Scott McLaughlin was as surprised as anyone when Tim Cindric was announced as his race strategist for the 2026 season in the IndyCar Series.
“Yes, I said some crazy shit,” said McLaughlin, 32. “I was pretty excited. I was like, ‘Well, that's definitely not what I thought was going to happen.’ I only found out probably two hours before everyone else did. But immediately rang Tim and just said, ‘I can't wait to deal with you’ and learn from him.
“And I think for me, I have so much respect for him. I wouldn't be in IndyCar if it wasn't for TC (Cindric). I think Roger (Penske, owner of Team Penske, the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway) did a lot of that as well, but TC, he planted IndyCar in my head before I was even here. So, I owe a lot to him.
“But also I'm just excited to work directly with him because for like six years, for many years, the whole time I've been here, I've asked him to be my guy. I thought I'd lost that chance and now that he's back, it's kind of crazy.”
It’s an interesting turn of events considering that Cindric was fired from his role as Team Penske President roughly eight months prior when two of the organization’s cars were found with illegal modifications to the rear attenuator during pre-qualifying inspection for the Indianapolis 500. It was the second time the team was in the middle of a scandal in as many seasons, which also led to the release of General Manager Kyle Moyer and Managing Director Ron Ruzewski.
Moyer and Ruzewski found homes as Arrow McLaren and Andretti Global, respectively. Cindric, however, remained outside of the sport until reaching back out to Penske’s leadership.
Jonathan Diuguid, who took over the role as Penske Racing’s President as part of a massive organization overhaul, was the one to notify McLaughlin that Cindric would be on his #3 Chevrolet.
When asked by Motorsport.com if it was weird to have Cindric back but not Moyer and Ruzewski, McLaughlin scoffed at the notion.
“No,” said McLaughlin, who led opening practice for this weekend's Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. “Kyle and Ron both went and found jobs in other spots.
“The way it sort of came about, I think he (Cindric) reached out saying he wanted to get back into the sport. He didn't think he was going to want to get back into the sport and asked if there was a spot there for him. And I think JD (Diuduid) looked at it from a performance perspective for us, that we were looking for a strategist and he thought what better guy to have than probably the best strategist in pit lane on my car.”
Perhaps the most intriguing element of Cindric returning to Team Penske is the fact that he wasn’t reunited with Josef Newgarden, whom he previously also served as race strategist.
And the New Zealander isn’t sure how he landed him over Newgarden.
“I don’t know,” McLaughlin said. “I just, I got told by Jonathan. Jonathan said, ‘I'm on the #2 car (Newgarden). Travis (Law) is on the #12 (David Malukas) and we're bringing TC to be on your car.’ And I was like, ‘Okay.’ Didn't even question it.”
But did Newgarden want Cindric?
“I don’t know and I don’t care,” McLaughlin said. “He’s mine.”
