Roger Penske & Co Face Severe Backlash After Disqualification Scandals Rock Motorsports World

The legendary Roger Penske, known for his rise from humble beginnings to motorsport royalty, is currently facing a tumultuous period in his illustrious career. From a modest $75,000 loan from his father, Penske built an empire in the racing world, marked by precision and hard decisions. However, recent disqualification scandals at two prestigious events have cast a shadow over his legacy.

In a shocking turn of events, a Porsche Penske Motorsport car was disqualified at the 24 Hours of Le Mans after being found underweight during a post-qualifying inspection. The disqualification resulted in the team starting at the back of the Hypercar field, a significant blow to Penske’s reputation for perfection and excellence in the sport.

Furthermore, Penske-owned cars driven by Josef Newgarden and Will Power were also embroiled in controversy at the Indianapolis 500 for using illegally modified rear attenuators. These safety-critical parts were found to violate clear IndyCar rules, leading to severe penalties for the team and a public apology from Roger Penske himself.

These recent scandals are not the first time Penske’s team has faced scrutiny, with previous incidents involving illegal software usage resulting in disqualifications. Questions have arisen within the racing community about whether these are isolated incidents or indicative of a broader culture within Team Penske.

As if the disqualification scandals were not enough, Formula 1 has now set its sights on challenging Penske’s dominance in motorsports. With the Canadian Grand Prix scheduled to clash with the iconic Indianapolis 500 in 2026, F1 is making a bold statement by encroaching on Penske’s turf.

The battle for supremacy in American motorsports is intensifying, with F1’s strategic move posing a direct challenge to Penske and IndyCar. As pressure mounts from multiple fronts and scandals rock his racing empire, Roger Penske faces a critical juncture in his storied career. Will he be able to weather the storm and maintain his position at the pinnacle of motorsports hierarchy?

This weekend, the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series are racing in Mexico City, and they have a few friends helping along the way. The Mexican National Guard and local law enforcement were on hand to escort the hundreds of haulers and other vehicles carrying cars, people, and equipment.

NASCAR races have all kinds of security at and around the track. This is perhaps another step up from that, as the haulers and other NASCAR-related vehicles made the long journey across the border and into the country for this historic race.

Stoney Greene, a hauler driver for Spire Motorsports, shared a photo of Mexican National Guard members standing in the back of trucks, armed with rifles.

Earlier today, it was reported that a chartered plane carrying several members of the NASCAR industry was grounded after an engine issue, causing major delays. That, along with other air travel challenges, has forced NASCAR to adjust its schedule for the weekend ahead.

“Due to two aircraft issues that grounded multiple race teams in Charlotte, N.C., on Thursday, NASCAR has adjusted the on-track schedule for this weekend’s activities at Mexico City’s Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez,” a statement from the sanctioning body read.

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As a result, NASCAR has pushed the planned NASCAR Cup Series practices to later in the afternoon and pushed all NASCAR Xfinity Series practice sessions to Saturday. The first of two NASCAR Mexico Series races will now run Friday morning, over five hours earlier than originally scheduled.

The Xfinity Series will lose some practice time as a result with just one session on Saturday morning, just before qualifying. There are other slight adjustments as well, but Cup teams will not lose any practice.

The full updated schedule:

Friday, June 13th

11:30am EST — NASCAR Mexico Series race #1 (50 laps)

2:05pm EST — NASCAR Cup practice #1

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3:30pm EST — NASCAR Cup practice #2

Saturday, June 14th

9:05am EST — NASCAR Xfinity Series practice

10:10am EST — NASCAR Xfinity Series qualifying

12:05pm EST — NASCAR Cup Series qualifying

5pm EST — NASCAR Mexico Series race #2 will shift to 5 p.m.  (MRN Radio)

Sunday’s schedule remains unchanged. The NASCAR Cup race will still take place at 3pm EST. with the green flag planned for 3:23pm EST.

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MEXICO CITY — Daniel Suarez has become the unofficial tour guide for all things Mexico City as NASCAR prepares to race internationally this Sunday for the first international points-paying Cup Series event of the modern era.

From where to eat, what to do, how to navigate the city and even basic conversation in Spanish, Suarez has been the go-to guy in the garage since NASCAR said it would take the Cup Series outside the United States for just the third time in 77 years.

The Monterrey native has made multiple trips to NASCAR as the face of Sunday’s race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he’s raced on a different course layout 13 times, with three wins in NASCAR’s Mexico Series.

He’d like to win at the Cup level — if he pulls it out in his home country Sunday it will be his first victory of this season — but Suarez is juggling a very difficult balancing act. He’s elated to be racing in front of a home crowd, honored to show of the culture and magic of Mexico City, but at the same time tremendously concerned about his NASCAR future.

Suarez is in a contract year with Trackhouse Racing, which has Ross Chastain and Shane van Ginsberg under contract while Connor Zilisch is its development driver and on loan to several teams at lower national levels of NASCAR racing.

Trackhouse only has three Cup Series seats, math Suarez can’t ignore as he heads into Sunday ranked 28th in the standings.

“It’s not the first time that I’ve been in this position. Definitely the first time with the Mexico race, but it’s not the first time that I’ve been in the position that we have to win or in the position that we have a contract negotiation in the middle of the season,” Suarez said. “It’s definitely a distraction. I won’t sit here and tell you that it doesn’t really matter. I’m trying to be as smart as possible and to put all this stuff on the side and just do my thing on the track.”

