Bob Pockrass
FOX Motorsports Insider
Nolan Siegel apologized for a profanity-laced outburst on his in-car radio Sunday night that was critical of a penalty issued to him by race officials.
Nolan Siegel during INDYCAR race weekend at St. Louis
During the race at World Wide Technology Raceway, Siegel was penalized with a drive-through penalty for blocking when being lapped by Scott McLaughlin, who had turned Siegel in the previous race at Detroit.
Siegel was not happy with the penalty, telling his team over the radio: “[Expletive] that [expletive]. Tell Penske to go [expletive] themselves. I want you to talk to them about that penalty. That’s [expletive] [expletive].”
McLaughlin drives for Team Penske, and Penske Entertainment operates the racing series.
“I had an outburst on the radio that should not have happened,” Siegel said Wednesday on his Instagram story. “So I just want to apologize to everyone at Arrow McLaren, everyone on [my No.] 6 car, all of our partners, all of our fans that are here to support us.
“That was not a proud moment for me. It is something that I regret. And it was a mistake. I have a lot of respect for Scott, for Team Penske and everyone at INDYCAR that are doing their jobs to the best of their ability and doing a really good job.”
McLaughlin posted on X that he and Siegel “had a good chat after the race.” Siegel finished 19th in the race and sits 21st in the series standings.
“It’s a pressure cooker in INDYCAR,” Siegel said. “It’s an extremely stressful situation. It was frustrating. I let that get to me when I shouldn’t have. I’m human. I make mistakes.”
Arrow McLaren put out a statement saying team executives had talked to Siegel.
“At Arrow McLaren, we hold ourselves to the highest standards of professionalism, respect and sportsmanship — on and off the track,” the statement said. “The language expressed over our radio during this past race weekend does not reflect who we are as a team.
“We do not condone that behavior. We’ve addressed it directly with Nolan, and he is taking responsibility for his actions. Accountability is a core value at Arrow McLaren, and we expect every team member to represent our partners, fans and organization with integrity.”
The team also asked for civility on social media.
“We expect our fans and online community to act with respect and civility, and we will not tolerate hate, abuse or discrimination within our social media platforms,” the team statement said. “It is vital that we collectively maintain a safe and welcoming community for all involved.”
Bob Pockrass covers NASCAR and INDYCAR for FOX Sports. He has spent decades covering motorsports, including over 30 Daytona 500s, with stints at ESPN, Sporting News, NASCAR Scene magazine and The (Daytona Beach) News-Journal. Follow him on Twitter @bobpockrass.
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