"Worst week of my life": Penske president comes clean on difficult period after Team Penske's Indy 500 controversy

The 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway saw rule violations involving three different teams: Team Penske during qualifying, and both Andretti Global and Prema following the race. However, Team Penske’s infraction snowballed into a major scandal. Weeks later, the Penske President, Bud Denker, opened up about the same.

As a result of the rule violations, two of Team Penske's cars, Will Power’s No. 12 and Josef Newgarden’s No. 2, were moved to the 32nd and 33rd starting spots on the grid. In response, team owner Roger Penske took swift and firm action by removing several top executives from their roles ahead of the race, including longtime Team Penske President Tim Cindric, IndyCar Managing Director Ron Ruzewski, and General Manager Kyle Moyer.

Reflecting on the tumultuous time, Denker labeled it as the 'worst week of his life', as he had to make tough decisions to fire people who had been a part of their team setup for a long time.

“It was the worst week of my life,” Denker said, referring to the dismissals. “These are people not only we like, but these are also people we love and have done so much for our company with wins and championships and for our brand."

“But the decision was made, and we moved forward. And now we’re still moving forward. And I think the fact is that here we were in Detroit, and we're going to be in the next races at Gateway and Road America. We're moving forward," he added.

“Tough decisions were made. They were made, and now we’re thinking ahead,” he further said.

Last year, in the 108th edition of the Indianapolis 500, three Team Penske cars had locked up the front row, with Scott McLaughlin taking the pole and Josef Newgarden ultimately taking the chequered flag.

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Team Penske confirmed the departure of its leadership team amid the cheating scandal

109th Running Of The Indianapolis 500 - Practice and Previews - Source: Getty

In IndyCar, the strict regulations prohibit changes to most components of the car. The Dallara DW12 chassis, manufactured in Italy, along with more than 90% of its parts, must be installed and raced without any alterations, upgrades, or cosmetic enhancements throughout its use in the competition.

However, Team Penske was found to have violated these rules by modifying the rear crash structures, referred to as attenuators, on two of their three entries. Specifically, the team used filler on the seams located on both sides of the attenuators and applied a clear coat to produce a flawlessly smooth surface. This aerodynamic tweak aimed to optimize airflow over the rear of the car, where speeds can reach up to 230 mph.

Following the revelation of this high-profile scandal, IndyCar powerhouse Team Penske took swift action by dismissing its entire senior leadership. The decision came just five days before the Indianapolis 500, as the team aimed to address the damage to its reputation.

“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said in a statement. “We have had organizational failures during the last two years, and we had to make necessary changes. I apologize to our fans, our partners, and our organization for letting them down.”

Following the discovery of unauthorized modifications to the attenuators on Team Penske’s No. 2 and No. 12 cars before the Top 12 qualifying session, IndyCar Series officials conducted a thorough review and issued penalties to drivers Josef Newgarden and Will Power. As a consequence, the two started the race from the tail end of the grid.