Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian
auto racing
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...
driver. He has won the
Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
a record-equalling four times: in
2001,
2002,
2009, and
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
. He won the
2021 24 Hours of Daytona with
Wayne Taylor Racing
Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque and ...
and the
2022 24 Hours of Daytona with
Meyer Shank Racing
Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
History Atlantic Championship
Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, ...
, and was runner-up in the
IndyCar Series
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices o ...
drivers' championship in
2002,
2008,
2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
, and
2014. He won the
IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
in
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. Castroneves began competitive
go-karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on ful ...
at age 10, before progressing to car racing, in the Formula Chevrolet Brazil,
Formula 3 Sudamericana
Formula 3 Sudamericana was a South American Formula Three championship. It was inaugurated in 1987 and primarily held races in Brazil and Argentina, with a small number of events held in other countries across the continent. Its most notable gr ...
, the
British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to:
*British Formula 3 International Series
The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of ev ...
, and
Indy Lights
Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...
. He entered
Championship Auto Racing Teams
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
CART was founded in ...
(CART) in
1998 with
Bettenhausen Racing and with
Hogan Racing Hogan Racing was a racing team owned by Carl G. Hogan, owner of Hogan Trucking.
Sports cars
Hogan Racing began in the early 1970s racing in the Formula 5000 series out of a shop in Lime Rock, Connecticut across the street from Lime Rock Park. It m ...
in
1999, achieving one second place each with both teams. Castroneves moved to Team Penske in place of
Greg Moore for
2000 and
2001, winning three races in both years.
He debuted in the Indy Racing League (IRL) in
2001, competing in two races and winning the Indianapolis 500. Castroneves drove full time in the IRL from
2002, winning the Indy 500 for a second straight year and finishing runner-up to
Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
in the championship. He finished third in
2003 and
2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
and was runner-up to
Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...
in 2008. During the
2009 season, he won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time, and was fourth three times over the next four seasons, before coming second to Dixon in 2013, and his Penske teammate
Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
in 2014. Castroneves achieved one further series win in
2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
before leaving full-time IndyCar racing to make his IMSA SportsCar Championship debut with Penske at the
2017 Petit Le Mans, paired with
Ricky Taylor
Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...
. He won one race and finished seventh in the
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
Prototype standings and improved to third with five podiums in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
. In
2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
, he would win three races in a row and his first auto racing title.
One of the most popular drivers in IndyCar, his celebration of climbing the fencing beside the track after a victory, would earn him the nickname "Spider-Man". Castroneves won the
fifth season of ''
Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' with professional dancer
Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leavin ...
.
Early and personal life
Castroneves was born in
São Paulo
São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the GaWC a ...
, Brazil on May 10, 1975, to automobile dealer Hélio Castro Neves and former school teacher Sandra Alves de Castro Neves.
He has an elder sister, Katiucia,
who is his business manager.
In 1977, the family moved to
Ribeirão Preto
Ribeirão Preto (Portuguese pronunciation: ibejˈɾɐ̃w ˈpɾetu is a municipality and a metropolitan area located in the northeastern region of São Paulo state, Brazil.
Ribeirão Preto is the eighth-largest municipality in the State wi ...
, an agricultural town about northwest of São Paulo,
to allow his father to find business in the region's thriving ethanol processing industry. He was educated in the São Paulo school system. In 2000, he changed his surname from Castro Neves to Castroneves to stop the media misidentifying him as "Helio Neves" or "Helio Castro". Castroneves has a daughter with his long-time partner Adriana Henao.
Karting career
From early 1981 to 1986, Castroneves observed his father's minor stock car team race on weekends by being sneaked into a car's trunk in racing overalls and helmet, allowing him into a circuit. At age seven, he was given a child-sized motorized car for frequent driving on the streets of his gated community
A gated community (or walled community) is a form of residential community or housing estate containing strictly controlled entrances for pedestrians, bicycles, and automobiles, and often characterized by a closed perimeter of walls and fences ...
and asked his father about a go-kart
A go-kart, also written as go-cart (often referred to as simply a kart), is a type of sports car, close wheeled car, open-wheel car or quadracycle. Go-karts come in all shapes and forms, from non-motorised models to high-performance Kart rac ...
. On his 11th birthday, Castroneves received his first go-kart from race car driver Alfredo Guaraná Menezes, and began driving at a karting track in São Paulo. His mother disliked racing, urging him to focus on schooling and enrolling him in less dangerous sports, such as association football
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
, judo
is an unarmed gendai budō, modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponi ...
, swimming
Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...
, tennis
Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...
, and volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...
. Castroneves played those sports infrequently before telling his mother he wanted to focus on racing. He was inspired by Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva (; 21 March 1960 – 1 May 1994) was a Brazilian racing driver who won the Formula One List of Formula One World Drivers' Champions, World Drivers' Championship in , , and . Senna is one of three Formula One drivers fro ...
, a three-time Formula One world champion A Formula One World Champion is a racing driver or automobile constructor which has been designated such a title by the governing body of Formula One - the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Every Formula One World Champion since th ...
.[
His father enrolled him in the Karting State Championships in São Paulo in early 1987. Castroneves won his first trophy mid-year by bettering himself, as his father sold his ]Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
property to establish and finance a karting team around his son. At age 13, he was taken off full-time schooling to learn more about karting
Kart racing or karting is a road racing variant of motorsport with open-wheel, four-wheeled vehicles known as go-karts or shifter karts. They are usually raced on scaled-down circuits, although some professional kart races are also held on f ...
from his father and team members. Castroneves' mother disapproved because she believed he could opt to stop karting and was fearful of him not having a backup career. Castroneves won the 1989 Brazilian National Go-Kart Championship at age 14.[ Around this time, he and his family began watching ]Championship Auto Racing Teams
Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) was a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 1979 to 2003. It sanctioned the PPG Indy Car World Series from 1979 until dissolving after the 2003 season.
CART was founded in ...
(CART) and Formula One
Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...
racing on television. From October 1989 to March 1990, Castroneves did weightlifting and played tennis to improve his physique.
In 1990, he forfeited the Brazilian National Go-Kart Championship and flew to Italy to enter the Karting World Cup to acquaint himself with the more powerful and gripper European go-karts. A mix-up of his registration papers with the Confederação Brasileira de Automobilismo (English: Brazilian Autosport Confederation) and talks with the Commission Internationale de Karting The Commission Internationale de Karting (CIK or CIK-FIA) is the primary international sanctioning body for kart racing. It was founded in 1962, and is headquartered in Paris, France. In 2000, it joined with the FIA. Its most important event is the ...
in Switzerland prevented him from entering until a fellow karter sustained an arm injury. Castroneves finished the race 16th. He raced in the 1991 Karting World Cup in France without registration trouble, finishing 25th, and won more races in Brazil.
