Castroneves Dances His Way To 3rd Indy 500 Title
by Patrick Reynolds
After making headlines during the Indycar off-season for happenings off the racetrack, Helio Castroneves once again made news for his actions on a racetrack. Driving for famed team owner Roger Penske, Castroneves won his third career Indianapolis 500 in his ninth attempt.
The Indy winner faced legal problems before the 2009 Indy Racing League season began. Castroneves was brought up before a Federal Court on income tax evasion charges. The trial lasted over six weeks before was acquitted of five of the six charges. The final charge was dismissed Friday. The legal proceedings extended into the season’s start and Helio was forced to miss the April season opener in St. Petersburg, FL.
With a one-event handicap in the IRL Championship standings, Castroneves finished seventh in the circuit’s second event in Long Beach, CA.
The month started well with the 500 pole position on May ninth, and ended even better with a feel good and vindicating Indy victory for the native Brazilian.
“ I’ve run out of tears. I’ve run out of words. I’m speechless,” said the very emotional winner afterwards.
The Indy race began with a rash of the color yellow. The original race start was waved
off because of a disorganized field formation as they took the green flag. On the second, neater attempt the green was waved and the thirty-three drivers roared toward the first turn. Only thirty-one saw turn two at full speed.
Seventh starting Mario Moraes and eighth starter Marco Andretti crashed on the short chute between turns one and two bringing out another caution flag with a full-speed lap yet to be completed.
On the restart Ganassi Racing’s Dario Franchitti took over the lead from the pole sitter and paced the field past the fifty-lap mark. Ryan Hunter-Reay was eliminated in a single car turn-four crash that saw his car slide into the pit entry lane. Following pit stops Franchitti remained up front with Ryan Briscoe and Scott Dixon moving ahead of Castroneves.
Briscoe took a turn at the lead right before a strong running Graham Rahal crashed against the outside wall in turn four. Rahal had been riding in the top five at the time. The field made its next round of stops and Briscoe kept his lead on the pit exit. Justin Wilson’s crew made some evasive maneuvers as their driver spun backwards on pit road.
Briscoe returned to the pits on lap sixty-five, giving the lead to the other Ganassi car driven by defending Indy champion Scott Dixon. The Target teammates ran in formation with Tony Kanaan flexing his muscles in third and an impressive Raphael Matos holding down fourth.
Davey Hamilton was the third straight fourth turn crash on lap eighty-two as the race neared the halfway mark.
Another annual Indianapolis heartbreak befell Tony Kanaan with a hard impact in turn three on lap 98. Said Kanaan “Unfortunately it (Indy 500) went short again. I closed my eyes and said ‘This is going to be a big one.’ And it was a big one.” Reportedly something broke in his machine’s suspension.
Near the 300-mile mark the two Ganassi cars led Will Power, Castroneves, Matos, Townsend Bell, 2005 winner Dan Wheldon, Ed Carpenter, and Paul Tracy.
A debris caution on lap 132 brought another round of pit stops and a scary fire for Vitor Meira that engulfed his car. Quick action by his crew and safety workers extinguished the flames and allowed Meira to restart the event.
A lot of position shuffling happened on pit road. Franchitti tried to leave his stall with the fuel coupling still attached and dropped from second to eighth. Briscoe moved back into the top ten and Tracy jumped to his race high of fourth.
Dixon held first on the restart but was overhauled by Helio before the first turn. Castroneves, Dixon, Power, Wheldon, and Bell ran in the top five with fifty laps remaining.
Power challenged his Penske stable mate for the lead before the field was slowed again for Wilson who crashed in turn one. Power’s crew had trouble with the right rear tire and slowed his next stop as the field hit pit road again. He left in sixth behind leader Castroneves, Briscoe, Wheldon, Danica Patrick, in the top five for the first time in the race, and Bell.
The final caution flag waved on lap 174 for a viscous crash on turn one involving Meira and Matos. Meira wound up sliding along the retaining wall on two wheels before his car settled down on all fours.
Briscoe was the only car among the leaders to pit, being too close on fuel mileage to complete the event.
The green flag was unfurled one more time on lap 183 and Patrick challenged Wheldon for the second position entering the first turn but could not complete the pass.
Castroneves slowly pulled away to a two-second advantage and crossed under the duel checkered flags, giving Penske Racing its fifteenth Borg Warner trophy.
<strong>Wheldon, Patrick, Bell, Power, Dixon, Franchitti, Carpenter, Tracy, and Hideki Mutoh rounded out the top ten. </strong>
<strong>Helio did his popular Spiderman impression climbing the frontstretch catchfencing and saluting the over 300,000 fans who attended on the traditional Indiana spectacle on a hazy and humid afternoon.</strong>
“What an incredible month. What an incredible day” said Castroneves Sunday evening following his tearful and emotional victory lane celebration. “It was like a movie going through my head. Having Roger and Team Penske behind me is special” alluding to the support he received on the track as a driver and off the track personally.
Fourth place Bell was pleased with his strong finish. ”To be in sight of the leader at the end of the race is a dream come true.”
“We had a rough day” described sixth place finisher Dixon on his failure to defend his race win. “Every pit stop we had a little bit of a fumble. And a second or two (on pit road) can cost you four, five, or six spots (on the track).”
Race winner and former Dancing With the Stars champion Castroneves addressed his chances at more Indy 500 victories. “That’s looking too far ahead. In order to win five (Indy 500s) I need to win four. And to win four we need to win the championship first. So we need to think about Milwaukee (the next IRL race).”
