Team Penske’s Ferrari-esque IndyCar season hits new low in Toronto

Scott McLaughlin ended his IndyCar race at Toronto in the wall.

IndyCar’s Team Penske and Formula 1’s Ferrari have a lot in common. They’re both legacy programs in their respective series, with a slew of impressive records and trophies to boot — including 2024’s marquee events. But unfortunately, when those teams are bad, they’re bad.

This past weekend, while Ferrari struggled in Hungary, Team Penske also struggled in Toronto, with the team hitting what could easily be considered a new low in a season that has been marked by strife.

Penske’s very terrible, no good Toronto IndyCar race

Kicking off the 2024 IndyCar season, Penske looked like it would be the team to beat… at least, until a Push to Pass cheating scandal kicked off a complex season.

Penske drivers Josef Newgarden and Scott McLaughlin were disqualified from the season opener at St. Petersburg, Florida for using Push to Pass on restarts. This technology — which should theoretically be disabled on restarts — offers a quick burst of extra power to a driver. It’s designed to aid in overtakes, but Penske had been caught using the technology to gain an advantage off the line.

Newgarden was stripped of his win, and both he and McLaughlin were dropped to the bottom of the points standings.

Their Penske teammate Will Power, who didn’t illegally utilize the Push to Pass, has won two races but struggled in many others — and remains in second place in the points standings. Newgarden, who won the Indy 500, is the team’s lowest placed driver in eighth.

Things were made all the worse by the team’s recent poor outing in Toronto.

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All three Penske drivers held positions in the top 10 coming into Lap 77 of 85 at the Honda Indy Toronto race — that is, until Will Power made an overly ambitious pass on teammate McLaughlin, which knocked the New Zealander out of the race.

For his part in that wreck, Power was given a drive-through penalty, which saw his top-10 finish disintegrate into a 12th.

Meanwhile, Josef Newgarden was sitting in seventh position looking comfortable… but by braking for the Power/McLaughlin wreck, Newgarden was rear-ended by David Malukas. The Penske car suffered a puncture, and the resulting pit stop dropped Newgarden to 11th.

This season has been a particularly brutal one for Penske. Its season opening win was deservedly stripped thanks to the ongoing cheating scandal, and the team struggled to find solid footing for all of its drivers until it locked out the front row of the Indianapolis 500.

With a slew of oval races remaining to finish out the season, Penske is expected to find a revitalized form — but it’s likely far too late for any of its drivers to secure a championship.

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