IndyCar: McLaren’s O’Ward handed St. Pete win after Penske DSQ

Arrow McLaren SP driver Pato O’Ward has been declared the winner of last month’s opening IndyCar race in St. Petersburg following the belated disqualification of Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden.

On Wednesday, the NTT IndyCar Series announced that race winner Newgarden and Penske teammate Scott McLaughlin who finished third had been kicked out of the final standings of the St. Pete event for violating the series’ Push to Pass rules.

Will Power, Penske’s third entry, was docked 10 championship points while each entry was fined $25,000 for the transgressions.

The Push to Pass system gives drivers a temporary horsepower boost for overtaking maneuvers, but strict rules govern its activation zones.

According to the series, irregularities were detected with Penske's Push to Pass software during practice at last weekend’s Long Beach Grand Prix.

• Read also: Thrifty Dixon steals Long Beach win with bold fuel gamble

A deeper investigation into the St. Petersburg race data revealed the systems were configured in a way that allowed an earlier activation than permitted.

Newgarden and McLaughlin exploited this advantage, utilizing the boost during restarts before it was officially legal. This unauthorized use handed them an unfair advantage.

Power did not rely on the system, but the presence onboard of the wrongly configured software was enough to justify a suppression of points.

The penalties for Penske are severe and have led to a major shakeup in the championship’s standings .

Disqualification: Both Newgarden and McLaughlin have been disqualified from the St. Petersburg results. Newgarden, the dominant winner on the track, plummets from 1st to 11th in the championship standings. McLaughlin falls from 10th to 29th.

Points Deduction: Will Power, though not using the boost illegally, received a 10-point penalty for having the unauthorized configuration available.

Fines: All three Penske entries have been hit with a $25,000 fine and will forfeit their prize money from St. Petersburg.

"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.”

Team Penske President Tim Cindric acknowledged in a statement that the software should have been removed.

“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,” Cindric said.

“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.”

Pato O'Ward, the original runner-up in St. Petersburg, is the biggest beneficiary. He is now declared the official race winner, earning his fifth career IndyCar victory and climbing to fourth in the championship points.

Furthermore, Scott Dixon, who previously held second place, inherits the overall points lead heading into the next race at Barber Motorsports Park.

This dramatic turn of events throws the IndyCar championship wide open. Team Penske, a dominant force in the series, has been dealt a significant blow.

The rest of the field will be eager to capitalize on this opportunity as the fight for the title intensifies.

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