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Penske suspends Cindric and 3 others in the wake of a cheating scandal ahead of the Indianapolis 500
Roger Penske on Tuesday said he has suspended the president of Team Penske along with three others for two races for their roles in the cheating scandal that has rocked IndyCar ahead of the Indianapolis 500.
Penske said in an interview with The Associated Press that a review done by his general counsel found that the team had no “malicious intent by anyone” and chalked up the incident as a breakdown in internal processes and miscommunication.
He also said he remains committed to reigning Indianapolis 500 winner Josef Newgarden and is actively trying to sign the two-time IndyCar champion to a contract extension.
“We’re the same company we have been for 50 years and I’m going to hold my head high,” Penske told the AP. “This is an unfortunate situation and when you’re the leader, you have to take action. We’ve done that and we’re going to move on. I am not trying to run a popularity contest.”
Tim Cindric, who oversees all of Team Penske’s operations and is the strategist for Newgarden, is the top name to receive a two-race suspension. Also suspended was team managing director Ron Ruzewski, Newgarden engineer Luke Mason and senior data engineer Robbie Atkinson.
Penske told the AP that Cindric and Ruzewski “raised their hands as the team leaders” to accept responsibility for the mess.
“For Ron and I as leaders of this team, it’s not about what we did, it’s about what we didn’t do. It is our responsibility to provide the team and all our drivers with the right processes to ensure something like this can’t happen,” Cindric said in a statement. “For that, I apologize to Roger, our team and everyone that supports us. Our number one job is to protect and enhance the reputation of our brand and that of those that support us.
“In that regard, as the overall leader, I failed, and I must raise my hand and be accountable with the others. This is a team, and in my position, it’s the right thing to do.”
Ruzewski and Atkinson both work on Will Power’s car — Ruzewski is his strategist — and Power is the only of the three Penske drivers not accused of any wrongdoing in the push-to-pass scandal. Penske acknowledged that Power had done nothing wrong and said the suspensions to his crew members were based solely on their roles within the team.
None of Scott McLaughlin’s team members were punished.
The suspensions are for two races, which cover this weekend’s event on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and the Indy 500, which Penske is trying to win for a record-extending 20th time.
“That’s a big deal, a significant impact to the team, to the individuals involved,” Penske told the AP of the Indy 500 being included in the suspensions. “I talked to all of them and the goal was, ‘How can we move forward and be competitive and win? Win the next two races?’ That was the feeling I had when I left the meeting.”
Asked how Newgarden moves forward and regains the respect of his competitors, Penske said: “He’s got to do it on the racetrack. I think he understands the gravity of this thing and I need to support him.”
He said contract talks with Newgarden are ongoing but “for sure I do” want to re-sign him.
In a statement released when the suspensions were announced, Penske apologized for the team’s actions.
“I recognize the magnitude of what occurred and the impact it continues to have on the sport to which I’ve dedicated so many decades,” Penske said in the statement. “Everyone at Team Penske along with our fans and business partners should know that I apologize for the errors that were made and I deeply regret them.”
The team said an internal review was completed following IndyCar discovering that all three Penske cars had an illegal software system installed that allowed the drivers to use the push-to-pass function on starts and restarts. The system is controlled by IndyCar and disabled on starts and restarts, when the extra boost of horsepower is illegal.
IndyCar discovered it on the Penske cars in the morning warm-up at Long Beach when a glitch to the software knocked it out of all cars except the three Penske entries. IndyCar’s investigation later showed that the software had been in place in the season-opening race and Newgarden used it to his advantage an admitted three times.
McLaughlin said he used it once at St. Petersburg and Power never illegally used the software. IndyCar stripped Newgarden of the St. Pete win and McLaughlin of his third-place finish, while all three drivers were fined $25,000 and docked 10 points.
Penske owns the race team, IndyCar and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and has been in damage control since series officials discovered the manipulation late last month. Cindric said the software was inadvertently left on the cars since last August when it was installed to test IndyCar’s upcoming hybrid engine.
IndyCar has said it is working on its processes to determine how it wasn’t found through inspection at the first three events to open the season.
Newgarden, meanwhile, maintains he thought there had been a rule change and the P2P system was now legal on restarts. McLaughlin said he hit the button out of habit and gained no advantage from the horsepower boost that lasted less than 2 seconds.
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AP Motorsports: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
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Anti-Hamas protests broke out in the northern Gaza Strip on Tuesday as hundreds of Palestinian men took to the streets to call for an end to the war with Israel.
Videos of the protest began circulating on social media on Tuesday and come as Israeli air strikes and offensive operations against Hamas have continued since the first phase of an internationally-brokered ceasefire ended earlier this month, before a second phase could be secured.
One such video shared with Fox News Digital by the Center for Peace Communications showed protesters chanting, “Hamas get out!”
