Two of the three strategists who were fired by Team Penske in the wake of the failed technical inspections during Indy 500 qualifying had found other jobs, and the third was rehired, the team announced Thursday.
Tim Cindric, who had a more-than-25-year tenure with Team Penske, was rehired to be Scott McLaughlin’s strategist. Cindric was team principal and led Josef Newgarden’s team, which failed the tech inspection for a modified attenuator prior to Fast 12 qualifying.
“Tim Cindric brings decades of experience to Scott’s timing stand, and given his experience and time within our organization, he will be a great addition to our lineup on race day in the role of race strategist,” Team Penske’s IndyCar president Jonathan Diuguid said.
McLaughlin, whose car was deemed clean, defended Roger Penske after the scandal and called the firings “sad.” He posted his reaction to Cindric’s hiring on social media.
“Tim Cindric is a huge part of why I was able to make the journey from Australia to the IndyCar Series,” McLaughlin wrote Thursday afternoon. “We’ve had a very close relationship for many years and he’s been a tremendous help to my career. I’m so excited to get to work with him in this capacity in 2026. I’ve wanted to have TC on my stand from the moment I got here. His experience, knowledge, and focus are world class and I’m pumped he’s joining the #Thirsty3s. Bring on St. Pete.”
He started 10th, though teammates Newgarden and Will Power moved to the back of the grid, and crashed out of the 500 on the parade lap.
Newgarden and Power’s cars failed tech inspections when IndyCar technical director Kevin Blanch recognized sealed seams on their attenuators. Power’s No. 12 car withdrew from Fast 12 qualifying and Newgarden’s No. 2 car failed pre-session technical inspection.
“In our eyes, it’s not a performance advantage, but at the end of the day, if they don’t like the seam being filled, they don’t like the seam being filled,” Cindric said after the penalties were assessed. “It’s not a safety issue whatsoever. You would argue whether it is or isn’t (a performance advantage), but it’s no different than what you see in NASCAR or whatever else. Everyone’s trying to make the cars as sleek as you can. In house, we’ve got to look at ourselves and ask why we’re doing certain things one way or another, but at the end of the day, I think they’re just trying to make the cars look nice.”
On May 19, the day after qualifying, IndyCar announced that Newgarden and Power would start at the back of the grid in the 32nd and 33rd positions, respectively. McLaughlin’s got to start 10th since his car was found not to be violating any rules.
Two days later, Cindric and two others were let go by Team Penske.
“Nothing is more important than the integrity of our sport and our race teams,” Penske said in a statement after the firings. “We have had organizational 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.”
Kyle Moyer, who led McLaughlin’s car, landed on his feet at Arrow McLaren in June. Team principal Tony Kanaan said then that he thought Moyer deserved a second chance.
Ron Ruzewski was on top of Power’s timing stand and was hired as Andretti Global’s team principal in September, a few weeks after Power was hired to drive the No. 26. Those two again are teammates and have two months together from Power’s Jan. 1 start date to the March 1 IndyCar opener at St. Pete.
Team Penske’s qualifying scandal, along with two Andretti Global cars being given post-race, led to IndyCar overhauling its officiating system.
IndyCar, which is owned by Penske Entertainment, introduced an Independent Officiating Board (IOB) in December. The IOB, titled IndyCar Officiating Inc., is a nonprofit organization that will be governed by board members Ray Evernham, Raj Nair and Ronan Morgan. The board will appoint a managing director of officiating, who will report directly to the board and not IndyCar or Penske Entertainment.
Cindric will look to guide McLaughlin and bring Team Penske back to excellence after none of its drivers placed top five in last year’s IndyCar Series standings.
Zion Brown is IndyStar’s motorsports reporter. Follow him at@z10nbr0wn. Get IndyStar’s motor sports coverage sent directly to your inbox with our Motor Sports newsletter.
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