Junior car racing career
Aged 16 in late 1991, Castroneves progressed into car racing, competing in Formula Chevrolet Brazil, a series for finishing go-karters. His parents hired a trainer to help him lift weights for better car control and took him to a local recreational center. Negotiations to drive for the Arisco team fell through when it asked for $200,000 in sponsorship, causing his father to spend $250,000 on his team. Driving a Copral-Berta-Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
car, Castroneves was championship runner-up with one victory and 92 points in the eight-round season. He moved to the higher-tier Formula 3 (F3) Sudamericana in 1993 driving a Ralt RT34- Mugen Honda car with Copral and later the funded Amir Nasr Racing Team.[ Castroneves' five-year-old car was worn and had no aerial to communicate to his team by radio.] He was championship runner-up to Argentinean driver Fernando Croceri
Fernando is a Spanish and Portuguese given name and a surname common in Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Switzerland, former Spanish or Portuguese colonies in Latin America, Africa, the Philippines, India, and Sri Lanka. It is equivalent to the G ...
with four victories, eight podium finishes and 57 points.[
]
Castroneves progressed to the Brazilian Formula Three Championship
Fórmula 3 Brasil was a Brazilian Formula Three racing competition, organised by the Vicar and CBA. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. The series was disputed from 1989 until 1995 and was revi ...
in 1994
File:1994 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 1994 Winter Olympics are held in Lillehammer, Norway; The Kaiser Permanente building after the 1994 Northridge earthquake; A model of the MS Estonia, which Sinking of the MS Estonia, sank in ...
with the Amir Nasr Racing Team, finishing second overall with three victories, four pole position
In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...
s and 52 points from eight races. For 1995
File:1995 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: O.J. Simpson is O. J. Simpson murder case, acquitted of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman from the 1994, year prior in "The Trial of the Century" in the United States; The ...
, Castroneves drove a Dallara F395- Mugen Honda car for Paul Stewart Racing
Paul may refer to:
*Paul (given name), a given name (includes a list of people with that name)
*Paul (surname), a list of people
People
Christianity
* Paul the Apostle (AD c.5–c.64/65), also known as Saul of Tarsus or Saint Paul, early Chri ...
in the British Formula Three Championship British Formula Three Championship may refer to:
*British Formula 3 International Series
The British Formula Three Championship was an international motor racing series that took place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of ev ...
. His father obtained sponsorship from a Brazilian bank, and mid-way through 1995, sold his business assets, private company and Katicia's university apartment to help finance his son's career. Castroneves was third in the drivers' championship with 169 points, six podiums and a win at Donington Park
Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned b ...
. He finished third in the Masters of Formula 3
The Masters of Formula 3 was a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Zolder. Howe ...
at Circuit Zandvoort and crashed out of the Macau Grand Prix
The Macau Grand Prix ( pt, Grande Prémio de Macau; ) is a motorsport road race for automobiles and motorcycles held annually in Macau. It is the only street circuit racing event in which both cars and motorcycles participate, and one of onl ...
.
In November 1995, a Philip Morris International
Philip Morris International Inc. (PMI) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational tobacco company, with products sold in over 180 countries. The most recognized and best selling product of the company is Marlboro. Philip Morris I ...
executive asked Castroneves whether he wanted to enter a four-day Indy Lights
Indy NXT, previously Indy Lights, is an American developmental automobile racing series sanctioned by IndyCar, currently known as Firestone Indy NXT Series for sponsorship reasons. Indy Lights is the highest step on the Road to Indy, a program ...
(CART's developmental series) test session at Phoenix International Raceway
Phoenix Raceway is a 1-mile, low-banked tri-oval race track located in Avondale, Arizona, near Phoenix. The motorsport track opened in 1964 and currently hosts two NASCAR race weekends annually including the final championship race since 2020. P ...
's oval track
Oval track racing is a form of closed-circuit motorsport that is contested on an oval-shaped race track. An oval track differs from a road course in that the layout resembles an oval with turns in only one direction, and the direction of traff ...
against nine other drivers. Although he did not finish the test due to exhaustion, he signed to drive Tasman Motorsports
Tasman Motorsports Group is a former racing team that was owned by Steve Horne, a long-time motorsport figure who spent most of his career in the United States. Its lead driver is championship winning New Zealander, Daniel Gaunt.
Previously the ...
' third car with partial funding from the team and the rest from a corporate sponsor after another year in F3 was financially unfeasible. Driving the 8 Lola
Lola may refer to:
Places
* Lolá, a or subdistrict of Panama
* Lola Township, Cherokee County, Kansas, United States
* Lola Prefecture, Guinea
* Lola, Guinea, a town in Lola Prefecture
* Lola Island, in the Solomon Islands
People
* Lola ...
T93/20-Buick
Buick () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM). Started by automotive pioneer David Dunbar Buick in 1899, it was among the first American marques of automobiles, and was the company that established General ...
car in the 1996 season, Castroneves won at Circuit Trois-Rivières
The Circuit Trois-Rivières is a street circuit in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, Canada. The circuit has been the home of the annual Grand Prix de Trois-Rivières, the longest-running street race in North America, since 1967. The circuit is located o ...
and achieved seven top-tens for seventh overall with 84 points. A series of accidents and Castroneves' lack of English frustrated him, and he briefly spoke to a sports psychologist for help mid-season.
For the 1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
season, he remained at Tasman Motorsport, but was told his sponsor was leaving, forcing Katicia to promote him to several Brazilian companies. He and team owner Steve Horne agreed if he won five races, Horne would retain all prize monies until Castroneves paid him what he was owed, effectively driving for free. Driving the No. 29 Lola T97/20-Buick car, Castroneves was championship runner-up to teammate Tony Kanaan
Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...
, winning three of the twelve races, six top tens, four pole positions, and 152 points.[ On June 11, 1997, the two-time ]Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
winner Emerson Fittipaldi
Emerson Fittipaldi (; born 12 December 1946) is a Brazilian former automobile racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the Indianapolis 500 twice each and the CART championship once.
Moving up from Formula Two, Fittip ...
became Castroneves' manager and sponsorship finder.
CART
1998–1999
In January 1998, Bettenhausen Racing owner Tony Bettenhausen Jr. invited him to test for his CART team at Sebring International Raceway; Castroneves signed to drive its No. 16 Reynard 98i
The Reynard 98I is an open-wheel racing car designed and built by Reynard Racing Cars that competed in the 1998 IndyCar season. It won the constructors' and drivers' titles later that year, being driven by Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" ...
-Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
car in the 1998 season, and was assigned former Penske Racing
Team Penske (formerly Penske Racing) is an American professional auto racing organization, competing in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and the FIA World Endurance Championship. Debuting at the 1966 24 Hours of Daytona, the organiza ...
employee Tom Brown as his race engineer
A race engineer is a motorsport team member who analyses data to achieve the best performance from the vehicle and driver. The race engineer communicates with the team's data analyst, mechanics, and driver, both between and during races. Off the ...
.[ During practice for the season-opening Grand Prix of Miami at ]Homestead–Miami Speedway
Homestead–Miami Speedway is a motor racing track located in Homestead, Florida. The track, which has several configurations, has promoted several series of racing, including NASCAR, the IndyCar Series, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship ser ...
, Castroneves sustained a sore head in an accident but medical officials cleared him to race. Castroneves achieved his first career top-ten finish in CART, a ninth at the Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
, followed by a season-high second in the Miller 200 at Milwaukee Mile
The Milwaukee Mile is a oval race track in the central United States, located on the grounds of the Wisconsin State Fair Park in West Allis, Wisconsin, a suburb west of Milwaukee. Its grandstand and bleachers seats approximately 37,000 spectato ...
