DETROIT — With the assistance of Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Global, A.J. Foyt Enterprises, Arrow McLaren and Dallara, IndyCar president Doug Boles said the series has begun to explore a partial scanning process for its tech inspection process that will “advance” IndyCar’s ability to ensure all cars are competing on a level playing field.
A week ago, in the wake of Team Penske’s pair of Indianapolis 500 pre-Fast 12 tech inspection failures and the ensuing firestorm of penalties, firings and paddock-wide controversy, Boles was asked whether implementing scanning in IndyCar’s pre- and post-session tech inspection process, something that both IMSA and NASCAR use, could offer an easy fix to ensure something like Penske’s out-of-compliance attenuators that have existed for well over a year wouldn’t get missed. At the time, the series president said that due to the fact the cars in use have been made over such a long period of time, it might prove ineffective until a new car came online in 2027 at the earliest.
Boles said Friday that IndyCar in recent days made progress in at least a partial-scanning process the series hopes to validate over a couple more races the rest of this season.
“(Chip Ganassi Racing, Andretti Global, A.J. Foyt Enterprises and Arrow McLaren) provided their Indianapolis 500 cars for us to use this week for scanning verification. This was extra work for their crews after a very busy weekend, and Iappreciate their support,” Boles said. “We learned quite a bit in the exercise and are targeting at least two more events this year where we can validate the process and our learnings and continue to advance our technical inspection process in the future.”
Additionally, Boles noted that IndyCar had had “productive dialogue” with Andretti Global and Prema Racing in the wake of the post-race tech inspection penalties levied against both teams less than 24 hours after the completion of the 500. Andretti’s Nos. 27 (Kyle Kirkwood) and 28 (Marcus Ericsson) cars that finished sixth and second were found to have modified the Dallara-supplied Energy Management System covers and cover-to-A-arm mounting points with unapproved spacers and parts. Prema’s No. 90 car (Callum Ilott) was found post-race to have a left side front wing endplate that didn’t reach minimum height.
Prema noted immediately on Monday that it accepted the penalties, while Andretti Global triggered a review process this week before saying Friday that it accepted IndyCar’s penalties “after careful analysis with IndyCar” and wouldn’t pursue any further review or appeals.
Along with the cars being shifted to the back of the finishing order for the 500 (31st through 33rd) and seeing their prize money and championship points from the event shift to correspond with their final finishing spots, each of the three penalized cars were fined $100,000, and team managers on the cars were suspended for the Detroit Grand Prix.
In his Friday statement, Boles thanked both teams for sharing in “transparent and open conversations regarding how the mistakes were made.”
“As I’ve mentioned consistently, compliance with ‘parts as supplied’ rules is paramount to providing safe and fair competition,” Boles said.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: IndyCar working to implement partial scanning into tech inspection process
Reporting by Nathan Brown, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
