Former Team Penske President Tim Cindric Returns to Team as Strategist

Former Team Penske president Tim Cindric is returning to the organization … in a team strategist role for INDYCAR Series driver Scott McLaughlin. Cindric had most recently been Josef Newgarden’s strategist, a job he performed for several drivers throughout his tenure as a Penske executive. After focusing his team president duties solely on INDYCAR at the start of the 2025 season, Cindric was one of three executives released from the team following technical violations found on two Penske cars during Indy 500 qualifying. It was the second significant technical violation in 14 months for the organization and elevated concerns within the industry over Penske Corporation fielding teams (Penske Racing) and owning the series (Penske Entertainment). While much of his role as team president was somewhat in the background, his role as a strategist in INDYCAR was often front-and-center for one of the most accomplished race teams in series history. [MORE FROM INDYCAR: Will Power Excited for Fresh Start with Andretti] Jonathan Diuguid, who has replaced Cindric as the INDYCAR and IMSA team president, will serve as strategist for Newgarden, while Travis Law will serve as strategist for team newcomer David Malukas. Diuguid has worked with Cindric for decades and is comfortable having his former boss now back as an employee. “Tim and I have worked together for the better part of 20 years, and we’ve had our disagreements over that period of time,” Diuguid told me Thursday. “Tim has been a big, big part of my career, and I think it was only through that relationship to where we could have those open discussions and talk about what it is. “Tim made it clear he has no desires to come back and assume his old role or anything like that. But he definitely took the time in the six-seven months to figure out what he wanted to do in the next step. And he circled back to wanting to be in the INDYCAR paddock and wanting to be effective and involved in INDYCAR races.” Cindric contacted Diuguid in December inquiring whether he could come back as a strategist, that he had done some soul-searching and wanted to be part of an INDYCAR team. He had talked with other teams but wanted to see if there was a possibility to return to Team Penske. Cindric’s primary role will be at the racetrack and he won’t be in the shop much if at all. “It’s a phone call I didn’t expect,” Diuguid said. “It’s a phone call that Roger [Penske] and others didn’t expect. But I think the one thing is that when Tim called and said those things [about coming back], it was coming from a genuine place, and it’s something that we considered very seriously, and ended up where we are today. “It’s the right thing for the team. Tim is one of the most experienced and successful people on pit road — irrespective of his time as the president of Team Penske — you just look at his race record, from being a strategist on cars from Helio [Castroneves] to Will [Power] to Josef, it speaks for itself. Diuguid worked as strategist for Newgarden in Newgarden’s 2024 Indy 500 win and felt that with Newgarden-Luke Mason the only returning driver-engineer combo of the three Penske drivers, it would be best for him to work with Newgarden and to put Cindric with McLaughlin. Law is a Rolex 24-winning team strategist and will be paired with Malukas, who brings with him his engineer, James Schnabel, who he worked with last year at A.J. Foyt Racing. Team Penske is looking to rebound following a season where it won two of the 17 races and its drivers finished an uncharacteristic ninth, 10th and 12th in the standings. So having Cindric and his winning pedigree as a strategist — and familiarity with the drivers — is something that proved enough for him to return. “It is our relationship that allows me to have a high level of comfort and confidence that it’s all going to go the right way, and I don’t necessarily feel Tim’s presence back at the racetrack as a challenge or anything like that,” Diuguid said. “And if it is, to be honest, he and I will talk quite openly about it if any issues do arise.”