. He was 17th in the drivers' championship with 36 points, and was second to Kanaan in the Rookie of the Year standings.
In mid-1998 Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization with teams competing in the IndyCar Series, NTT IndyCar Series, International Motor Sports Association, IMSA WeatherTech ...
(CGR) wanted Castroneves to replace the Formula One-bound Alex Zanardi
Alessandro "Alex" Zanardi (; born 23 October 1966) is an Italian professional racing driver and paracyclist. He won the CART championship in 1997 and 1998, and took 15 wins in the series. He also raced in Formula One from 1991 to 1994 and aga ...
; Team Rahal
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is an auto racing team that has participated in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IndyCar Series. Headquartered in Brownsburg, Indiana and Hilliard, Ohio, it is co-owned by 1986 Indianapolis 500 winn ...
were also interested in him. Fittipaldi blocked both deals as he felt Mercedes-Benz was CART's best engine. Bettenhausen Racing fired Castroneves in January 1999, and replaced him with the sponsored Shigeaki Hattori
Shigeaki "Shige" Hattori (服部 茂章, November 3, 1963) is a Japanese professional race car driver and team owner based in the United States. As a driver, he competed in the CART and IndyCar Series, and the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series (now th ...
.[ Castroneves agreed with team owner Carl Hogan on January 26 to drive for ]Hogan Racing Hogan Racing was a racing team owned by Carl G. Hogan, owner of Hogan Trucking.
Sports cars
Hogan Racing began in the early 1970s racing in the Formula 5000 series out of a shop in Lime Rock, Connecticut across the street from Lime Rock Park. It m ...
in 1999 in place of JJ Lehto
Jyrki Juhani Järvilehto (; born 31 January 1966), better known as "JJ Lehto", is a Finnish racing driver. He won the 24 Hours of Le Mans twice, in 1995 and 2005. He is also a former Formula One driver.
He was a protégé of Finnish 1982 Formula ...
on the condition he paid $3 million in sponsorship to the team.[ He drove the unreliable No. 9 Lola B99/00-Mercedes-Benz car with an engine inconsistent in producing power.] Castroneves was ninth in the Firestone Firehawk 500K at Twin Ring Motegi
Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...
, before coming second in the Motorola 300 at Gateway International Raceway
World Wide Technology Raceway (formerly Gateway International Raceway and Gateway Motorsports Park) is a motorsport racing facility in Madison, Illinois, just east of St. Louis, Missouri, United States, close to the Gateway Arch. It features a ...
. In the Miller Lite 225 at Milwaukee, Castroneves achieved his first CART pole position. The rest of the season saw him achieve four more top-tens and finished 15th in the points standings with 48.
2000–2001
Post-season, Hogan closed his CART team because Fittipaldi was unable to provide him with the requested sponsorship money and consequently, stopped paying Castroneves a salary. Castroneves and his sister negotiated without Fittipaldi's help with Walker Racing
Walker Racing was a racing team founded by Derrick Walker in 1991 racing originally in the CART Championship Car series. It last competed in the United SportsCar Championship under the name of Team Falken Tire until Falken Tire pulled out of not o ...
to replace the outgoing Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran (born November 11, 1967 in Paris, France) is a French-born Brazilian professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for Team Penske and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 5 ...
and also Team Rahal without success. Following Greg Moore's death in an accident at the season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway
Auto Club Speedway, originally opened as California Speedway, is a , low-banked, D-shaped oval superspeedway in unincorporated San Bernardino County, California, near Fontana. It has hosted NASCAR racing annually since 1997. It was also previ ...
, Penske owner Roger Penske
Roger Searle Penske (born February 20, 1937) is an American businessman and entrepreneur involved in professional auto racing and a retired professional auto racing driver. He is most famous for his ownership of Team Penske, DJR Team Penske, t ...
, team president Tim Cindric
Tim Cindric (born 1968) is the President of Team Penske. A native of Indianapolis, he is an alumnus of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, where he was a four-year basketball letterman in 1990. Cindric served as the Team Manager for Team Rahal ...
, attorneys, and sports agent Alan Miller negotiated and agreed on November 5 to a three-year contract for Castroneves after pressure from sponsor Marlboro to find a replacement driver by that date. Castroneves ended his working relationship with Fittipaldi soon after for career mismanagement.
For the 2000 season, Penske stopped building cars, switched to a Reynard 2Ki, changed engine manufacturers from Mercedes-Benz to Honda, and tire supplier from Goodyear to Firestone in a bid to improve performance.[ Castroneves found the Honda engine's driveability different from Mercedes-Benz's, and was at first, not friends with his teammate de Ferran because they were competitors. He finished second at the ]Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
, his only points finish in the first six races. He led the final 24 laps of the Grand Prix of Detroit in his first series victory after Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (; born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian racing driver.
He won the International F3000 championship in 1998, the CART FedEx Championship Series in 1999 in his debut year in the series, and the IMSA WeatherTech ...
retired with mechanical trouble. Castroneves won the Miller Lite 200 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, took five top-tens, and a third victory in the Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to:
* Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California
* Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London
* Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California
* Laguna Seca, Texas, United States
* Rancho ...
. He was seventh in the drivers' championship with 129 points, and was named the inaugural winner of the Greg Moore Legacy Award as "the driver who best typifies Moore's outstanding talent on the track as well as displaying a dynamic personality with the fans, media, and the CART community."
In 2001, he drove the No. 3 Reynard 01i-Honda,[ and journalist David Phillips considered him a championship contender. Castroneves changed his strategy on a race-by-race basis, getting support from de Ferran and his teammate's pit crew. At the season's second race, the ]Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
, he led all 82 laps from pole position for his fourth career win. Castroneves started from pole position in the Firestone Firehawk 500 at Motegi, leading more laps than any other driver to finish second, and led every lap of the Grand Prix of Detroit for his second victory of 2001. He achieved a third win at the Miller Lite 200 to go one point behind championship leader Kenny Bräck
Kenny Bräck (born 21 March 1966) is a Swedish former race car driver. Until his retirement from racing, he competed in the CART, Indy Racing League and the IROC series. He won the 1998 Indy Racing League championship and the 1999 Indianapoli ...
, and overtook the latter after finishing seventh in the Motorola 220. Castroneves lost the points lead after coming 18th in Indy Vancouver, but claimed three top sixes in the final six races to finish fourth in the drivers' standings with 141 points.
IndyCar Series
2001–2004
He debuted in the Indy Racing League
The IndyCar Series, currently known as the NTT IndyCar Series under sponsorship, is the highest class of regional North American open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars in the United States, which has been conducted under the auspices of ...
(IRL) in 2001, driving Penske's No. 68 Dallara IR-01-Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile or formally the Oldsmobile Division of General Motors was a brand of American automobiles, produced for most of its existence by General Motors. Originally established as "Olds Motor Vehicle Company" by Ransom E. Olds in 1897, it produ ...
car,[ at the season-opening ]Pennzoil Copper World Indy 200
The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 19 ...
at Phoenix to understand the series before the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Castroneves started 17th but retired with engine failure after three-quarters race distance. He qualified 11th for his first Indianapolis 500 and led the final 52 laps to win the race at his first attempt.
