Indy 500: The Conspiracy Theory That Simply Doesn’t Add Up

The Indianapolis 500 produced a new conspiracy theory that the race was fixed to allow track and series owner Roger Penske’s driver Josef Newgarden to win. However, to believe this theory, one would have to completely discredit Penske’s passion for the sport and what he gets out of it.

Penske’s Passion for the Sport

Penske first came to the Indy 500 as a fan with his father in 1951, and he has been passionate about the sport ever since. He wears many hats, but he separated himself from any competitive contact with his team or officials to avoid a conflict of interest. He stood atop his Pagoda building with the best view in the house, along with his son Greg and right-hand man Bud Denker. To suggest that he instructed race control to allow his car to win is simply ridiculous.

Penske’s Desire for Fair Play

Penske has set a target of 20 BorgWarner trophies for his team, but not at all costs. He gets a buzz out of beating his old friend Chip Ganassi but by fair means and not foul. He affirmed that he had nothing to do with the final red flag/restart decision, and he wants to see a good race with an exciting finish. IndyCar’s rules provide options to achieve this goal, and Penske supports the goal of finishing under green flag conditions.

The Final Red Flag

The only thing that bugged the author about the last red flag was the time it took to throw it. After the previous wreck involving Pato O’Ward, Simon Pagenaud, and Agustin Canapino, it took less than a minute for race control to hit the red button. But for the final shunt, as cars came to the green with four laps to go, for some reason, it took twice as long. This meant there was only time for the cars to complete one flying lap to complete the race, coming straight from the pit lane to do so – deleting the usual requirement for a proper warm-up lap.

Conspiracy Theories

As with most conspiracy theories, they depend on a highly sophisticated web of Machiavellian forces at play to make them work. Although the author has not been in IndyCar race control himself, he has seen at first-hand how it works in the Daytona 24 Hours. It’s a couple of experienced guys making the calls on the fly as they see them, based on information they’re receiving from all around the venue. Human beings, not machines, doing their best to perform duties under the pressure of running a race watched by over 300,000 in-person at Indianapolis and millions on TV around the world. It’s as simple as that.

The conspiracy theory that the Indianapolis 500 was fixed to allow Penske’s driver Josef Newgarden to win simply doesn’t add up. Penske has a passion for the sport, a desire for fair play, and did not have any involvement in the final decision that led to Newgarden’s victory. The final red flag may have taken longer than expected, but it was thrown to ensure a green flag finish and a good race with an exciting finish. Conspiracy theories often lack evidence and are based on speculation, and that’s precisely the case with this one.