MADISON, Ill. — NTT IndyCar Series championship leader Alex Palou is the latest to get a nine grid-spot penalty for an unapproved engine change for Sunday’s Bommarito Automotive Group 500.
IndyCar officials made the announcement at 9:30 a.m. Eastern Time.
It was for an unapproved engine change following practice, Saturday, at World Wide Technology Raceway.
The team was in violation of:
Rule 16.2.3.2 A fifth (5th) Engine is eligible to earn Engine Manufacturer points if a Full Season Entrant has completed the Full Season Entrant Engine Mileage with its first four (4) Engines. Otherwise, a fifth (5th) or more Engine does not earn Engine Manufacturer points and will be considered an Unapproved Engine change-out.
According to Rule 16.6.1.2, the penalty is a six-position starting grid penalty on road and street course events and nine positions at oval events and will be served at the series’ next event, which is the Bommarito Automotive Group 500, today, at WWT Raceway.
On Saturday, the entries for the No. 3 Team Penske entry driven by Scott McLaughlin, the No. 11 Honda driven by Takuma Sato of Japan and the Chevrolet for Juncos Hollinger Racing driven by Augustin Canapino were also issued nine grid-spot penalties.
The reason for so many penalties this time of season is each team is allotted five engines per season and once those are mileaged out, teams swap out for fresh engines.
With just three races remaining, the miles have added up on the “approved” number of engines and teams often go over its allotment.