Castroneves switched to the IRL from the 2002 season since Marlboro wanted Penske to focus on the American market. Penske changed engine manufacturers from Oldsmobile to Chevrolet for its Dallara IR-02 car. At Phoenix for the season's second race, he won from pole position after passing his teammate de Ferran on the 183rd lap. Castroneves' season highlight was the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, which he won in controversial circumstances. With one-and-a-half laps remaining, CART driver Paul Tracy
Paul Anthony Tracy (born December 17, 1968) is a Canadian-American former professional auto racing driver who competed in CART, the Champ Car World Series and the IndyCar Series. He is known by the nicknames "PT" and "the Thrill from West Hill". ...
overtook Castroneves for the lead, just as the yellow caution flag light came on for a two-car accident between Buddy Lazier
Robert Buddy Lazier (born October 31, 1967) is an American auto racing driver, best known for winning the 1996 Indianapolis 500 and the 2000 Indy Racing League season championship.
Lazier began his career in the 1980s by competing in such s ...
and Laurent Redon
Laurent Redon (born 5 August 1973) is a former race car driver from Loire, France.
Redon began his professional racing career in the French Formula Three Championship, winning it in 1995. He then moved to International Formula 3000 where he finish ...
. IRL officials' rejected an appeal from Tracy's squad Team Green, upholding Castroneves' second successive Indianapolis 500 victory. He finished no lower than ninth in the next nine races, battling his teammate De Ferran and Panther Racing
Panther Racing was an American open wheel auto racing team. It was one of the oldest continually operating teams in the IndyCar Series.
Four years in a row (2008–2011), the team finished second at the Indianapolis 500.
Formation
The team was ...
's Sam Hornish Jr.
Samuel Jon Hornish Jr. (born July 2, 1979) is an American semi-retired professional auto racing driver. He last competed part-time in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, driving the No. 22 Ford Mustang for Team Penske in 2017.
He began his top-tier raci ...
for the championship. Before the final round at Texas Motor Speedway
Texas Motor Speedway is a speedway located in the northernmost portion of the U.S. city of Fort Worth, Texas – the portion located in Denton County, Texas. The reconfigured track measures with banked 20° in turns 1 and 2 and banked 24° ...
Castroneves was 12 points behind Hornish and needed to win the race and for Hornish to finish third or lower to claim the championship. He finished second, 0.010 seconds behind Hornish, ending the season runner-up with 511 points.
Before the 2003 season, Penske allowed Castroneves to test for the Toyota Formula One team at Circuit Paul Ricard
The Circuit Paul Ricard () is a French motorsport race track built in 1969 at Le Castellet, Var, near Marseille, with finance from pastis magnate Paul Ricard. Ricard wanted to experience the challenge of building a racetrack. The circuit has h ...
in France before possible contract renewal. He impressed Toyota with his performance but was told CART champion Cristiano da Matta
Cristiano Monteiro da Matta (born 19 September 1973) is a Brazilian former professional racing driver. He won the CART Championship in 2002, and drove in Formula One with the Toyota team from 2003 to 2004.
Career biography
Origins and early car ...
signed as a race driver for 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
. Castroneves told Penske he would stay with the team, citing his fair and loyal treatment towards him. The beginning of the season saw Castroneves earn two top threes in Homestead-Miami, Phoenix, and the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Castroneves took two straight second places at Richmond International Raceway
Richmond Raceway (RR) is a , ''D''-shaped, asphalt race track located just outside Richmond, Virginia in unincorporated Henrico County. It hosts the NASCAR Cup Series, NASCAR Xfinity Series and the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Known as ...
and Kansas Speedway
Kansas Speedway is a tri-oval race track in the Village West area near Kansas City, Kansas, United States. It was built in 2001 and it currently hosts two annual NASCAR race weekends. The IndyCar Series also held races at the venue until 2011 ...
and won at Gateway International Raceway and Nazareth Speedway
Nazareth Speedway was an auto racing facility near Nazareth in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania which operated from 1910 to 2004 in two distinct course configurations. In its early years, it was a dirt twin oval layout. In 1987 it was reo ...
to take the points to lead. A gearbox
Propulsion transmission is the mode of transmitting and controlling propulsion power of a machine. The term ''transmission'' properly refers to the whole drivetrain, including clutch, gearbox, prop shaft (for rear-wheel drive vehicles), differe ...
failure at Chicagoland Speedway
Chicagoland Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Joliet, Illinois, southwest of Chicago. The speedway opened in 2001 and actively hosted NASCAR racing including the NASCAR Cup Series until 2019. Until 2010, the speedway has also hosted the IndyC ...
leaving him 20th and a sixth in California meant he entered the season-ending Chevy 500 at Texas as one of five championship contenders and equal on points with CGR's Scott Dixon
Scott Ronald Dixon (born 22 July 1980) is a professional racing driver from New Zealand, who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series for Chip Ganassi Racing. Dixon has won the IndyCar championship six times: in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 202 ...
. A minor collision with Tony Kanaan took Castroneves out of title contention. He was third in points with 484 scored.
For the 2004 season, Hornish joined Castroneves at Penske after De Ferran retired from IndyCar; at first, the two did not speak to each other often because of their differing personalities. He led most of the season-opening Toyota Indy 300
The Grand Prix of Miami refers to an intermittent series of American Championship car racing, American open wheel races held in Miami metropolitan area, South Florida dating back to 1926. AAA Contest Board, AAA held one board track racing, board t ...
before Hornish passed him on the final lap to win. Castroneves qualified eighth for his fourth Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. A lack of horsepower against the Honda-powered cars caused him to finish the rain-shortened race ninth. Two races later, Castroneves' first pole position of the season came in the SunTrust Indy Challenge
The Indy Richmond 300 (formally known as the ''SunTrust Indy Challenge'') is an IndyCar Series race held at Richmond Raceway near Richmond, Virginia from 2001 to 2009,. From 2001–2007, the race was scheduled for 250 laps (187.5 miles); from 200 ...
at Richmond, where he finished third. He took eight more top tens, four pole positions, and overtook Andretti Green Racing's Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...
to lead the final 21 laps of the season-ending race at Texas for his only win of 2004. Castroneves' finished fourth in the drivers' championship with 440 points.
2005–2008
Penske's performance in 2004 saw Castroneves being viewed as an outsider for the 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
title. He began the season with a fifth place in the Toyota Indy 300
The Grand Prix of Miami refers to an intermittent series of American Championship car racing, American open wheel races held in Miami metropolitan area, South Florida dating back to 1926. AAA Contest Board, AAA held one board track racing, board t ...
and a second at the following XM Satellite Radio 200. Starting the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
from fifth position, Castroneves finished the race four places lower in ninth. At Richmond for the SunTrust Indy Challenge
The Indy Richmond 300 (formally known as the ''SunTrust Indy Challenge'') is an IndyCar Series race held at Richmond Raceway near Richmond, Virginia from 2001 to 2009,. From 2001–2007, the race was scheduled for 250 laps (187.5 miles); from 200 ...
two races later, he qualified second and led a race-high 112 laps to win. The relationship between Castroneves and his teammate Hornish cooled after failed overtakes causing both drivers to collide. He qualified on the pole position at Pikes Peak International Raceway
Pikes Peak International Raceway (PPIR) is a racetrack in the Colorado Springs area within the city limits of Fountain, Colorado, that by October 12, 1997, was "the fastest 1-mile paved oval anywhere". The speedway hosted races in several serie ...
and Watkins Glen International
Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...
and took six top-tens in the final ten races, finishing with 440 points for sixth in the drivers' championship.
