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Newgarden to take six-place grid penalty on IMS road course

IndyCar officials have announced a six-position grid penalty for Josef Newgarden’s #2 Team Penske-Chevrolet for an unapproved engine change.

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Josef Newgarden, Team Penske Chevrolet

Matt Fraver

For the second straight race, Penske’s two-time champion Newgarden will suffer a grid penalty, this time for running his fifth engine of the season.

In the streets of his home city of Nashville, Newgarden crashed in the dying moments of the second stage of qualifying, which automatically incurs a loss of fastest lap, for disrupting the final flying laps by rivals.

That dropped him to 12th on the grid, but after suffering damage on the opening lap and dropping as low as 20th after also being wrong-footed by the limping car of Marcus Ericsson, Newgarden still clawed his way up to 10th at the checkered flag.

Now he has incurred a grid penalty for tomorrow’s Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

IndyCar’s official statement is that Penske violated “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.”

According to the rulebook, the penalty for such a change comes at the series’ next event, which is the Big Machine Spiked Coolers Grand Prix on Saturday, Aug. 14 on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Newgarden, who has scored three pole positions this season – and after his third, drove to victory at Mid-Ohio – currently likes fourth in the championship, behind Chip Ganassi Racing-Honda duo Alex Palou and Scott Dixon, and Arrow McLaren SP-Chevrolet’s Pato O’Ward.

Newgarden is 75 points behind points leader Palou, and only four ahead of a third Ganassi driver, Marcus Ericsson.

Palou has taken two such penalties this year for the same infraction, losing six grid places at both Detroit Race 1 and in Nashville.

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