Josef Newgarden’s win in IndyCar’s season-opening race at St. Petersburg was disqualified Wednesday because Team Penske manipulated its push-to-pass system during the race, making Pato O’Ward the winner.

O’Ward, who drives for McLaren, had originally finished second.

Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin, who finished third, was also disqualified. Will Power, the third Penske driver, was docked 10 points. Additionally, all three entries have been fined $25,000 and will forfeit all prize money associated with the race.

Roger Penske owns IndyCar. Team Penske was in violation of the following “Push to Pass” parameters:

• Rule 14.19.15. An indicator to enable Push to Pass will be sent via CAN communication from the timing and scoring beacon on board the Car to the team data logger. This signal must be passed on to the ECU unmodified and uninterrupted during all Road and Street Course Events.
• Rule 14.19.16. Race Starts and any Race Restart that occurs before the lap prior to the white flag or prior to three minutes remaining in a timed Race Event will have the Push to Pass system disabled and will be enabled for a given Car once that Car reaches the alternate Start/Finish line.

According to the rulebook, the violation is considered a Race Procedure Penalty (9.2.2.), which includes the right to reposition the Driver/Car in the posting or results, with a disqualification (9.2.2.6.) that includes the forfeiture of points and awards.

“The integrity of the IndyCar Series championship is critical to everything we do,” IndyCar President Jay Frye said. “While the violation went undetected at St. Petersburg, IndyCar discovered the manipulation during Sunday’s warmup in Long Beach and immediately addressed it ensuring all cars were compliant for the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Beginning with this week’s race at Barber Motorsports Park, new technical inspection procedures will be in place to deter this violation.”

Statement from Team Penske President, Tim Cindric, on penalties resulting from St. Petersburg Grand Prix: pic.twitter.com/JNHmbuPE4u

— Team Penske (@Team_Penske) April 24, 2024

Newgarden, a two-time IndyCar champion and reigning Indianapolis 500 winner who is in a contract year with Penske, fell from first in points to 11th with the disqualification.

A review of the data from the St. Petersburg race showed that Team Penske manipulated the overtake system so the three Penske drivers could use push-to-pass on starts and restarts. According to IndyCar rules, the use of the overtake isn’t available until the car reaches the alternate start-finish line.

“Unfortunately, the push-to-pass software was not removed as it should have been, following recently completed hybrid testing in the Team Penske Indy cars,” Team Penske President Tim Cindric said in a statement. “This software allowed for push-to-pass to be deployed during restarts at the St. Petersburg Grand Prix race, when it should not have been permitted. The No. 2 car driven by Josef Newgarden and the No. 3 car driven by Scott McLaughlin, both deployed push-to-pass on a restart, which violated IndyCar rules. Team Penske accepts the penalties applied by IndyCar.”