Before the 2006
File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...
season, Penske changed engine manufacturers from the under-powered Toyota to the more powerful Honda in its Dallara IR-05 car after Toyota withdrew from IndyCar. Castroneves started fifth and led 40 laps for his first series road course
Road racing is a form of motorsport racing held on a paved road surface. The races can be held either on a closed circuit or on a street circuit utilizing temporarily closed public roads. Originally, road races were held almost entirely on publ ...
win in the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He took a second successive victory at Motegi, leading 184 laps from pole position to lead Wheldon by 42 championship points entering the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. After qualifying second, handling difficulties caused him to strike the turn four concrete barrier, leaving him 25th after 109 laps. Castroneves won the Bombardier LearJet 500 after strategic errors by his teammate Hornish and CGR before tire problems at Kansas and a sixth place at Kansas lost him the points lead to Hornish. A victory at Michigan International Speedway
Michigan International Speedway (MIS) is a moderate-banked D-shaped speedway located off U.S. Highway 12 on more than approximately south of the village of Brooklyn, in the scenic Irish Hills area of southeastern Michigan. The track is ...
gave Castroneves a one-point lead over Hornish going into the final race in Chicago. A fourth-place put him third in points with 473.
For the 2007 season, Castroneves believed the competition would be stronger than in 2006. The relationship between him and Hornish became cordial and the two shared information.[ He began the year with four top nines,] leading 95 laps from pole position to win the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. He took his third career Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
pole position, finishing the rain-shortened race third after pre-race electrical and fueling problems. At the ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225
The ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 at Milwaukee IndyFest Presented by the Metro Milwaukee Honda Dealers was an IndyCar Series race held at the Milwaukee Mile in West Allis, Wisconsin.
History
Open wheel racing at the track dates back to 1937. AAA ...
at Milwaukee a week later, he took his third pole position of 2007, but a rear wing mounting failure on lap 201 caused him to crash while leading. Castroneves took six top-nines, and three more pole positions in the final ten races for sixth overall in points with 446.
Castroneves began the 2008 season by finishing no lower than fourth in the first four rounds with consecutive second places at St. Petersburg and Motegi to take the early points lead.[ He qualified fourth for the ]Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
; Castroneves lost the points lead to Dixon when front wing damage relegated him to fourth. He finished second in both Texas and Richmond with consecutive pole positions at Nashville and Mid-Ohio, both of which did not result in a race victory. Castroneves won the Peak Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix at Infineon Raceway
Sonoma Raceway (originally known as Sears Point Raceway from 1967 to 1980 and 1982 to 2002, Golden State International Raceway in 1981 and Infineon Raceway from 2002 to 2012) is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern ...
leading a race-high 51 laps from pole position to end a 29-race winless streak. After finishing second in Detroit for illegally blocking Justin Wilson, he entered the season-ending Peak Antifreeze Indy 300
The Peak Antifreeze and Motor Oil Indy 300 was an IndyCar Series race held at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois, United States.
In 2001, American open wheel racing debuted at the circuit with an IndyCar Series event. From 2006 to 2008, the ...
30 points behind championship leader Dixon. Castroneves needed to win the race and for Dixon to finish 11th or lower to become the champion. He began in 28th due to a track limit penalty, beating Dixon by 0.0033 seconds in the second-closest finish in series history, ending the season second in points with 629.
Tax evasion trial
In late 2008, an Internal Revenue Service
The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting U.S. federal taxes and administering the Internal Revenue Code, the main body of the federal statutory ta ...
(IRS) jury charged Castroneves with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion for failing to report $5.5 million of income from 1999 to 2004. The issue came about when Miller signed Castroneves' first contract with Penske following Moore's death due to pressure from sponsors to take Moore's seat. Miller negotiated the contract with Penske and removed all mentions of Moore with Castroneves' name.[ Castroneves, who had been investigated by the IRS since 2004 when it issued 150 ]subpoena
A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...
s to businesses and individuals who did business with him, pleaded not guilty to the charges on October 3, and was ordered released on a $10 million bail. The IRS said he owed them $2.3 million in taxes.
During the trial, in which faced a maximum jail sentence of six-and-a-half years with subsequent deportation because he was a non-American citizen, and the loss of his contracts with companies he endorsed and Team Penske, his indictment centered around whether he used Seven Productions, a Panamanian shell corporation
A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...
set up by his father to obscure taxable income and improve his son's image in Brazil. Prosecutors called that a lie, showing jurors documents claiming Castroneves owned Seven Productions. An IRS agent testified Castroneves owed every amount of taxable income despite the driver not receiving any of it. The defense argued Castroneves focused on racing rather than his income; he was unaware of his finances and disliked Dutch and Panamanian business dealings. They said he was uninterested and could not understand his finances and signed papers without knowing their meaning.[
The trial ended with closing arguments on 10 April 2009. The jury deliberated until 17 April, when it acquitted Castroneves of the six counts of tax evasion but hung on the conspiracy charge. On 22 May, prosecutors dropped the remaining conspiracy charge.][
]
2009–2013
Castroneves signed a multi-year contract with Penske from the 2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
season; Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
replaced him for the season-opening St. Petersburg race before Castroneves returned for the Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
.[ Castroneves' season highlight was the ]Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, where he qualified fastest, and led twice for a total of 66 laps for his third victory there. In the Bombardier Learjet 550
The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...
at Texas two races later, Castroneves achieved his second victory of 2009. He took six more top-tens, including a second place in the Edmonton Indy
The Edmonton Indy was a round of the IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was formerly called the ''Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton'' and was a ...
, and pole position in the Iowa Corn Indy 250 at Iowa Speedway
Iowa Speedway is a 7/8-mile (1.4 km) paved oval motor racing track in Newton, Iowa, United States, approximately east of Des Moines. It has over 25,000 permanent seats as well as a unique multi-tiered RV viewing area along the backstretch ...
. Castroneves was eliminated from championship contention at Chicago, and finished fourth overall with 433 points.
For the 2010
File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...
season, he felt Penske had reached the potential of its ageing Dallara-Honda car, and feared other teams would exploit this to close the performance gap. Castroneves won the inaugural Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April ...
to extend his record of winning a race to ten straight seasons. After qualifying on pole position for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, a stall in a pit stop relegated him to ninth. Five races later, at the Honda Indy Edmonton, Castroneves was the first to finish, but was demoted to tenth after he was deemed to have blocked his teammate Power. He won two consecutive races, at Kentucky Speedway
Kentucky Speedway is a tri-oval speedway in Sparta, Kentucky, which has hosted ARCA, NASCAR and Indy Racing League racing annually since it opened in 2000. The track is currently owned and operated by Speedway Motorsports, Inc. Before 2008 J ...
and Motegi, before ending the season with a fifth at Homestead-Miami. With 531 points, Castroneves was fourth in the drivers' standings.
