The consequences from Team Penske's Indy 500 qualifying scandal are still unfolding several days later. Josef Newgarden and Will Power have already been sent to the rear of the field, the team has been fined a total of $200,000, and race strategists for each driver were suspended.
Penske has now taken things a step further by announcing the departure of IndyCar team president Tim Cindric after 26 years with the organization. His son Austin currently competes full-time for Penske in the NASCAR Cup Series. Cindric already stepped back from his day-to-day leadership role in January following last year's push-to-pass scandal.
Cindric also served as the chief race strategist for Newgarden, and he is not the only one being sent out the door on Wednesday morning.
Managing director Ron Ruzewski, who was also the race strategist for Power, has been relieved of his duties after 21 years with Penske. In his duties, he oversaw technical development and day-to-day management of the race teams. Additionally, general manager Kyle Moyer is also departing the organization after 11 years. Moyer was also working as the race strategist for Scott McLaughlin, who escaped penalties this week.
On Thursday, the organization revealed their replacements for the indy 500. Jonathan Diuguid will work as Power's strategist with David Faustino as the lead engineer, Luke Mason will work as Newgarden's strategist and Raul Prados as the lead engineer, and Ben Bretzman will work as McLaughlin's strategist with Malcolm Finch as the lead engineer.
Cindric posted the following message on social media in reaction to the news: "It's been an amazing ride! While my conscience remains clear through all of the noise and accusations, I'm grateful to have so many great people to draw strength from in times like this. Still standing tall!"
Roger Penske released his first public statement since this all began on Sunday as well, stating: "Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams. 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."
