Roger Penske’s NASCAR champion Joey Logano breaks silence on team’s IndyCar cheating scandal

Joey Logano has spoken out about the IndyCar cheating scandal that has engulfed Roger Penske’s racing empire. The three-time NASCAR Cup Series champion addressed the controversy in a statement that recognized the severity of the issue while also focusing on the need to move on.

The statement was featured in a video posted by Motorsports.com on X. His comments come amid growing criticism of Team Penske’s IndyCar arm following recent events at the Indianapolis 500. The caption with his statement read,

“3x #NASCAR Cup champion and @Team_Pensk driver @joeylogano says the #IndyCar scandal 'obviously' impacts both operations as "we're all one team." 🗣️"It’s unfortunate, but we’ve got to move forward."”

The scandal that prompted Logano’s response centers around illegal modifications discovered on Team Penske’s IndyCar entries at this year’s Indy 500 qualifying. Two cars — driven by Josef Newgarden and Will Power — were found to have altered rear attenuators, a safety component that is strictly regulated and not meant to be modified under any circumstance.

What made the situation more explosive was the timing: the modifications were only discovered ahead of the second day of qualifying, raising questions about whether the cars were legal in earlier sessions — or even in previous races.

According to multiple sources, including AP, rival teams had been raising concerns about Team Penske’s cars for some time. Some even claimed to have photographic evidence of the altered components. IndyCar eventually acted, disqualifying both cars from advancing further in qualifying and later applying penalties, including $100,000 fines each and back-of-grid starts for Newgarden and Power. Adding to that, Penske fired three of his top executives — Tim Cindric, Ron Ruzewski, and Kyle Moyer — in an effort to take responsibility and stabilize the situation.

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“We’re like elephants, we don’t forget anything”: Joey Logano reflects after losing All-Star win

Despite dominating much of the All-Star Race at North Wilkesboro Speedway, Joey Logano fell short in the final laps. He led more than half the race — over 130 of the 250 laps — but couldn’t hold off Christopher Bell, who snatched the lead from him with less than 10 laps to go. Bell, in the #20 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, made an aggressive inside move that pushed Logano up the track and cost him the win.

In a post-race interview with Dirty Mo Media, Joey Logano made it clear that he didn’t appreciate how the battle ended. Joey Logano shared,

“I’ll just race him the same way. That’s all it is. I mean, this race was for a million dollars, you know, I get it. But we race each other every week. We're like elephants, we don't forget anything,”

The All-Star Race also included a controversial promoter's caution that affected the pit strategy. Logano, in the #22 Penske Ford, stayed out during the caution and managed to finish second. Ross Chastain finished third for Trackhouse Racing.