Indy 500 runner-up Ericsson, teammate Kirkwood penalized to rear for unapproved car modifications
Indy 500 runner-up Ericsson, teammate Kirkwood penalized to rear for unapproved car modifications
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis 500 runner-up Marcus Ericsson was penalized to the rear of the 33-car field along with Andretti Global teammate Kyle Kirkwood on Monday after their cars were found to have unapproved modifications in the post-race inspection that could have helped their aerodynamic efficiency.
Ericsson finished second to Alex Palou on Sunday when he was unable to make a winning pass in the closing laps. He now will be credited with a 31st-place finish while Kirkwood, who had finished sixth, has been relegated to 32nd.
“We are in receipt of the Indianapolis 500 Post-Race Notice as provided by IndyCar,” Andretti Global said in a statement. “We are taking the necessary time to assess the information and we will be requesting a full review with IndyCar.”
IndyCar said the modifications made by Andretti Global were to the Energy Management System covers provided by Dallara, the company that provides the chassis for the series. The rulebook states that those parts must be used as supplied.
Ericsson and Kirkwood had to forfeit their prize money and championship points from their original finish, and instead will receive the money and points for their penalized finish. Each of the cars also was fined $100,000 and the competition managers for the teams have been suspended for the upcoming race on the streets of Detroit.
It was an incredibly costly swing for Andretti as the Indy 500 purse this year was a record $20,283,000, with winner Palou set to receive $3.8 million. Ericsson will receive $610,500 for finishing 31st when he could have earned up to a $1 million in second.
Kirkwood initially was credited with a sixth-place finish, but once dropped to 32nd received $607,500.
“We had a great race, we came across the line in sixth,” Kirkwood said. “We’ll go through the (review) process and this team is built on sportsmanship, they are built on integrity and we’ll try to do everything right in the future.”
The disqualifications changed the podium finishing order, with David Malukas of A.J. Foyt Racing moving up to second and Pato O’Ward of Arrow McLaren moving up to third. For the Foyt team, combined with Santino Ferrucci’s adjusted fifth-place finish, it marked the best Indy 500 finish in 25 years for the team.
The No. 90 car of Callum Ilott also failed post-race technical inspection after it failed to meet the minimum endplate height and location specification. Prema Racing was handed the same penalties as Andretti Global, which means rather than 12th, Ilott will be credited with finishing last in “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”
“Oh,” Ilott posted on social media after learning of the penalty. His payout was decreased to $155,300. “I was at brunch and it was ruined.”
Ilott’s teammate at Prema, rookie Robert Shwartzman, was named top rookie of the race after becoming the first rookie to win the pole since 1983. Ilott joked he was almost late to the awards ceremony because he was searching for Shwartzman for a loan to pay the IndyCar fine.
Prema said in a statement that Ilott’s front wing endplate did not meet minimum height and passed technical inspection multiple times.
“The issue didn’t lead to any performance gain, the car ended up being non-compliant with the rules at the end of the race, so the team accepts full responsibility,” Prema said. “The team is currently investigating the root of the problem. We look forward to implementing the needed procedures to ensure improved control and avoid these kinds of issues in the future.”
Doug Boles, the president of IndyCar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, said at the annual Monday night awards ceremony that Ericsson, Kirkwood and Ilott were all given the opportunity to skip the event but showed anyway.
“To a man, Marcus, Kyle and Callum, all said ‘We would not miss an opportunity to come to the victory banquet for the greatest race on earth,’” Boles said. “And that tells you the character of the drivers who are in the cars in the IndyCar Series.”
Ericsson, already devastated by his second runner-up finish in the biggest race of the world, said the disqualification was another blow.
“I don’t know the details enough, it’s so fresh and the team is reviewing it all,” Ericsson said before the awards ceremony. “It’s obviously very harsh penalties, but if that’s the rules, then that’s the rules. We respect the integrity of the sport.”
IndyCar’s inspection process came under scrutiny a week before the race, when the Team Penske cars of two-time winner Josef Newgarden and Will Power were found to have had unapproved modifications to the rear shock-absorbing attenuator.
Newgarden and Power were unable to compete in the second round of qualifying, and instead had to start in the final row of the 11-row grid. Newgarden ended up having a fuel pump issue and finished 25th and Power finished 19th, though both of them will move up three spots following the penalties to Andretti Global and Prema Racing.
“This is a moment that I think we all can use to move forward because in our most difficult times is when true character is shown,” Boles said. “As a community, we’re going to get stronger. We’re going to get better. We’re going to show everyone why we had 7 million viewers watch this Indy 500.”
__
AP Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer contributed to this report.
___
AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
