Will Power responds to Team Penske IndyCar firings: 'Pressure from outside'

Following yet another Team Penske controversy in IndyCar this week, Roger Penske had no choice but to make difficult decisions. Penske got rid of his top IndyCar executives, including Tim Cindric, Team President.

Penske got rid of his entire leadership group. Managing Director, General Manager, and Team President. That is cleaning house. And given the recent string of controversy that this IndyCar organization has had since 2024, it had to happen.

Will Power, who has been with Penske since 2009 and has won two championships with the organization, reacted to the firings today while speaking to the media. Power’s No. 12 car was penalized as a consequence of the illegally modified attenuators that started all of the controversy this week.

“It’s a shock and a pity,” Power said, via Jeff Gluck of The Athletic. “It’s the pressure from outside. Roger had to make a tough decision. These were very credible people. The infraction was very minor and it wasn’t a performance gain. I feel bad for everyone involved in that situation, I really do.”

Given that Roger Penske owns IndyCar, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and operates one of the most dominant teams in the sport, a decision had to be made. Team Penske and IndyCar are synonymous at this point. Not making these firings could have caused a legitimacy issue.

Performance advantage or not, you can’t modify the attenuators. Team Penske did just that. So, they received penalties for qualifying. Then it was discovered that these smoothed-down attenuators were on multiple cars, including Josef Newgarden’s 2024 Indy 500 winning car.

Failures at technical inspection for over a year? That seems hard to believe, but that is what happened. Officials caught it at Indy 500 qualifying last week and Penske has responded accordingly.

Team Penske fires IndyCar leadership after attenuator debacle

Last year, Tim Cindric stepped down from the “day-to-day operations” of the Team Penske organization. That was in response to the push-to-pass scandal from last year. Both Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin had the boost system active during the season opener at St. Petersburg in 2024. The teammates went 1-2 in that race before being disqualified.

Cindric, father of NASCAR driver Austin Cindric, is now out at Team Penske. The former Team President, 57, has been with the organization for years. Following his ouster, Cindric released a statement on social media.

“It’s been an amazing ride!” Cindric wrote. “While my conscience remains clear through all of the noise and accusations, I’m grateful to have so many great people to draw strength from in times like this. Still standing tall!”

This weekend, it feels like Team Penske is between a rock and a hard place in IndyCar. Even if they find a way to win the race with one of their three drivers, will it be seen as legitimate, even after all of the work done to correct course in the fallout of the attenuator scandal?