Palestinians attend a rally calling for an end to the war, in Beit Lahia, in the northern Gaza Strip, on March 25, 2025. (AFP via Getty Images)
ISRAEL ORDERS IDF TO SEIZE MORE GAZA TERRITORY IF HAMAS DOESN’T RELEASE HOSTAGES
The man filming the protest provided his own commentary, which reportedly said, “Gaza’s people don’t want wars. They demand the end of Hamas’ rule. They demand peace.”
“Gazans turned out in anti-Hamas street demonstrations, braving gunfire and prison, in 2019 and again on July 30, 2023. This is the most substantial mass protest since then,” Joseph Braude, president of the Center for Peace Communications, told Fox News Digital. “It highlights Gazan aspirations to end the war by ending Hamas’ reign of terror, alongside the release of all hostages.
“Gazans are expressing anger at Al-Jazeera and global media generally for covering only Hamas, ignoring the voices of Gazan civilians,” he added. “The more attention these brave souls get, the more they can help bring change for the better to Gaza and the broader region.”
Palestinians flee to areas they consider safe following intensive attacks by the Israeli army on the northern Gaza towns of Beit Lahia and Jabalia, on March 25, 2025. (Abd Khaled/Anadolu via Getty Images)
MOTHER OF INJURED HAMAS HOSTAGE DIRECTS PLEA TO ‘EVERY MOTHER IN THIS WORLD’ TO HELP SECURE SON’S RELEASE
Palestinian civilians have taken the brunt of Hamas’ brutal and deadly Oct. 7, 2023, attack, which resulted in the death of some 1,200 Israelis and the abduction of 251 others. Fifty-eight of those hostages remain in Hamas captivity, but only 25 are believed to still be alive 535 days later, including American hostage Edan Alexander.
The Hamas-run Gaza’s Health Ministry reported on Sunday that some 50,000 Palestinians have been killed, including 600 over the last four days after Israel officially ended the tenuous ceasefire by launching air strikes after negotiations on hostage releases stalled.
The ministry also reported that over 15,600 Palestinian children have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.
A woman holds an image of hostage Edan Alexander during the Global Day of Unity and Prayer with Israel’s Hostages and Missing Families Forum, which represents the relatives of those taken captive during the Oct. 7 attack. (Yuri Cortez/AFP via Getty Images)
According to Israeli news agency TPS-IL, Gaza activist Hamza al-Masry also took to Telegram to share footage of the protest and said, “It is time for our people in all the governorates of the Gaza Strip to come out like them and to be united and united in one message.
“The people of Gaza want to stop the torrent of bloodshed of our people, and enough is enough,” he added.
The violence in the border area marks increased friction between Israel and Syria.
At least six people have been killed in an Israeli attack on Koya in southern Syria, the country’s foreign ministry says.
The Israeli military said the attack on Tuesday took place after armed fighters opened fire towards Israeli troops, without specifying whether the Israeli forces were located within Syrian territory when they were targeted. It said its troops returned fire and that an Israeli warplane struck the fighters. It gave no details on casualties but said “hits were identified”.
Syria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned “the continued Israeli aggression on Syrian territory, which saw a dangerous escalation in the village of Kuwayya” in the southern Deraa province.
It called for an international investigation into the Israeli attacks on its territory, describing them as a “blatant violation of its sovereignty”.
The Palestinian group Hamas condemned the attack on Koya “in the strongest terms”.
“This fascist aggression represents a serious escalation of Zionist violations against the Syrian Arab Republic and its brotherly people, and a new war crime,” it said on Telegram on Tuesday.
The violence in the border area comes at a time of rising tensions between Israel and Syria, where a new interim government led by President Ahmad al-Sharaa has been installed after opposition fighters toppled former leader Bashar al-Assad last December.
In the wake of al-Assad’s removal, Israel has launched hundreds of air strikes on military sites in Syria and sent its troops across the border into a UN-patrolled buffer zone, saying they will thwart any threats. Syria’s leadership has said it does not intend to open a front against Israel.
Earlier, the Israeli military said it had “struck military capabilities that remained at the Syrian military bases of Tadmur and T4”, referring to bases in Palmyra and another 50 kilometres (30 miles) west of the city. On Friday, the military carried out strikes on the same bases.
The European Union’s foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas warned on Tuesday that Israel’s strikes on Syria “risk further escalation”.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar, Kallas said the pair had discussed Israel’s actions.
“And we [the EU] feel that these things are unnecessary, because Syria is right now not attacking Israel,” Kallas said.
The foreign ministry in Jordan also condemned Tuesday’s incursion and bombardment as “a dangerous escalation” that risked fuelling “further conflict and tension in the region”.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has demanded the demilitarisation of southern Syria, which borders the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights.
United Nations Special Envoy for Syria Geir Pedersen told the Security Council on Tuesday that he was “concerned by Israeli statements on the intention to stay in Syria” and demands for the full demilitarisation of the south.
At an Arab summit in Cairo in early March, Syria’s al-Sharaa also called on the international community to pressure Israel to “immediately” withdraw its troops from southern Syria, calling their presence a “direct threat” to peace in the region.
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