SPEEDWAY, IN (May 19, 2025) – The entrepreneurs along 16th Street and Georgetown Road were handed a gift in 1995 when Team Penske failed to make the field for the Indianapolis 500.  T-shirts that said “Look Ma, No Penske’s” were quickly printed and sold to countless fans who relished the fact the team didn’t make the race.

Fast forward 30-years later and Team Penske is making headlines again, this time for all the wrong reasons.  The cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power, the No. 2 and No. 12 Chevrolet’s respectively, on Sunday were found to have illegally modified attenuators at the rear of the car leaving INDYCAR officials no choice but to act.

The Series gave the team the option to withdraw from qualifying on Sunday or be disqualified during post-qualifying inspection.  The team chose to withdraw the cars, leaving them in the 11th and 12th starting position.  That changed on Monday when officials dropped the hammer on the team.

“INDYCAR has the authority to impose any or all or any combination of the following penalties against any member for any violation of the rules at any time,” explained J. Douglas Boles, INDYCAR President. “We believed that allowing the two cars, the 2 and the 12, to start in 12th and 11th, which is a place that they might have actually qualified in had they been allowed to qualify, was not a sufficient enough penalty and did not present an appropriate enough result for the violation. Therefore, we have decided to move the 2 and the 12 car to the back of the grid. They will start in 32nd and 33rd position.”

The Penske infractions and subsequent discipline have detracted from what Monday morning’s storyline should have been, the incredible pole winning performance by rookie driver Robert Shwartzman and PREMA Racing, who is in their first year of NTT INDYCAR SERIES competition.

Robert Shwartzman of PREMA Racing poses with the NTT P1 Pole Award for winning the pole position for the 109th Indianapolis 500 (Photo: Joe Skibinski Penske Entertainment)

“The last thing I want to be doing right now is talking about penalties,” said Boles. “I want to be talking about what a great event this is, how we have an unbelievably cool story, and a rookie with a rookie team on the pole, and Pato O’Ward up front. I would much rather be talking about how great the Indianapolis 500 is and how our ticket sales are and how we had our biggest qualifying weekend in terms of attendance since 2016, but it felt to me like the most important thing for us to do today was set the field of the Indianapolis 500.”

This is the second time in two-years that Team Penske has been caught afoul of the rule book.  In 2024 Newgarden and teammate Scott McLaughlin were penalized for illegally using the ‘push-to-pass’ feature in the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.  Now the team is caught circumventing the rules before ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’.

“I had a chance to talk to Roger, and I can tell that this is devastating to him,” said Boles. “Nothing means more to Roger Penske than the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the Indianapolis 500.”

Penske has some work to do to in order to win-back the trust of the team owners and those in the paddock.

Pittsburgh’s Chip Ganassi told ‘Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour’ “I think all teams have a certain responsibility to uphold the integrity of the sport, in any series, and no team more than team Penske,” Ganassi said on an episode that is set to be released Thursday.

Ganassi’s driver Alex Palou posted the fastest speed, a 226.765 mph in the No. 10 DHL Honda, in Monday’s final full day of practice. before Friday’s two-hour ‘Carb Day’ practice.

SPEEDWAY, IN (May 18, 2025)  – Robert Shwartzman, a rookie driver, and PREMA Racing, a first-year NTT INDYCAR SERIES team are on the pole position for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

“Honestly it’s unbelievable,” said Shwartzman, from Tel Aviv, Israel. “I was just thinking in my dreams fantasizing, How will it feel to take pole position in Indy 500? How is the vibe? Then I was, like, Yeah, Robert, get back to reality. You have a new car, new team, you are a rookie. How can you expect to be in this position? It’s just in your dreams.”

The dream came true when Shwartzman ripped off a four-lap average speed of 232.790 mph in the No. 83 PREMA Racing Chevrolet during the Firestone Fast Six. PREMA, which joined the NTT INDYCAR SERIES this season after years of success in European racing, became the first team to claim the “500” pole in its first attempt since Mayer Motor Racing put Tom Sneva on the pole in 1984.

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Takuma Sato will start second after a four-lap average of 232.478 in the No. 75 AMADA Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

“I’m very happy for the team who put my car, the 75 car, on the front row, which is amazing result because I think we were kind of a roller coaster situation,” said Sato. “Not just today, but through yesterday and probably the last two weeks. As everybody knows that the team has to build brand new car after we had a moment in open test.”

Pato O’Ward will join Shwartzman and Sato on the front row after turning a 232.098 four-lap average in the No. 5 Arrow McLaren Chevrolet.

