IndyCar: O’Ward, not Newgarden, rightful winner of 2024 Indy 500

Mexican Pato O’Ward was the rightful winner of the 2024 Indy 500, not Josef Newgarden because Newgarden won the race and beat O’Ward with an illegal car.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

The violation that sent Josef Newgarden from third fastest during Day 1 of Indianapolis 500 qualifying on Saturday to the back row of the 109th running of the Indy 500 for an illegal car has implications for the 2024 race as well.

Newgarden’s 2024 500-winning car is on display in the Penske Gallery in the IMS Museum, and that car’s attenuator has the same seam between two separate sections of the rear attenuator safety device on the rear of the car filled and smoothed over.

As I wrote in this article, the only reason Team Penske would have filled the seam and smoothed it over was to improve the airflow coming out of the underbody tunnels, hence increasing downforce.

This increased downforce likely enabled Newgarden to pass Pato O’Ward on the last lap of the 2024 Indy 500 for the win. While I cannot prove that it made enough of a difference to make the pass, the fact that the car was illegal means Newgarden should have been disqualified, but the inspectors turned a blind eye.

What Should be Done

Given that Roger Penske is a standup guy, and would never want to win a race if his team cheated, here is what, I believe, should be done:

1. Josef Newgarden should be stripped of his 2024 Indy 500 win for using an illegal car
2. Newgarden’s face should be removed from the Borg Warner Trophy and replaced with O’Ward’s face
3. Newgarden and Team Penske should return all their purse winnings from the race, and it should be be given to Pato O’Ward and his Arrow McLaren Team.
4. The record books should all be modified to show Pato O’Ward as the winner of the 2024 Indy 500 and Josef Newgarden listed in last place.

Will Roger Penske do what’s right, and correct the wrong from 2024?