The beginning of the 2011
File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...
season saw him struggle in comparison with his previous years at Penske. Castroneves finished poorly as a result of three collisions in the first four races in St. Petersburg, Long Beach and São Paulo; his best result in that period was a seventh at Birmingham, putting him 17th overall by the time of the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
in May. Castroneves qualified 16th for the race; a flat tire and vibration left him one lap down in 17th. The rest of Castroneves' season included two-second places at Edmonton and Sonoma, and three top-nines. He was 11th overall with 312 points, his lowest finish since he was sixth in both 2005 and 2007. The 2011 season was the first since 1999 in which Castroneves did not achieve a race win.
He signed a contract extension with Penske prior to the 2012
File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...
season. At the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Castroneves passed J. R. Hildebrand with 26 laps to go to win. He took pole position for the following Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April ...
and finished third. In the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, Castroneves qualified sixth, but finished tenth due to his car lacking downforce. He then took three sixth places at Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto. and won the Edmonton Indy
The Edmonton Indy was a round of the IndyCar Series held at a temporary circuit set up at the Edmonton City Centre Airport near the downtown area of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It was formerly called the ''Rexall Grand Prix of Edmonton'' and was a ...
to draw within 23 points of championship leader Ryan Hunter-Reay
Ryan Christopher Hunter-Reay (born December 17, 1980) is a professional American racing driver best known as a winner of both the Indianapolis 500 (2014) and the IndyCar Series championship in 2012. In each accomplishment, Hunter-Reay became th ...
. Castroneves ended the season with three more top-tens for fourth overall with 431 points.
Castroneves resigned with Penske for the 2013
File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...
season; the team modified his car in the off-season. Two podiums in the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the following Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama
The Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama is an IndyCar Series race held at Barber Motorsports Park, a 17-turn road course, in Birmingham, Alabama, United States. Officially announced on July 27, 2009, the inaugural event was on the weekend of April ...
gave him the points lead. Castroneves fell to third after finishing 13th in the São Paulo Indy 300
The Itaipava São Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestlé was an event in the IRL IndyCar Series, contested in the 2010 through 2013 IndyCar Series seasons.
The event was originally announced on November 25, 2009, as the first championship event f ...
, He qualified eighth for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
; rev limiter issues left him in sixth. In the Firestone 550
The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...
at Texas, Castroneves led the final 132 laps to win, breaking a tie with Marco Andretti
Marco Michael Andretti (born March 13, 1987) is an American auto racing driver who drives the No. 98 car for Bryan Herta Autosport, Andretti Herta Autosport part-time in the IndyCar Series. He is the third generation of the famous Andretti racin ...
for the points lead. Castroneves took two more second places at Milwaukee and the second Toronto race and finished no lower than ninth in the next eight races. An opportunity for him to win the championship before the season was over came to nothing when gearbox problems in the Grand Prix of Houston
The Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston Presented by the Greater Houston Honda Dealers was an annual auto racing, auto race on the IndyCar Series circuit. It was held in a street circuit located in downtown Houston for four years, then return ...
double leader dropped 25 points behind Dixon. To win the championship in the season-ending MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships, Castroneves needed to finish nine positions higher than Dixon. A sixth place for Castroneves and a fifth for Dixon gave Castroneves second overall with 550 points.
2014–2017
He remained with Penske for the 2014 season.[ Castrovenes finished third at the season-opening Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the ]Grand Prix of Indianapolis
The IndyCar Series hosts two races a year on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The first, the GMR Grand Prix is held in early May with an inaugural running in 2014. The second race, the Gallagher G ...
three races later. He qualified fourth for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, and finished second, 0.0600 seconds behind Hunter-Reay in the second-closest finish in event history after a late race duel for the victory. He took pole position for the first Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix
The Detroit Grand Prix (currently branded as the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix presented by Lear Corporation for sponsorship reasons) is an IndyCar Series race weekend held on a temporary circuit in Detroit, Michigan. The race has been held from ...
race and won the second. After three straight sub-par results, Castroneves finished second in the Pocono IndyCar 500
The ABC Supply 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, located in the Pocono Mountains. The first Indy car race at Pocono was held in 1971. It was the first major event held at the track, shortly after its ...
at Pocono Raceway
Pocono Raceway (formerly Pocono International Raceway), also known as ''The Tricky Triangle'', is a superspeedway located in the Pocono Mountains in Long Pond, Pennsylvania. It is the site of three NASCAR national series races and an ARCA M ...
to tie his teammate Will Power for the points lead, which took after finishing eighth in the Iowa Corn Indy 300
The Hy-VeeDeals.com 250 presented by DoorDash and Hy-Vee Salute to Farmers 300 presented by Google are IndyCar Series races held at the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa. The first event was held in 2007. From 2007 to 2013, it was a 250-lap (218.75 mil ...
. He relinquished the points lead after a throttle problem left him 19th in the Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Entering the final race, the MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships, Castroneves was 51 points behind Power.[ After winning the one point for the pole position, he had to claim victory and for Power to finish seventh or lower to become the champion. Castroneves placed 14th for second overall with 609 points.]
For the 2015
File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...
season, his Penske car was fitted with Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
's updated aerodynamic package. Castroneves achieved consecutive second places in the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana and the Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
and two pole positions. During practice for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, he lost control of his car in the first turn, and struck the barrier, flipping his car over 180 degrees and landing upside down. He started fifth and ran consistently within the top five but finished seventh. The rest of the season saw Castroneves achieve consecutive third places in the Firestone 600
The race last ran as XPEL 375 is an NTT IndyCar Series event held at Texas Motor Speedway near Fort Worth, Texas since 1997. The races have had a variety of different entitlement sponsors and distances over the years and therefore has had many di ...
and the Honda Indy Toronto
The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 t ...
and was second in the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 along with two more pole positions for fourth overall with 453 points.
Castroneves stayed with Penske for the 2016
File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...
season. At the Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
, he led a race-high 47 laps from pole position but a strategy error left him third. Castroneves took another podium finish two races later, a second place at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis
The IndyCar Series hosts two races a year on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The first, the GMR Grand Prix is held in early May with an inaugural running in 2014. The second race, the Gallagher G ...
. After qualifying ninth for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, he led 24 laps, finishing 11th after a lap-160 collision with Hildebrand dislodged Castroneves' left-rear bumper pod. Castroneves achieved two more podium finishes, a second in the Honda Indy Toronto
The Grand Prix of Toronto (known for sponsorship reasons as the Honda Indy Toronto) is an annual Indy Car race, held in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Originally known as the Molson Indy Toronto, it was part of the Champ Car World Series from 1986 t ...
, and a third in the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen. In the ABC Supply 500
The ABC Supply 500 was an IndyCar Series race held at Pocono Raceway in Long Pond, Pennsylvania, located in the Pocono Mountains. The first Indy car race at Pocono was held in 1971. It was the first major event held at the track, shortly after ...
at Pocono, the top of his vehicle was mounted by Alexander Rossi
Alexander Michael Rossi (born September 25, 1991) is an American professional racing driver and podcast host. He currently competes full-time in the IndyCar Series, driving the No. 7 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP. Rossi is best known for winning ...