“Super stoked to have my first front row start here at the 500,” said O’Ward. “Definitely was pushing for that pole. This is obviously the first time that I’ve had a true shot to compete for pole, but also compete to be one of the best three. We’ve got the best view going into turn one.”

Scott Dixon, the 2008 Indianapolis 500 winner, will start fourth after a four lap average of 232.052 in the No. 9 PNC Bank Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

“Definitely a roller coaster throughout qualifying, especially on the second day,” said Dixon.  “Huge thanks to everybody on the No. 9 PNC Bank team.  There’s so much effort that goes into this, I can’t thank everybody enough.  P4 definitely a spot we can win from an that is the goal.”

Dixon, a six-time Series Champion who has won the Indianapolis 500 pole position five times, was surprised to see who ended up on the pole.

“Rookie on the pole with Shwartzman, how wild is that,” asked Dixon.  “New team, I didn’t see that coming at all.”

Felix Rosenqvist qualified fifth at 231.987 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian.

Dixon’s CGR teammate three-time series Champion and current points leader Alex Palou, who has won four of the first five races this season, qualified sixth at 231.378 in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda.

Marco Andretti, Marcus Armstrong and Rinus VeeKay earned the final three spots in the field in Last Chance Qualifying. Andretti, grandson of 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, will start 31st in the No. 98 MAPEI/Curb Honda of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian.

Armstrong rebounded from a vicious crash Saturday to qualify 32nd at 229.091 in the No. 66 SiriusXM/Root Insurance Honda of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian.

VeeKay was the last driver to earn a spot in the 33-car lineup, qualifying 33rd at 226.913 in the No. 18 askROI Honda of Dale Coyne Racing and hanging on to hope while his rookie teammate, Jacob Abel, fell short of making the field in the last run of the LCQ session. Abel’s last-ditch attempt reached 226.394 in the No. 75 Miller High Life Honda.

Noticeably absent from the run for the pole position was Team Penske.  Two Penske drivers, Josef Newgarden and Will Power, didn’t make their respective one attempt after violating INDYCAR Rule 14.7.8.16, an unapproved body fit on the rear attenuator of the car.  Scott McLaughlin crashed the No. 3 Pennzoil Chevrolet in the morning practice and will be forced to go to a backup car.

“The rule is pretty black and white,” said O’Ward, when asked about the Penske rule violation. “Those cars should have been in the last chance qualifier. Like, those cars should have never — obviously they didn’t do anything in the Fast 12, but they should have been brought into the LCQ because they had that yesterday, I guarantee you.”

Up next is a practice session from 1-3 p.m. ET Monday (FS1, FOX Sports app, INDYCAR Radio Network).

SPEEDWAY, IN (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – Alex Palou is continuing his incredible 2025 by posting the fastest 4-lap average on Saturday’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES Day 1 of qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge.

Palou’s 4-lap average speed of 233.043 mph on his only qualifying attempt of the day in the No. 10 DHL Chip Ganassi Racing Honda was good enough to stay atop the charts as positions 1-30 were ‘locked-in’ in the 33-car field.

“Super happy,” said Palou, who has four of the first five events of 2025. “I don’t know if there’s more (speed in the car), but there’s always more. The line between more and too much is very thin here at IMS. We’ll see what we have for tomorrow (Sunday).”

Palou and the 11 other fastest drivers will participate in Top 12 Qualifying at 4:05 p.m. ET Sunday, which will whittle the field to the Firestone Fast Six that will compete for the NTT P1 Award at 6:25 p.m.

Rinus VeeKay and Jacob Abel of Dale Coyne Racing, Marcus Armstrong of Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian and 2020 “500” pole sitter Marco Andretti of Andretti Herta w/Marco & Curb-Agajanian will compete for the three final spots in the 33-car starting field in Last Chance Qualifying from 5:15-6:15 p.m.

Armstrong crashed in the morning practice and his MSR team thrashed to get another car prepared to get on track.

Colton Herta suffered a scary crash as his No. 26 Gainbridge Honda lost grip in Turn 1 on his first qualifying lap.

Herta’s Andretti Global team immediately went to work on a backup and Herta was able to go back out at 4:45 p.m. Herta qualified 29th at 230.192.

Graham Rahal was the final driver to earn a guaranteed spot on Saturday. Rahal qualified 30th at 229.863 mph in the No. 15 United Rentals Honda of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing.

Indy 500 Day 1 Qualifying 2025 Indy 500 Qualifying Procedure