Team Penske Parts Ways With Cindric

Team Penske has confirmed that longtime figurehead Tim Cindric has been released from the organization in a major shakeup in the wake of a qualifying scandal at the Indianapolis 500.

Confirmed on Wednesday, Cindric, along with Penske’s IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewksi and general manager Kyle Moyer, has been let go, with team owner Roger Penske describing the firings as “necessary changes” in a statement.

“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said.

“We have had organisational 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 firings come days after Penske was found to have illegally modified the rear attenuators on two cars ahead of Fast 12 qualifying at the Indy 500, with Josef Newgarden and Will Power initially barred from taking part in the shootout before being moved to the back of the starting grid for the race.

The team was also fined $200,000 USD. Additionally, before they were let go, Cindric and Ruzewski had already been suspended from this weekend’s race in their capacity as race strategists for Newgarden and Power, respectively.

It marked the second time in just over a year that Penske’s IndyCar operation became embroiled in controversy after Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were found to have illegally used the push-to-pass boost system during last year’s season opener at St. Petersburg.

Newgarden and McLaughlin were stripped of first and second-place finishes at the time, with Cindric and Ruzewski both serving a two-race suspension.

Cindric’s departure, the most high-profile of the three exits, marks the end of a highly successful tenure at the organization that began in 1999 and covered a wide variety of series and disciplines.

On the sports car racing side, his role as president saw Cindric oversee a number of successful programs, including the factory Porsche LMDh effort that has since gone on to championship success in both the FIA World Endurance Championship and the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Cindric scaled back his day-to-day involvement earlier this year, but remained active as president of Penske’s highly successful IndyCar program.