Marshall Pruett reported on FB today that the illegal attenuator is on the Newgarden winning car from last year in the IMS museum. Pato wants his win back..(my comment, not his)

^^^ :D
Or .... it's very obviously grandfathered in and they get their original grid positions back! :cool:

I went back and looked at my photos from the Indycar test in February. Unfortunately, I deleted all the hi-res RAW files but some detail can still be seen. The same joint that is subject to the Penske DQ appears to be filed down on the lower half on both sides of Herta's attenuator. Dixon's car also looks non-uniform in my pics.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1747696933.JPG

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1747696933.jpg

I am not condoning or encouraging cheating but, in racing there is an old expression
https://www.crawfishboxes.com/2022/11/18/23464282/houston-astros-if-you-aint-cheatin-you-aint-tryin

Someone explain how this provides an advantage?
Or is it just against the rules?

The aero advantage would seem to be in the 100ths of a MPH on a superspeedway lap IMO. Bowles is asking teams to report on other teams they suspect of cheating. There is talk of several other teams with other 'illegal mods'. I'll bet we haven't heard the end of this.

I was discussing this with a friend. Obviously, every seam on a speedway car is massaged to optimize drag. Its quite possible that making airflow a little better in that area optimizes speed thru the venturi which is extra downforce without much drag.

The attenuator is a safety component and the series doesn't want folks messing with it in any way.

Paul according to this article it's a potential aero increase .

https://www.indystar.com/story/sports/motor/indy-500/2025/05/19/indycar-attenuator-indy-500-qualifying-penske-josef-newgarden-will-power/83725757007/

In drag racing we used to say the best way to remove one pound of weight is to find 16 places to take out one ounce. At speeds of 230 mph + and 500 miles, even the slightest reduction of drag is a possible game changer since just 2/10 of a second meant the difference between 1st place and 1st loser in the top 5 closest finishes!

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1747778122.jpg
https://www.sportingnews.com/us/athletics/news/indianapolis-500-closest-finishes/d6b7dvust40k1qrgdmqfop200

At this level of racing it's all about marginal gains, too small to measure ndividually but combined together make a performance improvement

Keep your eye on the ounces, and the pounds will take care of themselves, (as they used to say in bicycle racing.)

Fellas,
I appricate all the relies. I get that enough small changes can lead to big gains. I built the "World's Lightest 914" so I get it. I shaved off everything that didn't make it go, stop or turn. :D
I was curious if there was any other reason besides a very small aero advantage.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1747785189.jpg

Other than...
To a lesser degree, aero smoothness mean better handling.

This Indy 500 cheat has been brought to you by the letters D, R, A and G

Here is a comprehensive piece on the kerfuffle https://www.motorsport.com/indycar/news/penskes-modifications-arent-the-actual-problem-the-fact-that-no-one-caught-them-is/10724722/

And Roger takes care of business, https://x.com/team_penske/status/1925200235636068536

He's trying to keep Honda. They were outraged.

My $.02

-Team Penske modified the attenuator for both aesthetic and performance (drag) reasons; IOW, cheating
-How does Indycar miss this for over a year ??!! Either inept or on order to look the other way
-Other teams (Ganassi) knew about it and chose the opportune time to utilize


Again, IMHO only

Wow, Penske cleaned house it seems.

Good to see the old man won't put up with this type of BS in his organization.