RETURN TO MEXICO

Suarez, the only Mexican-born driver to win a NASCAR national series race, has two Cup victories, three Xfinity Series wins and one Truck Series win. His 2016 championship in the second-tier Xfinity Series made him the only foreign-born driver to win a national series title.

Suarez has faced adversity before, but never like the pressure he’s feeling hoping to deliver in front of the local crowd. This weekend in Mexico is special to Suarez, who expects well over 100 of the spectators in attendance Sunday to be friends and family.

They’ve watched from afar as he’s worked his way into the NASCAR spotlight, a journey full of ups and downs that have seen Suarez drive for four different Cup teams. He joined Trackhouse Racing in 2021 and last year signed a one-year extension through 2025.

At the time, he said he wanted to reassess where the program was before signing a long-term deal. But it’s been a disappointing start to the season and his average finish of 21st is three spots worse than last year.

“The Mexico race is something that I’ve been hoping and waiting on for many, many years, and I’m not going to let anything else from outside take that week and that moment from myself,” Suarez said. “We have to just continue to put one foot in front of the other and continue to move forward. I think that in Trackhouse, we have found some decent speed in the last few weeks, so that’s promising, and hopefully we can continue to move in that direction.”

Suarez will have Mexican communication company Telcel on his car this weekend.

“For many years, I never had a sponsor deal with a company from Mexico because I wasn’t racing there,” Suarez said. “So right now that we’re going to be having an event down there, it opens a whole new world of opportunities and that’s great, obviously for me, but for the entire sport.”

NASCAR was forced to adjust its schedule at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez this weekend after two planes carrying Cup and Xfinity team members were grounded in Charlotte, North Carolina.

The trouble began on Thursday when one of the planes experienced a mechanical failure during takeoff. Xfinity driver Ryan Ellis shared on social media that the “plane attempted takeoff, plane made a small boom, we are headed back.”

Austin Green, another Xfinity driver, confirmed the severity of the incident, stating, “The engine blew up going down the runway to Mexico City.” A second plane carrying NASCAR personnel also encountered an issue, forcing teams to rearrange travel plans and switch some members to commercial flights to ensure they could make it to Mexico City in time.

As a result, NASCAR announced a revised schedule for Friday and Saturday. Xfinity practice, originally set for Friday, was canceled and moved to Saturday morning, while Cup practice was pushed back to later on Friday afternoon.

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Cup qualifying was also delayed to Saturday afternoon. The NASCAR Mexico Series race was moved up to Friday afternoon, and the Xfinity race maintained its original Saturday evening slot. All times were adjusted to local Mountain Daylight Time to reflect the new timing.

This weekend is significant for NASCAR as it marks the first points-paying Cup Series race held outside the United States since 1958. The Viva México 250 on Sunday will take place on the challenging 2.429-mile road course at Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez, situated at a high altitude that already tests teams’ performance.

The Xfinity Series will also debut in Mexico City with the Chilango 150 on Saturday. Despite the travel disruptions and schedule changes, NASCAR officials remain confident that the races will proceed smoothly.

Some teams, like the Haas Factory Team, opted to fly commercially from alternative airports to avoid further delays.

DON’T MISS…

NASCAR worked quickly to rebook affected team members, ensuring they arrived safely and on time. Drivers and crews had to adapt quickly to the compressed practice sessions and altered qualifying times to prepare for their races.

The focus now turns to the drivers and teams as they take on the unique challenges of racing on Mexican soil, hoping to deliver thrilling action despite the hurdles faced during the journey.

An insider shared some interesting news concerning the NASCAR vs. 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports (FRM) case. On Kevin Harvick’s Happy Hour, Bob Pockrass of FOX Sports detailed how the other NASCAR teams could get involved when the case goes to trial later this year.

“The district court judge, the judge who would preside over the trial, has based both 23XI, Front Row and NASCAR to explain to him why the parties shouldn’t be parties in this case,” Pockrass said. “All the decisions in this could heavily impact the race teams. Now, the Race Team Alliance has put in the court filings that the teams do not want to be part of this. They don’t feel they should be part of it, partly because the charter agreement requires that if there’s a dispute, they go to arbitration and not be in the legal system.

“The other big thing is that NASCAR is subpoenaing the teams for some financial information so that they can have that info at trial, and the teams certainly don’t want to open up their finances to NASCAR. And I would think that if NASCAR goes to court to compel the teams to give them that information, that could push them a little more over to the 23XI and the Front Row side.”

More details on the NASCAR vs. 23XI, FRM lawsuit

23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports filed a lawsuit against NASCAR and Chairman Jim France on October 2. A week later, the teams filed a motin to allow them to race in 2025 as chartered teams. The motion was granted, but the U.S. Court of Appeals vacated the injunction requiring NASCAR to treat 23XI and FRM as chartered teams on June 5. They have at least until June 26 to ask for a rehearing by the three-judge panel or all the appeals court judges to hear the case.

“We are disappointed by today’s ruling by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals and are reviewing the decision to determine our next steps,” 23XI/FRM attorney Jeffrey Kessler said in a statement. “This ruling is based on a very narrow consideration of whether a release of claims in the charter agreements is anti-competitive and does not impact our chances of winning at trial scheduled for December 1.”