2-time Indy 500 winner Newgarden, Team Penske teammate Power penalized for illegal part modification

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two-time defending Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and teammate Will Power will start from the final two spots on the grid Sunday after their teams were penalized for violating the rules during qualifying weekend in the second controversy to embroil Team Penske's IndyCar program in just over a year.

IndyCar also announced Monday that the team strategists for the Nos. 2 and 12 have been suspended for the race; the cars will forfeit their qualification points and pit box selections; and each of the entries has been fined $100,000.

“We need our biggest stakeholders, the people that are investing in our sport, to believe that it’s a level playing field," IndyCar president Doug Boles said before Monday's practice at the speedway, "and that they have every chance as anybody else does to win the Indianapolis 500, so we’re all singing from the same songbook.

“I think this is a clear indication, I hope, to the paddock that we take this seriously," Boles added, "that this is not something that we’re going to continue to allow to happen. We are going to make sure that the cars on the racetrack are evenly prepared.”

Team Penske said in a statement that “we accept the penalties issued today by the IndyCar Series."

“We are disappointed by the results and the impact it has on our organization,” the statement read. “We will make further announcements later this week related to personnel for the upcoming Indianapolis 500.”

The trouble for Team Penske began before the fast 12 shootout Sunday, when rival team owner Chip Ganassi was among a chorus of competitors who accused it of cheating. They noticed unapproved changes had been made to the rear attenuator, a safety device designed to absorb and reduce the force of impacts, and the assumption was the modifications would have given the two Team Penske cars an aerodynamic advantage in their four-lap qualifying runs.

Tim Cindric, the president of Penske’s IndyCar program, said Power passed inspection but officials had flagged Newgarden’s car, and he was told neither would pass inspection after making their runs. So, the cars were pulled from the lineup altogether.

Boles initially said late Sunday that Newgarden and Power would join teammate Scott McLaughlin — who had crashed in practice on Sunday and was unable to make a qualifying run — in the fourth row for the race. But after the series gathered more facts and considered the case, the decision was made to put Newgarden in the 32nd starting spot and Power in the 33rd.

McLaughlin will keep the 10th starting spot because his wrecked car was found to have used a legal attenuator.

“This violation of the IndyCar rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” Boles said. "The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33, however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”

One year ago, Team Penske was caught in a push-to-pass scandal in which Newgarden was found to have access to an additional boost of horsepower when he should not have at the season-opener. He was stripped of his win and team owner Roger Penske — who also owns IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway — suspended Cindric for two races, including the Indy 500.

Also suspended were managing director Ron Ruzewski, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and data engineer Robbie Atkinson.

Cindric and Ruzewski will now miss their second consecutive Indy 500.

“As far as I'm concerned, this case is closed,” Boles said.

Newgarden, who is trying to become the first driver to win three consecutive Indy 500s, was a contender to capture the pole. He was seen running off his anger around the speedway Sunday as another qualifying session roared on.

Pato O’Ward, who drives for rival Arrow McLaren, said after qualifying on the front row that IndyCar should have penalized the two Penske cars by making them run in a last-chance qualifier to re-earn spots on the grid. He also wondered why the powerful Team Penske continues to push the envelope when it comes to the rules.

“It’s a shame,” O'Ward said. “They’re a great team. They have great drivers. Why are you doing that? It makes no sense.”

O'Ward expressed sympathy for the four drivers who had to compete for the final three spots in the last-chance qualifier. Jacob Abel, an IndyCar rookie who had been fast in practice, ended up missing the race.

“I do see all the comments. I do appreciate everyone's support and everything, saying we should be in the race because we were legal,” Abel said. “At the end of the day, we knew what we needed to do on Saturday, we knew what we needed to do on Sunday, and unfortunately we came up short. ... I don't want to be there on a technicality. I want to deserve to be there.”

AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.

AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Josef Newgarden waits for the start of practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Will Power, of Australia, drives through the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Will Power, of Australia, watches as he waits for is turn during qualification for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Saturday, May 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

Josef Newgarden drives through the first turn during practice for the Indianapolis 500 auto race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indianapolis, Thursday, May 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Michael Conroy)

RHO, Italy (AP) — No ice is colder and harder than speedskating ice. The precision it takes has meant that Olympic speedskaters have never competed for gold on a temporary indoor rink – until the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Games.

