IndyCar
OPINION: INDYCAR Engine Grid Penalty Needs To Go!
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Two weeks in-a-row one of the dumbest rules in all of sports reared its ugly head before the stars and cars of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES even took to the racetrack.
Here is the official rule:
- Rule 16.2.3.2 – A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.
What the hell does it mean? It means that when an INDYCAR engine or related part fails and the engine has to be changed, the driver and the team suffer, not the guys who built the engine!
Last weekend at Nashville the NTT INDYCAR SERIES held their inaugural Music City Grand Prix and just as the green flag waved on a start to a fantastic weekend, INDYCAR threw some water on their own party by announcing a grid penalty for the Championship points leader, Alex Palou, going into the event.
Palou was docked six-positions for an unapproved engine change following a team test two weeks ago at Portland International Raceway.
The penalty for such a change, according to the rulebook, comes at the series next event.
So instead of talking about young guns Alex Palou and Pato O’Ward battling for the Championship with past Champions Scott Dixon and Josef Newgarden as they were racing over a freaking bridge in Nashville, Friday’s storylines started with Palou’s grid penalty. Talk about a buzzkill!
This week it was Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden getting docked six spots and the world finding out right before the cars hit the track for the INDYCAR/NASCAR doubleheader weekend. Ugh!
So instead of talking about how awesome it is for the two biggest racing series in America to be sharing the world’s greatest racetrack on the same weekend, we’re talking about grid penalties…..again! Are you kidding me?
As one might imagine, the drivers aren’t thrilled with the rule either.
“Obviously with Alex getting a penalty, those penalties are pretty tough, one that was totally out of his control,” said six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon last week in Nashville. “That was definitely a bummer.”
“If I got a penalty for changing an engine, I definitely wouldn’t like it,” said Andretti Autosport’s Colton Herta.
My issue is not the rule, it’s the penalty. What the hell in this day and age does a driver and a team have to do with the assembly and lifespan of an INDYCAR engine? The driver doesn’t build it, install it, work on it, or even start it! So why penalize him?
This rule should penalize the engine manufacturer, but as it is currently written, it could have a big impact on the championship. Was that the intent of the rule when it was written in the rulebook? I’m thinking not.
The intent of the rule was to lower costs. Years ago engine manufacturers would spend money on development between races like Bachelorette Parties on open top busses in Nashville or a drunken sailor on leave.
I remember one driver telling me back in the CART days he logged 1000-miles in testing at Fontana two weeks before the season championship. The motor he got for Championship weekend was designed to last for only that weekend. Fortunately those days are gone, and this rule has helped to curb the wild spending.
Why penalize the driver and possibly give his championship competitors an edge going into a race weekend? My suggestion – points deduction in the manufacturer’s championship.
A manufacturer’s championship points deduction is more appropriate. They’re the ones building the engine, not the driver. Sure, when you only have two engine manufacturers you don’t want to piss them off but, again, why penalize the driver and possibly affect Championship points in the process?
I won’t lie. Last week in Nashville, I was hoping Palou would post the fastest qualifying time and his closest competitor, Pato O’Ward, would post the second fastest. Then INDYCAR would apply their asinine penalty and move Palou back and hand the pole to O’Ward. Imagine those Championship implications. It didn’t happen, which is fortunate for INDYCAR.
I felt the same way this weekend. I wanted Newgarden to win the pole so bad, but the racing gods wouldn’t give me that satisfaction.
Some reading this might say the starting position doesn’t have anything to do with the points a driver earns in a race. Yes, the finish determines how many points a driver scores for the event, but you shouldn’t be penalized 6-spots for something totally out of your control.
I am imploring Series Owner Roger Penske, Penske Entertainment CEO Mark Miles and Series President Jay Frye to change the rule and eliminate the grid penalty to the driver for 2022.
Let’s start each and every race weekend talking about the racing, not the rules!!!!
LEBANON, TN (July 18, 2026) – Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood is sitting atop the speed chart after the first NTT IndyCar Series practice at Nashville Superspeedway.
Kirkwood’s No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda turned a fast lap of 23.7447 (197.097 mph) around the 1.33 mile oval to best Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou, who turned a fast lap of 23.7605 (196.996) in the No. 10 DHL Honda.
Team Penske’s David Malukas was third quick with a 23.8362 (196.340) in the No. 12 Verizon Chevrolet. Malukas’ car however got loose in Turn 2 and slammed backwards into the wall.
Malukas exited the vehicle under his own power and walked to the AMR Safety Vehicle. Malukas was taken to the infield care center. NTT IndyCar Series officials issued an update a short time later saying he was being taken to a local hospital by private vehicle for further testing. He has not been cleared to return to the cockpit at this point.
Malukas was also assessed a nine-place grid penalty for an unapproved engine change entering this weekend.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon rounded out the Top 10 with a quick time of 23.9932 (195.055) in the No. PNC Bank Honda. Palou and Dixon’s CGR teammate Kyffin Simpson was 20th at 193.346.
