By Luis Torres, Staff Writer/Photographer
Defending two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Josef Newgarden will have his work cut out if he’s going to be the first ever three-peat winner of “The Greatest Spectacle In Racing” next Sunday.
In something out of his control, Newgarden wasn’t allowed to attempt the second day of qualifying for the 109th Indianapolis 500 after he and Will Power’s Chevrolet-powered Penske entries failed tech inspection.
This was a result of both cars undergoing body infractions on the attenuator with Newgarden’s No. 2 Chevrolet standing out the most. Consequently, Team Penske President Tim Cindric felt it wasn’t necessary having those cars out there and INDYCAR saw it that way as neither car were allowed to compete in the Fast 12, eliminating them of any contention of making the Firestone Fast Six.
My understanding is that they filled the seam circled in red on the attenuator which you see here in an unmodified state.
Filling that could potentially improve airflow over the attenuator and reduce drag which could translate to an incremental gain in straight line speed. pic.twitter.com/AZjVWEOQZT
— Bozi Tatarevic (@BoziTatarevic) May 18, 2025
When asked about the drama, Newgarden told IMS Radio that he wasn’t sure what the issue was that denied him to qualify Sunday.
Once he was told his day was over, the focus shifted to race mode, and he was confident about his car was doing well on race trim beginning Monday with the penultimate practice session of the Month of May that could spell trouble for the rest of the competition.
“I was just told we weren’t qualified on the cars, so I said, ‘Okay, no problem,’” Newgarden commented.
“I’m going to go for a run. But you know, as far as I’m concerned, I know how good our cars are and I’m ready to go back to race mode, that’s where my mentality is. I’m going to go racing next Sunday and we’ll be in the show.”
In Newgarden’s two straight Indy 500 wins, his first win came from the 17th starting position while last year’s electric triumph came from the third position.
Safe to say, no matter the starting spot, Newgarden is content of being in the show instead of dwelling about Sunday’s chaos.
“I think you want to be Row One,” said Newgarden. “But you know, I think just being in the show is a big deal If you have a good race car, you can win for anywhere here.”
Away from the driver’s mindset, more question marks were raised once Indianapolis Star’s Nathan Brown reported that among the questions he sent out to Team Penske President Tim Cindric was about how the body fit violations have been conflicting.
Brown’s question to Cindric highlighted if any changes were made prior to Saturday’s qualifying or did it took place overnight as Power’s No. 12 Chevrolet didn’t see such violations but did on Newgarden’s car.
Cindric’s response to Brown was cut and dry:
“I’m done responding to all of this,” Cindric told Brown via text message.
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