IndyCar expert makes his feelings clear on Team Penske’s unfortunate ‘dry spell’

Team Penske has been one of the most successful teams in IndyCar history. However, the past few seasons have been a different story, as the team has won only one championship title, which was in 2022. IndyCar expert Paul Kelly spoke about this while answering a question.

The Mooresville-based team has struggled to keep up with its rivals over the past few races. So far, Team Penske has had only three opportunities to stand on the podium, but not one of them has been on the top step. While answering the question of the biggest surprise this season, Paul Kelly spoke about Team Penske having a 'dry spell,' which was quite unexpected for the team that defined racing in North America for several years.

"I didn’t have the three Team Penske drivers at fifth (Will Power), eighth (Scott McLaughlin), and 12th (Josef Newgarden) in the standings on my bingo card after seven races this season. Most teams would be content with those results, but this is Penske, a team that has defined excellence in North American open-wheel racing for more than 50 years......" Kelly said (via IndyCar.com).

"There are many opportunities to right the ship in the next 10 races, which include five oval races, a Penske specialty. ....But Penske drivers have won just one NTT INDYCAR SERIES title since 2019 – Power in 2022. That’s the longest dry spell since the team went without a title from 2007-13, a period of dominance by Chip Ganassi Racing and Andretti Global, which ironically appear to be teams a rung above Penske on the series superiority ladder this season," he added.

Team Penske seemed to have a promising start to the season. Scott McLaughlin, who drives the #3 car powered by Chevrolet, won the pole position, while his teammate, Josef Newgarden, took third place at the maiden race of the season at the Firestone Grand Prix of St Petersburg. At the Children's of Alabama Indy Grand Prix held on May 4, McLaughlin finished the race in third after starting in second, while his teammates wrapped up the race in fifth and 10th place.

At the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, two of the three Team Penske cars were disqualified after they were found violating technical rules. The team came under severe criticism from drivers and team owners alike. This led to a change in Team Penske after the team executives were fired from their respective positions. However, Team Penske still has another 10 races this season to turn its results around.

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Roger Penske reflects on the axing of Team Penske's key individuals

Team Penske owner Roger Penske had to make the tough decision of parting ways with three of his top individuals after two of the three cars were found violating the technical rule during the Indy 500. Penske opened up about the same during an interview with Fox Sports.

The team announced that they had parted ways with Tim Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski, and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer. Penske, 88, spoke to Fox Sports' Jamie Little, and he detailed how he felt let down by his team.

"I really have to go back four and a half years ago when we bought the speedway and I said that I would invest capital, I'd get the best people, and we take the series and certainly Indianapolis Motor Speedway to higher levels,” he said (0:25 onwards).

“I think we've done that, then I look at my right hand and say, ‘What about Team Penske?’ And when I think about Team Penske, we really had an organization failure two times, not once but two times, and believe me, it hurts me in my gut when you think about it,” Roger Penske added.

Scott McLaughlin's car was the only one that passed the inspection, but he could not finish the race as he crashed out during the warm-up lap.