While the 2025 INDYCAR season delivered multiple surprise wins from unexpected teams and drivers, for Team Penske, it went down as one of their worst seasons in recent decades. Before Will Power’s win in Portland, the team was on the brink of their first winless season since 1999—a sentence nobody expected.
While the words ‘Penske’, ‘winless’, and ‘worst’ don’t belong in the same sentence, a series of unprecedented scenarios slowly dismantled their chances of even remaining in the championship contention.
A Look Back at 2024
In 2024, the team had eight wins, including the Indy 500 amongst their three drivers: Scott McLaughlin, Josef Newgarden, and Will Power.
McLaughlin led the team with five poles and finished 3rd in the Drivers’ Championship.
Power followed closely in 4th place with three wins, making this one of his most consistent seasons in recent years. However, moments like the Indy 500, where he started 2nd but finished 24th, often hindered his progress.
Newgarden finished eighth with fewer top finishes than his teammates. However, his unforgettable Indy 500 win—when he made a last-minute move on provisional winner Pato O’Ward to take first place—created one of the most intense victories of the year.
Power’s 2024 season was challenging for the championship — McLaughlin was still in contention by the final race in Nashville, sitting 54 points behind.
Palou started the final race and knocked Power out, allowing McLaughlin to jump ahead in the standings as the Australian’s poor race in Nashville sealed his fate.
In 2024, all three drivers finished 20th or worse five times. Early in the season, officials disqualified Newgarden after he won at St. Petersburg, sparking controversy.
Both Newgarden and McLaughlin were disqualified from the race for a push-to-pass violation, and Power received a points penalty that was a roadblock to the decent progress he made.
The team prepared for another season of business as usual—ready to dominate with their drivers on the frontlines, thanks to the three key ingredients that make any team stand out in the series: strategy, consistency, and pace.
With a stable foundation and a unified focus on their goals, Penske rarely suffered the consequences of mechanical or pit lane errors.
Performance in 2025
After a dominant 2024, expectations for 2025 were sky-high. Penske aimed to build a consistent streak of victories and send a clear message to the grid: Team Penske is here to win.
Instead, what followed was an uphill battle of DNF’s, errors, disqualifications, mechanical issues and a knowing that the problem ran deeper than a slow start.
The team began the season with a rough patch, struggled to stay in contention, and eventually faded into the midfield.
The entire team poured their blood, sweat, and tears into building a steady foundation, which had slowly but steadily collapsed
And the question that had everyone scratching their heads:
How does one of the most successful organizations in IndyCar history go from dominating weekends to barely staying relevant?
From St. Pete to Pre-500
The pre-season testing at Sebring highlighted Penske to be one of the strongest contenders with Power and Newgarden running at 1-2 and optimism was high heading into the opener on the streets of St. Petersburg.
The Grand Prix of St. Petersburg served as an ideal start for the team. McLaughlin took pole position, but Chip Ganassi Racing driver Álex Palou won the race, beating him to the finish.
Newgarden secured third place on the podium, while McLaughlin finished fourth. Power’s race took a bleak turn when he crashed on the first lap, dropping him to 26th place.
At Thermal Club, Power had one of his worst qualifying performances in recent years, but recovered impressively to finish sixth, gaining 15 positions and went from 26th to 14th in the standings.
For McLaughlin, contact with Devlin DeFrancesco caused him to spin before the race, which likely led to overheating problems with the hybrid system; the hot weather made things worse, costing him several laps.
After the race, McLaughlin confronted DeFrancesco, one of the many instances of heated arguments that went on between the drivers this year.
The hybrid system issues rank among the biggest challenges Penske has faced this season and show how much work the team still needs to do.
At Long Beach, Newgarden started 15th but a seatbelt issue forced multiple unscheduled stops, and he finished 27th. McLaughlin finished 6th after fuel-saving late in the race, which allowed Power to overtake him.
Power began 13th and drove a strong race, finishing 5th after smart tyre strategy and a key front wing adjustment—his performance marked his second consecutive top six finish in 2025.
