Two-time series champion Newgarden was disqualified from his season-opening St. Petersburg victory due to illegal use of the push-to-pass system during restarts, after all three of Penske’s entries mistakenly ran with software that allowed him to do so.
Although he accepted the penalty, in an emotionally charged press conference at the next race at Barber, Newgarden revealed that he was under the misapprehension that it was legal to use push-to-pass at restarts, as per the exhibition race at Thermal, which occurred after the St. Pete season opener.