's airborne car after Rossi and Charlie Kimball
Charles Newton Kimball (born February 20, 1985) is an American race car driver currently competing in the IndyCar Series with A. J. Foyt Enterprises He has scored a win, six podiums, and 13 top 5s. His best season result was ninth in 2013 and 201 ...
collided in the pit lane. Castroneves was uninjured from the impact. With 504 points, Castroneves was fourth in the drivers' championship.
He remained at Penske for the 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
season. Castrovenes began with his third successive pole position at the Grand Prix of Long Beach
The Grand Prix of Long Beach (known as Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach since 2019 for naming rights reasons) is an IndyCar Series race held on a street circuit in downtown Long Beach, California. Christopher Pook is the founder of the event. It wa ...
; electrical problems left him ninth. He led the first 73 laps of the Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix
The Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix was an IndyCar Series race held at the Phoenix Raceway in Avondale, Arizona, United States. USAC moved the fall race and added a spring race to the newly built Phoenix International Raceway in 196 ...
for fourth after winning pole. Castroneves began from a career-low 19th in the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, moving through the field to finish second after a late race duel for the win with Takuma Sato
, nicknamed "Taku", is a Japanese professional racing driver. Sato is a two time winner of the Indianapolis 500, having won the event in 2017 and 2020. He was the first Asian driver to win the Indianapolis 500, and the twentieth driver to win th ...
. He earned his 50th pole position in the Kohler Grand Prix
The Grand Prix of Road America, also known as the Sonsio Grand Prix at Road America for sponsorship reasons, is an IndyCar Series race held at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. For twenty-five years, the event was part of the CART series ...
at Road America
Road America is a motorsport road course located near Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin, United States on Wisconsin Highway 67. It has hosted races since the 1950s and currently hosts races in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, WeatherTech SportsCar Champ ...
, and went on to lead 214 laps in his first victory in 54 races in the Iowa Corn 300. Castroneves finished no lower than eighth in the next five races, and entered the season's final race, the Grand Prix of Sonoma
The Grand Prix of Sonoma was a sports car race held at Sonoma Raceway (formerly Sears Point Raceway and Infineon Raceway) in Sonoma, California. It began in 1976 as an IMSA GT Championship race, before joining the American Le Mans Series
Th ...
22 points behind championship leader and teammate Josef Newgarden
Josef Nicolai Newgarden (born December 22, 1990) is an American race car driver who competes in the IndyCar Series full-time for Team Penske. He is the 2017 and 2019 IndyCar Series Champion and 2011 Indy Lights champion.
Career
Karting
Newga ...
and 19 behind Dixon. A victory and Newgarden finishing third or lower and Dixon second or worse would give Castroneves the title. He finished in fifth place to be fourth overall with 598 points.
2018–present
Post-season, he stepped down from IndyCar full-time to move to Penske's IMSA SportsCar Championship
The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...
program. Castroneves was entered into both the IndyCar Grand Prix
The IndyCar Series hosts two races a year on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The first, the GMR Grand Prix is held in early May with an inaugural running in 2014. The second race, the Gallagher G ...
and the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
as part of his 2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
campaign; he prepared for the races by sharing notes with his teammates and familiarizing himself with the car. Castroneves' team employed a strategy allowing him to finish sixth in the IndyCar Grand Prix.[ At the Indianapolis 500, he started from eighth place, before losing control of his car in turn four and crashing on the 146th lap for a 27th-place finish. In the ]2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
season, he again entered both the IndyCar Grand Prix
The IndyCar Series hosts two races a year on the combined road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana. The first, the GMR Grand Prix is held in early May with an inaugural running in 2014. The second race, the Gallagher G ...
and the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
. Castroneves finished the IndyCar Grand Prix two laps behind the leaders in 21st. He started 12th in the Indianapolis 500, finishing the race 18th following a pit lane collision with the rear of James Davison
James D. Davison (born 28 August 1986) is an Australian professional racing driver who drives an Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the Blancpain GT World Challenge America. He has also competed in the NTT IndyCar Series, NASCAR Cup Series, and NASCA ...
's car earning him a drive-through penalty. He began the 2020 Indianapolis 500
The 2020 Indianapolis 500 (branded as the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge for sponsorship reasons) was a 500-mile (800 km, 200 lap) automobile race held on Sunday, August 23, 2020, at the Indianapolis Motor ...
from 27th and finished the race in 11th.
Castroneves signed to race for Arrow McLaren SP
The IndyCar Series operation of McLaren Racing competes under the banner of Arrow McLaren SP. This entry is based in Indianapolis and was founded by former driver Sam Schmidt as Sam Schmidt Motorsports. Fellow ex-driver Davey Hamilton joined ...
in place of the unfit Oliver Askew
Oliver Clark Askew (born December 12, 1996) is an American-Swedish race car driver who races under the American flag. He previously competed in the Formula E World Championship for Avalanche Andretti Formula E. He is the 2019 Indy Lights champ ...
at the Harvest Grand Prix in his first IndyCar start for a team other than Penske since 1999. He finished 20th in the first race and 21st in the second. Following an approach by team owner Michael Shank
Michael Shank (born September 22, 1966) is an American race car team owner and former race car driver born in Columbus, Ohio. Before leaving driving to concentrate on car ownership, he ran one race in the 1996–97 Indy Racing League season, the ...
in late 2020,[ Castroneves signed for the small ]Meyer Shank Racing
Meyer Shank Racing (formerly Michael Shank Racing) is an American auto racing organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and IMSA SportsCar Championship.
History Atlantic Championship
Michael Shank as an owner of Michael Shank Racing, ...
(MSR) team to compete at six races in the 2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
season, feeling the growing team would give him the opportunity to win a fourth Indianapolis 500.[ He had asked MSR to enter him in more races but the request was denied.] At the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
, Castroneves achieved his record-tying fourth career victory in the event after a late-race pass on Álex Palou
Álex Palou Montalbo (; born 1 April 1997) is a Spanish racing driver who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar Series, where he won the 2021 series championship. He is the first Spanish racing driver to win a National Championship in ...
. He went on to score one more top ten finish at Nashville
Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...
in his final five races of 2021 to finish 22nd overall with 158 points.
In July 2021 he signed a contract extension with MSR to drive for the whole of the 2022 season - his first full-time season for five years.[ Castroneves achieved a season-best result of seventh at the ]Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500, formally known as the Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, and commonly called the Indy 500, is an annual automobile race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS) in Speedway, Indiana, United States, an enclave suburb of Indi ...
and scored two other top-ten finishes at Long Beach
Long Beach is a city in Los Angeles County, California. It is the 42nd-most populous city in the United States, with a population of 466,742 as of 2020. A charter city, Long Beach is the seventh-most populous city in California.
Incorporate ...
and Mid-Ohio
Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course is a road course auto racing facility located in Troy Township, Morrow County, Ohio, United States, just outside the village of Lexington. Mid-Ohio has also colloquially become a term for the entire north-central regi ...
in placing 18th overall with 263 points accumulated. In August 2022, he signed a one-year contract extension to remain at MSR for the 2023 championship.
