The four-time Indy 500 winner has received an “unapproved engine change” since the last Saturday’s race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, and will drop six places from wherever he finishes in tomorrow’s qualifying session on the streets of Nashville.
According to IndyCar’s Rule 16.2.3.2, a fifth engine is eligible to earn engine manufacturer points if a full season entrant has completed the full season entrant engine mileage with its first four engines. Otherwise, utilizing five or more engines means the car cannot earn manufacturer points and will be considered an unapproved engine change-out.
For all early engine change-outs, the penalty is a starting grid penalty at the next event. For road and street course races, the penalty costs six positions, while for ovals the drop is nine positions. Colton Herta suffered this nine-place drop in his Andretti Autosport-Honda in the second race at Iowa Speedway’s double-header event last month.
Castroneves currently lies 18th in the points standings, with a best result of seventh in the Indianapolis 500, which he won for MSR in 2021. His highest grid position came on a street course, with fourth at Detroit alongside teammate Simon Pagenaud.
