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!!!!
DETROIT, MI (June 1, 2025) – Kyle Kirkwood is the winner of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix. The win was Kirkwood’s second of the season and fourth of his career.
Kirkwood started third on the grid and moved up to second early in the race and took advantage to grab the lead from teammate Colton Herta who finished third.
“This AWS Honda was on rails all weekend long,” said Kirkwood. “There were some challenges out there, that’s for sure. We had to pass our way back through a handful of times, and it was definitely not a walk in the park.”
This 100-lap race on the notoriously bumpy and tight nine-turn, 1.645-mile circuit on the streets of downtown Detroit came down to strategy and survival.
The 27-car field divided into two strategic camps at the start, with 12 cars beginning the race on Firestone’s grippier but less durable Firehawk alternate tires and 15 on the slower but more durable primary tires. The top nine starters, which included pole sitter Herta and teammate Kirkwood, opted to start on the softer alternate tire and shed it as soon as possible for the durability of the harder tire. INDYCAR rules require that all drivers must use both tire compounds for at least two laps per race.
That divided the field into separate pit cycles, with drivers on both strategies being forced to fight their way through the field after each stop while waiting for drivers on alternative tactics to pit.
The win has Honda Racing’s seventh of the season, continuing a season-long lockout of victories among engine manufacturers and gave Honda a weekend sweep after their Acura brand won the IMSA race on Saturday in the Motor City.
“ Amazing weekend for Honda, HRC, and also Acura,” said Kevin Fu, Vice President, Honda Racing Corporation USA. “Between our IndyCar and IMSA programs we got two poles and two wins in Detroit, and our seventh victory in a row in IndyCar. This is unprecedented start to the season for us. As always, thanks to the teams and all the folks back at HRC in Santa Clarita for all their continuous hard work, and the work they’ve done off season to get us to this point.”
The win moved Kirkwood up to second in the Championship points standings, 78-points behind leader Alex Palou, who was taken out by David Malukas going into Turn 1 on a restart.
AJ Foyt Racing’s Santino Ferrucci came home second for his best career finish and the team’s best finish of the season and best road or street course finish in a decade.
“It feels great,” said Ferrucci. “Honestly, the strategy plays into everything that we do, especially at road and street courses it’s very tough, and I can’t thank the team enough. This is more deserving of them than it is even of me. We probably drove to 11th minus the strategy just running our race.”
Team Penske’s Will Power finished fourth in the No. 12 Verizon Team Penske Chevrolet followed by Chip Ganassi Racing’s Kyffin Simpson in fifth. The fifth place finish was a career best for Simpson, the second-year driver from the Cayman Islands.
“It was a great, great race for us in the #8 Ridgeline Honda,” said Simpson. “I think we had a lot of pace, especially when running on the green tires, and we were able to really make strong gains through the field on that strategy.”
The next NTT INDYCAR SERIES event is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline on Sunday evening, June 15 at World Wide Technology Raceway in Madison, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis.
DETROIT, MI (June 1, 2025) Alex Palou’s race on the streets of Detroit is over early after contact on a restart from David Malkus sent the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda into the tire barriers at the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.
The Indianapolis 500 winner was running fourth on Lap 72 when the race restarted following a caution and entering Turn 1, Malukas came in too fast, made contact with Palou ending his day and his almost perfect season.
Palou came into the race with five wins in six event with a worst finish of second at the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Detroit ended that streak and Palou was credited with a 25th place finish.
“We were just biding our time there in fourth,” explained Palou. “Hoping to sneak onto the podium there at the end but we were hit from behind. Not much we could do there.”
Palou came into the race with a 112-point lead in the season long Championship over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward.
DETROIT, MI (May 31, 2025) – Andretti Global’s Colton Herta is on the pole position for Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix, the 1.645-mile, nine-turn temporary street course run on the streets of downtown Detroit.
Herta’s fast lap of 1 minute, .4779 of a second in the No. 26 Gainbridge Honda was good enough to claim his first pole of 2025 and 15th of his NTT INDYCAR SERIES career.
“I was happy with it,” said Herta. “Friday was pretty bad from us as far as what we’re used to on street courses, just the feel of the race car. So it kind of — Friday night to go over everything and turn everything around. The engineering group did a great job.”
David Malukas, coming off a strong finish at the Indy 500, continued the momentum grabbing the second starting spot at 1:00.6492 in the No. 4 Clarience Technologies Chevrolet for A.J. Foyt Enterprises.
“Everything just clicked,” said Malukas. “We kept our heads down and just committed. I thought we had a good car, and clearly it went out and showed that.”
Herta’s teammate Kyle Kirkwood lines up third after a fast lap of 1:00.7312 in the No. 27 Siemens AWS Honda. Kirkwood led practice Friday, while Herta paced the Saturday morning practice session.
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will start beside Kirkwood in the fourth position after a quick lap of 1:00.8938 in the No. 7 Chevrolet.
Rahal Letterman Laningan Racing’s Graham Rahal will start fifth after posting a 1:01.0651 in the No. 15 JJ Curran Crane Company Honda.
Lining up beside Rahal will be Championship points leader and 109th Indianapolis 500 winner Alex Palou who put up a 1:01.4680 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Palou, who’s won five of the six races this year, holds a 112-point lead over Arrow McLaren’s Pato O’Ward, who will start 18th after failing to advance out of the first round of knockout-style qualifying.
Palou’s CGR teammate Scott Dixon qualified 10th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda after turning a 1:01:1595.
Dixon and Rahal however will have those qualifying efforts nullified after being penalized for unapproved engine changes prior to the Sunday, May 25 race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Rahal and Dixon will receive a six-position starting grid penalty for violating the INDYCAR rule. Rahal now rolls off 11th and Dixon 16th.
The 100-lap race starts Sunday at 12:30 p.m. ET (FOX, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).
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