IndyCar’s New Push-to-Pass Rules Already Causing Chaos

IndyCar Drivers’ Push-to-Pass Convo a Comedy Shtick Perry Nelson - Getty Images Series leader Alex Palou wants a clarification on penalties. A couple drivers say they haven’t read the new rules, but Graham Rahal has and isn’t a fan. Pato O’Ward says drivers should know and obey the rules.

IndyCar Officiating, the new oversight group established during the offseason to keep racers and teams honest after a couple of glaring cheating scandals, suddenly has moved to the front burner for NTT IndyCar Series drivers who at the beginning of the year claimed not to know much about it. The independent governors worked with series executives to revise and expand rules regarding Push-to-Pass usage. Simply put, Push-to-Pass is an in-car software-generated system that gives drivers an extra 60 horsepower for a short burst by pressing a button.

It’s designed to help drivers pass another car or defend at strategically critical moments during a race. After 12 cars used Push-to-Pass at Long Beach on the Lap 62 restart, with only one gaining position but not penalized because of a software failure, IndyCar and IndyCar Officiating collaborated to solve the problem. So, starting with this weekend’s Sonsio Grand Prix of Indianapolis on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course and for all subsequent road and street circuit races, Push-to-Pass “will be available and allowed for use at all times once the car passes the alternate start-finish line following the start and once the green flag has been displayed.

” In effect, it places the burden for compliance with the drivers. In a prepared statement, IndyCar Officiating said it “believes the rule update better serves the point of the rule while also simplifying the interpretation for all competitors. ” Graham Rahal at the Indiapolis Grand Prix last year.