The Month of MAY-hem
The Indy 500 was where everything that could possibly go wrong for them, went wrong.
The team, who popped champagne to celebrate a remarkable win at this place last year, now faced their most damaging weekend of the season there.
Officials sent Newgarden and Power to the back of the grid after they found illegal modifications on their cars. The team lost valuable positions, received suspensions, and started two cars in 32nd and 33rd places on the grid.
“It’s kind of a shock and a pity… these [released team members] are all extremely good at their job … The infraction was very minor. It wasn’t a performance gain.” – Will Power
McLaughlin avoided penalties but spoke openly about how the controversy impacted the team. He suggested internal frustrations were boiling over, especially since people close to him lost their jobs over decisions he felt weren’t theirs to own.
Throughout May, Newgarden had shown immense pace leading up to the 500; topping practice sessions and into the top 10 during the race before mechanical issues ended his race prematurely.
Second Half of 2025
As midseason rapidly approached, Penske had zero wins.
Newgarden looked set to deliver a much-needed win in Illinois. He was leading until midway through the race, a crash involving rookie Louis Foster sent his car spinning back onto the track.
With nowhere to go, Newgarden made contact, flipped, and landed upside down. Fortunately, he emerged unscathed and radioed his crew to confirm he was fine.
It didn’t stop there—Power crashed with a tyre failure, and McLaughlin retired with a mechanical issue. All three Penske cars were out before the finish.
Will Power’s 2025 campaign had already veered off course with no wins, two engine failures, and several mechanical issues. It became one of the most frustrating years of his career, made worse by the fact that it was a contract year.
“Can you believe the year I’m having?” – Power in Monterey
Although he wanted to return in 2026, Penske declined to renew his contract and brought in David Malukas from A.J. Foyt Racing as his replacement.
Power now heads to Andretti Global; he remains one of the most decorated drivers of the team with a 17 year-long partnership.
The First Victory in Portland
Will Power was the driver that bought them their first win of ’25 in Portland.
“I think it’s just a big win for the whole team. We’ve had a rough year, and it’s not really because we’ve been off the pace. It’s just been unfortunate circumstances. It was a good, hard-fought win.
He led most of the race and outmaneuvered pole position winner Christian Lundgaard, with a smart strategy Power was able to build a 20-second lead to Palou.
Malukas held up Lundgaard just enough for Power to gain time, and Lundgaard’s pressure on Palou forced an error that opened the door.
But as significant as the win was, it came too late to save their season—Penske was already out of title contention, but Power’s result gave the team a moral win and avoided a major spot in their history.
Ending the Season with a Win on Home Turf
Josef Newgarden delivered a much-needed second win — and he did it on home turf.
On the tight, technical streets of Nashville, the local hero qualified sixth and showed strong pace throughout the weekend. He led sixty laps, managing tyre wear through multiple cautions and traffic-heavy segments.
With several contenders tripped up by strategy errors or late-race incidents, Newgarden kept things clean.
Late in the race, a caution brought the field back together—but Newgarden timed his restart perfectly and held off a charging Kyle Kirkwood and Felix Rosenqvist to take the win.
It was his first victory since the 2024 Indy 500, and only Penske’s second win of the 2025 season.
“To win here, in front of friends and family, after everything this year, it means more than I can explain.” he said post-race.
Statistically, the win helped soften the blow of an otherwise disappointing season; Newgarden’s 30th career IndyCar win and his third podium of the season, placing him among the series’ most successful active drivers.
He was accompanied by his teammate Scott McLaughlin on the podium who finished third.
Starting Fresh in 2026
As Penske heads into the 2026 season with a refreshed driver line-up and a chance to reset, there have been more than enough signs to understand where things unraveled in 2025.
Yet, the victory in the season finale provided a timely reminder of the team’s underlying strength and resilience.
With pre-season testing on the horizon, all eyes will be on how David Malukas — coming off a standout campaign, integrates into the operation and whether Penske can convert lessons learned into a genuine return to form.