"I feel sorry for Roger Penske": Team Penske rival gives sympathetic defense after Indy 500 controversy

Roger Penske and his IndyCar team became the center of controversy for the second time in 15 months at the 2025 Indy 500 qualifying last weekend. Ricardo Juncos, the owner of rival team Juncos Hollinger Racing, has now shared his feelings about the whole episode and defended Penske.

The controversy began on Sunday (May 18), when Josef Newgarden and Will Power had to pull out of Fast 12 qualifying after their cars were found to have illegally modified rear attenuators. IndyCar penalized each entry $100,000 and pushed them to the back of the grid for the 109th Indy 500.

In the wake of the scandal, Roger Penske fired the senior leadership of his team and issued an apology to the fans. On Carb Day (Friday, May 23), Ricardo Juncos commented on these happenings, saying (via RACER on YouTube):

"The Indy 500 is crazy, naturally, and now we have all this drama. In my perspective, it's been very hard to keep the focus. We are doing a lot of things, we are trying to learn and achieve. And it's unfortunately what happened, right? I think no one needs this. I feel sorry for Roger, to be honest."

"As a team owner, I always look at him as a top guy, and I will continue doing that because, for me, he's really, really good. What happened with his team on Sunday, everybody knows... I'll tell you there's 400-something things on each car that you can actually do, and sometimes the rules are not black and white, and it's really hard to hard to make sure."

As the controversy unfolded earlier in the week, it was found that Josef Newgarden's 2024 Indy 500-winning car had the same attenuator modification. However, IndyCar president Doug Boles declared that he wouldn't be stripped of last year's win because the series missed the fault in the post-race technical inspection.

Ricardo Juncos urges Roger Penske's IndyCar to have an independent governing body

Roger Penske at the IMSA WeatherTech Championship Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring - Source: Getty

Team Penske's Indy 500 fiasco brought up an important question: Should IndyCar have an independent governing body, considering Roger Penske owns the series and also runs a team in it? Juncos Hollinger Racing's Argentinian owner, Ricardo Juncos, answered the question in the affirmative.

"Well, i think it's a good idea," Juncos said via RACER. "I mean, we have to be that way. We should never be the way it is now. If team owners can have a little bit more voice, which I think we are now, we should get better. Clearly, having a total independent entity controlling the regulations and the scrutiny and all that will fix it, as other motorsport associations have."

Team Penske and Juncos Hollinger Racing will be in a direct battle at the start of the 109th Indy 500 on Sunday, May 25. Penske's Scott McLaughlin will have JHR's Conor Daly next to him on the fourth row.