification, Roger Penske would have one less car to fight for the Hyperpole at Le Mans.