In the pursuit of maximum glide and minimum friction, Olympic officials brought on ice master Mark Messer, a veteran of six previous Olympic speedskating tracks and the ice technician in charge of the Olympic Oval in Calgary, Canada — one of the fastest tracks in the world with over 300 records.

Messer has been putting that experience to work one thin layer of ice at a time since the end of October at the new Speed Skating Stadium, built inside adjacent trade fair halls in the city of Rho just north of Milan.

“It’s one of the biggest challenges I’ve had in icemaking,’’ Messer said during an interview less than two weeks into the process.

If Goldilocks were a speedskater, hockey ice would be medium hard, for fast puck movement and sharp turns. Figure skating ice would be softer, allowing push off for jumps and so the ice doesn’t shatter on landing. Curling ice is the softest and warmest of all, for controlled sliding.

For speedskating ice to be just right, it must be hard, cold and clean. And very, very smooth.

“The blades are so sharp, that if there is some dirt, the blade will lose the edge,’’ Messer said, and the skater will lose speed.

Speedskater Enrico Fabris, who won two Olympic golds in Turin in 2006, has traded in his skates to be deputy sports manager at the speedskating venue in Rho. For him, perfect ice means the conditions are the same for all skaters — and then if it's fast ice, so much the better.

"It's more of a pleasure to skate on this ice,'' he said.

Messer’s first Olympics were in Calgary in 1988 — the first time speedskating was held indoors. “That gave us some advantages because we didn’t have to worry about the weather, wind blowing or rain,’’ he said. Now he is upping the challenge by becoming the first ice master to build a temporary rink for the Olympics.

Before Messer arrived in Italy, workers spent weeks setting up insulation to level the floor and then a network of pipes and rubber tubes that carry glycol — an antifreeze — that is brought down to minus 7 or minus 8 degrees Celsius (17.6 to 19.4 degrees Fahrenheit) to make the ice.

Water is run through a purification system — but it can’t be too pure, or the ice that forms will be too brittle. Just the right amount of impurities “holds the ice together,’’ Messer said.

The first layers of water are applied slowly, with a spray nozzle; after the ice reaches a few centimeters it is painted white — a full day’s work — and the stripes are added to make lanes.

“The first one takes about 45 minutes. And then as soon as it freezes, we go back and do it again, and again and again. So we do it hundreds of times,’’ Messer said.

As the ice gets thicker, and is more stable, workers apply subsequent layers of water with hoses. Messer attaches his hose to hockey sticks for easier spreading.

What must absolutely be avoided is dirt, dust or frost — all of which can cause friction for the skaters, slowing them down. The goal is that when the skaters push “they can go as far as possible with the least amount of effort,’’ Messer said.

The Zamboni ice resurfacing machine plays a key role in keeping the track clean, cutting off a layer and spraying water to make a new surface.

One challenge is gauging how quickly the water from the resurfacing machine freezes in the temporary rink.

Another is getting the ice to the right thickness so that the Zamboni, weighing in at six tons, doesn’t shift the insulation, rubber tubing or ice itself.

“When you drive that out, if there’s anything moving it will move. We don’t want that,’’ Messer said.

The rink got its first big test on Nov. 29-30 during a Junior World Cup event. In a permanent rink, test events are usually held a year before the Olympics, leaving more time for adjustments. “We have a very small window to learn,’’ Messer acknowledged.

Dutch speedskater Kayo Vos, who won the men’s neo-senior 1,000 meters, said the ice was a little soft — but Messer didn’t seem too concerned.

“We went very modest to start, now we can start to change the temperatures and try to make it faster and still maintain it as a safe ice,’’ he said.

Fine-tuning the air temperature and humidity and ice temperature must be done methodically — taking into account that there will be 6,000 spectators in the venue for each event. The next real test will be on Jan. 31, when the Olympians take to the ice for their first training session.

“Eighty percent of the work is done but the hardest part is the last 20 percent, where we have to try to find the values and the way of running the equipment so all the skaters get the same conditions and all the skaters get the best conditions,’’ Messer said.

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Serpentines are set on the ice of the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Workers clean the ice surface during a peed skating Junior World Cup and Olympic test event, in Rho, near Milan, Italy, Saturday, Nov. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)

Ice Master Mark Messer poses in the stadium where speed skating discipline of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics will take place, in Rho, outskirt of Milan, Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)