Team Penske fills IndyCar presidency with endurance racing boss Jonathan Diuguid

Team Penske has filled its IndyCar leadership vacancies with the appointments of Jonathan Diuguid and Travis Law.

Confirmed:

• Diuguid promoted to Penske Racing president
• Law named competition director 

Context:

This news should bring to a close a turbulent period for Team Penske. Being owned by IndyCar owner Roger Penske naturally adds a layer of scrutiny, but change was necessary regardless.

First, Team Penske was found to have illegally circumvented the push-to-pass overtaking system, allowing their drivers unrestricted use during last season’s opening race in St Petersburg. As a result, former team president Tim Cindric was suspended for two races.

Then, at this year’s Indianapolis 500, an illegally modified part was found on the cars of Josef Newgarden and Will Power. Each entry was fined US$100,000 by IndyCar and sent to the back of the grid for the main race.

While both incidents came with plausible explanations, they exposed an organisation lacking in transparency and accountability.

As a result, Cindric, IndyCar managing director Ron Ruzewski and IndyCar general manager Kyle Moyer were all removed from their positions just four days before the Indy 500. Two major missteps in little over a year not only generated bad publicity for the famous team but also raised concerns about the integrity of the series itself. ‘The Captain’ had no choice but to act.

Coming next:

As Team Penske seeks a fresh start, Diuguid and Law will move across from the Porsche Penske Motorsport outfit, which competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and the World Endurance Championship (WEC). The two have a combined 38 years of service with Team Penske.

Diuguid will continue to oversee the team’s endurance racing efforts moving forward, having served as managing director of Porsche Penske Motorsport since 2021. Team Penske’s Nascar operations will remain unchanged, with Michael Nelson continuing as president and Travis Geisler as vice president of competition.

As for the trio of senior executives who recently departed Penske, Moyer has already joined Arrow McLaren as director of competition. There have been no updates yet on Cindric and Ruzewski.

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