Qualifying takes place at 3:00 p.m. on Fox and the IndyCar Radio Network.
INDIANAPOLIS, IN (July 2, 2026) – Six-time Series Champion Scott Dixon is leaving Chip Ganassi Racing following the conclusion of the 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Season the team announced in a statement Thursday before the series races at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Complex this weekend.
MADISON, IL (Sunday, June 7, 2026) – The king of World Wide Technology Raceway has returned to his throne.
Josef Newgarden won for the sixth time in 11 starts at the 1.25-mile oval just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis, enduring two rain delays during the race Sunday night to win a feverish, fascinating Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline. The victory was Newgarden’s second this season, as he also won in March at the 1-mile Phoenix Raceway oval.
SEE: Race Results
The two-time NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion has captured 15 of his 34 career victories on ovals shorter than 1.5 miles. This win came as he was still recovering from a lower leg injury suffered two weeks ago in the 110th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.
“Great job to the group,” Newgarden said. “Just a methodical night. We had a good car to start. It wasn’t perfect, but it really came to us just when we needed it. It was a track position day.”
Newgarden, who started eighth, drove his No. 2 Astemo Team Penske Chevrolet to victory by .6613 of a second over the No. 28 Delaware Life Honda of fellow Indianapolis 500 winner Marcus Ericsson, who still managed a season-best finish. Christian Rasmussen finished a season-best third in the No. 21 Splenda Chevrolet of ECR.
Rinus VeeKay continued the trend of season-best finishes by ending up fourth in the No. 76 Juncos Hollinger Racing Chevrolet, with Scott McLaughlin rounding out the top five in the No. 3 DEX Team Penske Chevrolet that featured a throwback livery honoring the 2009 Indianapolis 500-winning car driven by Helio Castroneves.
Newgarden took the lead for good on Lap 221 after a spirited duel with Rasmussen that began almost immediately after a restart on Lap 212. Rasmussen dove under Newgarden in Turn 1 for the lead on Lap 215, but Newgarden drove past Rasmussen in Turn 3 for the top spot on Lap 219.
One lap later, Rasmussen again drove under Newgarden for the lead in Turn 1, one of his race-high 38 on-track passes. But Newgarden countered again in Turn 3 one lap later for a lead he would not surrender. It was the most decisive of an event-record 268 passes for position in this frantic race.
Ericsson sped under Rasmussen for second in Turn 3 on Lap 225 and set his sights on Newgarden. But one lap later, a plume of smoke trailed from the No. 4 Combitrans Amazonia Chevrolet fielded by A.J. Foyt Enterprises for Caio Collet, who was enjoying the best race of his rookie season by leading seven laps and running consistently in the top five in the second half of the race.
That triggered the last of four caution periods, with another wrinkle to concern Newgarden and the lead pack. A host of trailing cars entered the pits for fresh Firestone Firehawk tires, while the top eight cars stayed out.
McLaughlin made a spirited charge toward the front on the restart on Lap 234, climbing from ninth to fifth in just four laps. But the Kiwi and the other cars that pitted for tires didn’t have enough traction from the fresher rubber or speed to challenge the top four down the stretch.
Meanwhile, Newgarden maintained a gap of around one-half of a second over Ericsson over the closing 10 laps and never was threatened.
“You’ve got to give a lot of credit to Marcus,” Newgarden said. “I thought he was incredibly strong. I don’t really think there was much between us, so it was a matter of who was going to get position on each other, and that was going to seal the deal. He drove a great race.”
Said Ericsson, seeking his first win since March 2023 at St. Petersburg: “I’m very proud of our performance, but at the same time it’s tough to lead that many laps … I thought we had it at some points, but Josef is the best in the business on these short ovals.”
Two red-flag periods totaling 50 minutes kept strategists’ heads spinning on the pit wall as various permutations and fuel options were considered.
Chip Ganassi Racing rolled the dice earlier in the race by calling NTT P1 Award winner Alex Palou and his teammate Scott Dixon to the pits to top off fuel as soon as the pits opened after the first red flag period, which lasted 38 minutes. The hope was to get enough caution to need one fewer fuel stop than rivals or be out front when a race-ending rain shower arrived.
But neither happened, and Palou paid the price dearly.
The four-time series champion entered the pits on Lap 203, two laps after Dixon had to enter a closed pit for emergency service as his No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was running out of fuel. Palou’s No. 10 HRC Chip Ganassi Racing Honda sputtered when it entered the pit lane and ran out of fuel, and he was forced to coast to his pit box for a stop made even longer when his engine wouldn’t refire.
Palou’s car restarted, and he returned to the track to finish 17th. The two short oval races this season have been Palou’s Achilles’ heel. He finished 24th after contact in March at Phoenix, and that result and tonight’s disappointing showing are his only finishes outside of the top seven all season.
Reigning series champion Palou’s lead in the standings was trimmed to 49 points over Kyle Kirkwood, who finished sixth in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda of Andretti Global.
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES race is the XPEL Grand Prix at Road America on Sunday, June 21 at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.
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