Just over a week has passed since IndyCar announced the disqualification of two Team Penske entries from the 2024 season-opening St. Petersburg race and a penalty to the team’s third entry.
Since then, there have been multiple explanations for the illegal use of the series’ Push to Pass system, but all have acknowledged that Team Penske itself was responsible for the software code that bypassed IndyCar’s lockout system.
The announcement and subsequent explanations led to speculation from drivers, teams, and fans wondering who all knew about the modifications and why they weren’t discovered until well after the race took place.
On Friday, General Motors President Mark Reuss released a statement saying that an investigation had been completed confirming Chevrolet employees had no knowledge or involvement in the illegal use of the system.
“We respect the decision and actions of IndyCar as well as Team Penske’s commitment to improve their processes and controls,” said Reuss.
“Chevrolet engaged a third-party law firm to conduct a thorough review of the matter, and they found no evidence that any Chevrolet employee had any knowledge of or involvement in the matter.
“Chevy looks forward to engaging with IndyCar and our partner race teams to assist in any enhancements that further support the integrity of IndyCar competition.”
Chevrolet, like Honda, employs a team of expert engineers that are assigned to individual teams in the paddock.
These engineers are responsible for ensuring the power units are functioning properly and are configured for optimum performance throughout the race weekend.
Today’s statement seemingly confirms that, even though Chevrolet engineers download many different data points from the car for analysis, none of them were aware of the illegal modification that brought the penalty.
Josef Newgarden said in his press conference that he and his crew members knew of the modifications, but were under the impression IndyCar’s rules had changed to allow use of the boost system on restarts.
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