Tag: IndyCar Officiating

 INDYCAR Officiating AnnouncesWeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Grid Penalties 

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From IndyCar Officiating:

 INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Sept. 4, 2026) – INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties for the entries of No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises and No. 7 Arrow McLaren for unapproved engine changes following the two races at the Milwaukee Mile Sunday, Aug. 30.

The entries were in violation of:

Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out.

According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Sunday, Sept. 6.

More Grid Penalties

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From IndyCar Officiating:

 INDYCAR Officiating Announces
Streets of Markham Grid Penalties 
 INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Aug. 16, 2026) – INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties for the entries of No. 5 Arrow McLaren and Nos. 26 and 27 Andretti Global for unapproved engine changes following yesterday’s qualifying on the Streets of Markham.
The entries were in violation of:
Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out.
According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Ontario Honda Dealers Indy at Markham, today, on the Streets of Markham. 

Grid Penalties for Cars 12 and 4

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From IndyCar officiating:

INDYCAR Officiating Announces
Portland International Raceway Grid Penalties  

INDIANAPOLIS (Friday, Aug. 7, 2026) – INDYCAR Officiating has announced six-position starting grid penalties for the entries of No. 4 A.J. Foyt Enterprises and No. 12 Team Penske for unapproved engine changes. The No. 12 of Team Penske made two unapproved engine changes during the race weekend at Nashville Superspeedway while the No. 4 of A.J. Foyt Enterprises made an unapproved engine change following the Monday, July 20 race.
The No. 4 of A.J. Foyt Enterprises and No. 12 of Team Penske were in violation of:
Rule 16.1.2.3.2. A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Approved Engine Change-Out if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine Change-Out.
The No. 12 of Team Penske was in violation of:Rule 16.1.6.2.1. If an Entrant makes two (2) Unapproved Engine Change-Outs during an on-track Event, the penalty for the second (2nd) Unapproved Engine Change-Out is served at the following Race.
According to Rule 16.1.6.1.2., the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the OnlyBulls Grand Prix of Portland on Sunday, Aug. 9 at Portland International Raceway. 
 

IndyCar Officiating Releases First Post-Race Report

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Last night IndyCar Officiating Issued their first post-race bulletin detailing inspections and rulings during the Bommarito Automotive Group 500. Click the link below to see the full report. It is quite detailed and specific, and the rulings might provide guidelines for how the rest of the season will be officiated.

Some highlights:

Scott Mclaughlin received a $1,500 fine for hitting another team’s pit equipment; Louis Foster got docked $3,000 for the same offense because it was his second time this season hitting equipment.

The incident in Turn 1 between Alex Palou and Nolan Siegel warranted no action, but the stewards ruled that Siegel had more responsibility for the contact.

I’m glad that the officiating board is publishing this information. It will help me understand the stewards’ thought process better. I will probably still disagree with hem at times, but at least I will understand why they made a certain ruling.;

PER-2026-WWTR-001.pdf

 INDYCAR Officiating Announces Next Phase in Transparency, Event Reporting 

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From IndyCar Officiating:
 INDIANAPOLIS (Thursday, June 4, 2026) – INDYCAR Officiating has announced its next phase in governance separation and process transparency with the launch of official post-event reports, which will include the use of technical penalty guidelines to provide a framework toward consistency across events. As necessary, post-event reports also will include summaries of technical and procedural distinction to increase clarity
.The reporting update is scheduled to begin with this weekend’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES event at World Wide Technology Raceway.
This next step comes after the establishment of INDYCAR Officiating in December 2025. The not-for-profit organization is governed by the three-person Independent Officiating Board (IOB) of chairman Raj Nair, secretary/treasurer Ray Evernham and FIA appointee Ronan Morgan. In April 2026, veteran motorsports officiating and competition executive Scot Elkins was named managing director of officiating to oversee race control, race stewards and technical inspection. Elkins reports directly to the IOB – with no oversight from INDYCAR or Penske Entertainment officials – to provide officiating governance and management
.”One of the takeaways from the initial months of INDYCAR Officiating was a need for thorough infraction communication and, in some cases, comparison to prior rulings to continue our goal of transparency and consistency in rule implementation,” Nair said.
“This post-event report will be clear in structure, process, and findings.
“The board would like to thank the entire INDYCAR Officiating team for implementing this important step as we continue our mission. Working across the paddock with key stakeholders, we believe this structure will lead to a very positive result for the sport.”
Post-Event Reports
INDYCAR Officiating post-event reports will summarize the officiating activity from each race event and will include penalties imposed under the NTT INDYCAR SERIES rulebook and findings from technical inspections before and after qualifying and races. Post-event reports will be posted and made public during the week following an event at https://noticeboard.indycarofficiating.org
.Examples of content that will be summarized in the post-event report:
Race Recaps
In-race penalties imposed – for example, passing under yellow, emergency service in a closed pit or pit lane speed violations
Incident reviews referred to the stewards and concluded with no further action
Practice Recaps
In-practice penalties imposed – for example, pit lane speed violations, causing a yellow or red flag or entering the wrong pit box
Technical inspection findings from qualifying and races
What was inspected and the extent and subject matter
Explanation of any infraction and its resulting penalty-level classification
Summary of technical or procedural distinction, where relevant
Technical Penalty Guidelines
To ensure consistency across events, post-event reports will include the classification of technical penalties based on the nature of the infraction via three levels:

Infraction Level 1
A single-dimensional non-compliance, such as a height or size measurement outside tolerance, typically arising from wear, damage or assembly failure with no finding of altered component location or improper conduct.
Infraction Level 2
A more significant compliance failure, such as an out-of-tolerance aerodynamic angle, driver or car weight, fuel-system or safety equipment matter, where the configuration is outside specification but does not involve modification of a spec part.
Infraction Level 3
Modification of a spec part, regardless of which assembly or subsystem it belongs to, or the installation of unapproved or altered components – a departure from the car’s approved specification.
Associated penalties begin with point assessments and fines at Level 1 and rise to disqualification and suspensions at Level 3.
Specific monetary fines, point assessments and other consequences imposed within a given infraction level remain at the sole discretion of INDYCAR Officiating
.“We have moved quickly but meticulously in applying this next step in greater officiating transparency,” Elkins said.
“Our goals include increased consistency and clarity as these reports look to provide an additional resource toward structure and process. We look forward to implementing this next phase beginning at WWT Raceway.”
Post-event reports for INDY NXT by Firestone events will begin later this summer.
The next race for the NTT INDYCAR SERIES is the 10th Annual Bommarito Automotive Group 500 presented by Axalta and Valvoline, round nine of the 2026 championship, Sunday, June 7. Coverage begins at 9 p.m. ET on FOX and FOX One. INDY NXT competes on its first oval track of the 2026 season earlier in the day with coverage of the 75-lap race beginning at 5:30 p.m. on FOX Sports’ FS1.Audio coverage is available via INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls on SiriusXM channel 218 and the INDYCAR App powered by NTT DATA.