IndyCar issues major penalty to Team Penske after rules violation in Indianapolis 500 qualifying

"The integrity of the Indianapolis 500 is paramount, and this violation of the INDYCAR rule against modification to this part and using it ‘as supplied’ is clear,” IndyCar President J. Douglas Boles said in a statement on Monday. "The penalty should be more than simply starting where the cars might have qualified anyway, if given the opportunity. The cars belong in the field as two of the fastest 33; however, starting on the tail of the field is the appropriate penalty in this instance.”

McLaughlin was the only Team Penske car to not be sent to the back of the field. He will start 10th. 

In a news conference on Monday, Boles provided more insight into the decision to penalize Team Penske. 

"Throughout the night and sort of getting into this a little bit more and, frankly, thinking about the integrity and the importance of this race, INDYCAR has a rule," Boles said. "It's Rule 9.2.1. I highlighted a couple of pieces of it here because I think it's important in this conversation. Penalties can be determined by the gravity of the violation and its impact on the fairness of competition. INDYCAR has the authority to impose any or all or any combination of the following penalties against any member for any violation of the rules at any time.

"The thing that strikes me the most about this rule is the gravity of the violation. This is the world's largest motorsport event, the Indianapolis 500. This event defines who people are.

"For us, especially on that stage, we believed that allowing the two cars, the 2 and the 12, to start in 12th and 11th, which is a place that they might have actually qualified in had they been allowed to qualify, was not a sufficient enough penalty and did not present an appropriate enough result for the violation. Therefore, we have decided to move the 2 and the 12 car to the back of the grid. They will start in 32nd and 33rd position. The 2 car first in 32nd, and the 12 car in 33rd, based on their qualifying times."

The penalty will make Newgarden's quest to become the first ever driver to win three consecutive Indianapolis 500s that much harder, as well as giving Power a long road to a second Indy 500 win.