Roger Penske suffers yet another setback to his reputation after his team was DQ'd from 24 Hours of Le Mans

Roger Penske finds himself and his team once again in the spotlight for the wrong reasons — this time not in IndyCar racing, but ahead of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The 88-year-old witnessed one of his cars, set to participate in the iconic endurance race, disqualified from qualifying.

The Team Penske owner, whose team, Porsche Penske, participates in the World Endurance Championship, saw the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 car disqualified from qualifying for Le Mans after failing to meet the post-qualifying technical inspection. According to the statement released by the World Endurance Championship, the car driven by Kevin Estre was found to be under the standard weight limit required to participate in the race.

As a consequence, the car was relegated to the rear of the Hypercar grid for the main race. Estre, who was driving the car during qualifying, had originally qualified the No. 6 car in sixth place, just two-tenths off the top qualifying team, Alex Lynn of the Cadillac team. It was also the best qualifying position of the Porsche Penske team in the Hypercar category.

However, Kevin Estre, alongside Laurens Vanthoor and Matt Campbell, who are all set to co-pilot the car, will now start their race at the back of the grid.

The penalty to the outfit's car translates into a massive benefit for the No. 9 Aston Martin Valkyrie car, as the car, which had been bumped from the top 15 during qualifying, will now move back into the top 15 for the race. This development also means that seven of the eight Hypercar manufacturers will have at least one of their cars participate in the subsequent Hyperpole session.

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How Roger Penske reacted following his team’s Indy 500 disqualification

Roger Penske also witnessed his team caught up in controversy during the recent Indy 500 event. Two of his three drivers — Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin — were disqualified after their cars were found to have failed a technical inspection.

Both drivers, ahead of the second day, were found to have alterations made to the rear attenuator. The incident subsequently saw them relegated to the back of the starting grid for the Indianapolis event, and it also raised questions about the team's integrity. However, reacting to the controversy surrounding his team, Roger Penske, in his interaction with the media via FOX Sports, stated:

"Believe me, it hurts me in my gut when you think about it. But I look at it this way: There's a certain amount of credibility you have to have — it's integrity, individually and collectively, our team and the sport. I think we let people down. I made some management changes that we announced today and I think we'll move on."

It should, however, be recalled that this incident isn't the first time the Mooresville-based outfit has been found in breach of a rule. During the 2024 IndyCar St. Petersburg Grand Prix, the team was found in breach of the push-to-pass regulations, having accessed the system during race starts and restarts. The incident resulted in both Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin being disqualified from the race, while Power was handed a 10-point penalty because he never illegally activated the system, though he was part of the team that had access to it.