Team Penske revealed its personnel changes and new team member lineup for its three-car field ahead of this year’s 109th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, May 22.
Luke Mason and Raul Prados will assume the roles of strategist and lead engineer, respectively, for Josef Newgarden and the No. 2 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet team.
Ben Bretzman and Malcolm Finch will serve as strategist and lead engineer, respectively, for Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet team.
Lastly, Jonathan Diuguid and David Faustino will work as strategist and lead engineer, respectively, for Will Power and the No. 12 Team Penske Dallara-Chevrolet team.
The news comes a day after Team Penske announced the departure of three management staff: Tim Cindric, Team Penske’s president; Ron Ruzewski, Penske’s NTT IndyCar Series’ managing director; and Kyle Moyer, Penske’s IndyCar general manager.
The departures of the trio were due to Penske’s Nos. 2 and 12 entries violating a rule in the IndyCar rule book that pertained to an unapproved body fit on the rear attenuator of the cars. The discovery was made during the second day of the PPG presents the Armed Forces Qualifying session ahead of this year’s Indy 500 this past Sunday, May 18. Initially, INDYCAR officials did not note any issues with Power’s No. 12 entry, but noted inquires on Newgarden’s No. 2 entry. Ultimately, the Penske organization opted to withdraw both entries from qualifying.
Since both the Nos. 2 and 12 entries had transferred to the Top 12 qualifying session, they were due to start 11th and 12th, respectively. During this past Monday, May 19, they were moved to the rear of the field in 32nd and 33rd. In addition, the entries were fined $100,000, their respective strategists were suspended for the Indy 500 and their qualification points were revoked.
The lone Penske entry to not be penalized was the No. 3 entry piloted by McLaughlin, the reigning Indy 500 pole winner, after the latter was involved in an airborne accident while practicing prior to the Top 12 qualifying session. Because McLaughlin had transferred to the Top 12 session prior to wrecking, he will line up in 10th place for this year’s Indy 500.
Following the departures of three staff, Roger Penske, owner of both Team Penske and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, released the following statement:
“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.”
The 2025 season marks McLaughlin’s fifth Indy 500 career start as he attempts to win the event for the first time in his career. Meanwhile, Power and Newgarden are former Indy 500 champions. Power is set to make his 18th start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing this year as he attempts to become the 22nd competitor to win multiple Indy 500s. Meanwhile, Newgarden is striving to become the first-ever competitor to three-peat in the Indy 500.
The 2025 Indianapolis 500, which is set to mark the 109th running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, is scheduled to occur next Sunday, May 25. The event’s pre-race coverage is slated to air at 10 a.m. ET on FOX and the drop of the green flag is slated to occur at 12:45 p.m. ET.
