Qualifying for tomorrow’s Indianapolis 500 was dramatic and eventful.
On the positive side, there’s the fairy tale story of PREMA Racing and their rookie racer, Robert Shwartzman. His name has now been added to the history books. He took pole position for the 109th running of the Indianapolis 500, only the third rookie in a century to achieve this. Making it extra special, PREMA Racing is actually a first-year team, only having joined IndyCar in 2025, and Shwartzman himself has never raced on an oval.
At the other end of the spectrum is Team Penske and their drivers Will Power and Josef Newgarden. Before qualifying, an rival team noticed an illegally modified part on both race cars. In a nut-shell, the rear crash structure of Dallara-built IndyCar, called an attenuator, is made up of two pieces of carbon-fibre for strength and lightness. Seems someone at Team Penske filled in the seams between the carbon-fibre pieces (with a black Bondo-like substance) for enhanced aerodynamics.
The attenuator is a ‘spec’ part which cannot be altered in any way in the interests of driver safety. The modifications meant the Penske cars were excluded from qualifying. Newgarden and Power must start at the back of the pack in 32nd and 33rd place. For Josef Newgarden, the situation is even more dire. His 2024 Indianapolis 500 winning race car is on display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum with the same illegal modification. There are some calls to have him retroactively disqualified, stripped of his win.
For fan-favourite Will Power, his race has been ruined before it ever began. Starting dead last in a grueling 500 mile race leaves him an impossible mountain to climb, and since the very first running of the ‘Greatest Spectacle in Racing‘ in 1911 nobody has ever won from 33rd place.
Will Power has driven the No. 12 Verizon IndyCar for Team Penske since 2010 and has amassed an incredible record. Two championships, an Indy 500 win, and the outright record for the most pole-positions in American open-wheel racing history. But this is the second time Team Penske has been caught breaking the rules like this, and it brings Power’s legacy into question.
Power is out of contract at the end of the year, and some are wondering whether he will return to the team for 2026.
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