Sports car career
Castroneves made his endurance racing debut in the 2006 Mil Milhas Brasil
The Mil Milhas Brasil (also known as the Mil Milhas Brasileiras or 1000 Miles of Brazil in Portuguese) is a sports car endurance race held annually in Brazil since 1956.
The Mil Milhas has been held nearly every year since its inception and is ...
, winning after 374 laps in a shared GTP1-class Aston Martin DBR9
The Aston Martin DBR9 is a racing car built by Aston Martin Racing, debuting in 2005 and racing actively in international sportscar racing until the end of GT1 category in 2011. The name DBR9 is derived from the original 24 Hours of Le Mans-winn ...
with Nelson Piquet
Nelson Piquet Souto Maior (, born 17 August 1952) is a Brazilian retired racing driver and businessman. Since his retirement, Piquet, a three-time World Champion, has been ranked among the greatest Formula One (F1) drivers in various motorspo ...
, Nelson Piquet Jr.
Nelson Angelo Tamsma Piquet Souto Maior (born July 25, 1985), also known as Nelson Piquet Junior or Nelsinho Piquet, is a Brazilian stock car racing driver and former Formula One and Formula E driver where he was champion in the 2014–15 seaso ...
, and Christophe Bouchut
Christophe Bouchut (born 24 September 1966 in Voiron, Isère) is a French professional racing driver. He currently competes in the NASCAR Whelen Euro Series, driving for Dexwet-df1 Racing and Alex Caffi Motorsport in a part-time effort. He won th ...
. He entered at the 2007 24 Hours of Daytona (part of the Rolex Sports Car Series
The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...
), sharing Michael Shank Racing's No. 60 Riley Daytona Prototype
A Daytona Prototype is a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specifically ...
(DP) car with Hornish, Oswaldo Negri Jr. and Mark Patterson and finishing ninth. Two months later, Castroneves drove the No. 7 Penske Porsche RS Spyder Evo car with Timo Bernhard
Timo Bernhard (born 24 February 1981) is a former driver from Germany. He was a sports car driver from Porsche, but was seconded to Audi for selected events in 2009 and 2010. He is a winner of the Triple Crown in endurance racing. On 29 June 20 ...
and Romain Dumas
Romain Dumas (born 14 December 1977) is a French racing driver and a Porsche factory driver. He first started out in karting and single-seater before becoming an expert driver in endurance racing, GT and sport-prototype. He has won the greatest r ...
in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) category of the 12 Hours of Sebring (part of the American Le Mans Series
The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) was a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consisted of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The American Le Mans' hea ...
), finishing third in class and fifth overall. He returned to the Rolex Sports Car Series to share the No. 9 Penske-Taylor Racing Riley DP car with Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe (born 24 September 1981) is an Australian-American professional racing driver from Sydney who has predominantly raced open-wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.
In IndyCar he collected 8 wins and 28 podiums, finishing third ...
and Kurt Busch
Kurt Thomas Busch (born August 4, 1978) is an American professional auto racing driver. He last competed full-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 45 Toyota Camry TRD for 23XI Racing. He is the 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion and the ...
in the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona. finishing 13th after starting third. For the 2008 Petit Le Mans and the following 2008 Monterey Sports Car Championships Castroneves shared Penske's No. 5 Porsche RS Spyder Evo car with Briscoe, winning the LMP2 category at Petit Le Mans.
In 2016, Roger Penske asked Castroneves if he wanted a full time sports car career. Although Castroneves wanted to remain in IndyCar, he solicited advice from Indianapolis 500 winner Rick Mears
Rick Ravon Mears (born December 3, 1951) is a retired American race car driver. He is one of four men to win the Indianapolis 500 four times (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991) and is the current record-holder for pole positions in the race with six (1 ...
because he had doubts about staying at Penske. Mears told Castroneves to remain at Penske because of Roger Penske's personality. Talks with several teams came close to employment but Castroneves decided to remain with Penske out of loyalty. To prepare for the 2018 WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Acura ARX-05
The Acura ARX-05 is a sports prototype racing car built to Daytona Prototype International regulations. It was developed in partnership by Honda Performance Development and Oreca, and is based on the Oreca 07 chassis and powered by the Acura AR35 ...
car in the Daytona Prototype International
A Daytona Prototype International (DPi) was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the International Motor Sports Association's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, as their top class of car, acting as a direct replaceme ...
(DPi) category, he drove the final race of the 2017
File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...
season, the Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...
. Teamed with Montoya and Simon Pagenaud
Simon Pagenaud (born 18 May 1984) is a French professional racing driver. He is contracted to drive the No. 60 Honda for Meyer Shank Racing in the IndyCar Series. After a successful career in sports car racing that saw him taking the top class ...
, he qualified the No. 6 Oreca 07
The Oreca 07 is a Le Mans Prototype built by French manufacturer Oreca to meet the 2017 FIA and ACO LMP2 regulations. It made its official race debut in the opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the 24 Hours of Dayto ...
-Gibson
Gibson may refer to:
People
* Gibson (surname)
Businesses
* Gibson Brands, Inc., an American manufacturer of guitars, other musical instruments, and audio equipment
* Gibson Technology, and English automotive and motorsport company based
* Gi ...
LMP2 car on pole position, finishing the race third after a collision with Matteo Cressoni
Matteo Cressoni (born October 28, 1984 in Mantua) is an Italian racing driver. He has competed in such series as the FIA GT Championship, Euroseries 3000, Superstars Series, International GT Open and Formula Renault V6 Eurocup
Formula Renault V ...
's Ferrari.
He formally joined Penske's 2018 IMSA program in October 2017. Castroneves was joined by Ricky Taylor
Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...
for the entire season, and by Graham Rahal
Graham Robert Rahal (born January 4, 1989) is an American race car driver and small business owner. He currently participates in the IndyCar Series with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, a team partially owned by his father Bobby Rahal, the winn ...
for the 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
, the 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...
. He referenced his teammates Dane Cameron
Dane Cameron (born October 18, 1988) is an American racing driver from Glen Ellen, California. He won the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship overall in 2016 and 2019, and also in the GTD class in 2014.
Racing career
After karting, Cameron ...
and Montoya, and communicated constantly with his race engineer and Taylor. Their car started second for the Daytona race, and finished ninth, after Castroneves and Action Express Racing
Action Express Racing (AXR) is a sports car racing team that currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The team is owned by NASCAR CEO Jim France and run by Bob Johnson and former NASCAR champion crew chief Gary Nelson. ...
's Felipe Nasr
Luiz Felipe de Oliveira Nasr (born 21 August 1992) is a Brazilian racing driver. He is the 2018 IMSA Sportscar champion and won the 2019 12 Hours of Sebring.
After a year as the official test driver for Williams in 2014, he joined Sauber a ...
collided in the 16th hour. After starting third at Sebring, he retired after six hours with a loss of oil pressure. In the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio he and Taylor led 87 laps from pole for his first series victory. The final six races saw him achieve four top tens and finish second in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit. Castroneves was seventh in the Prototype drivers' standings with 243 points and was third in the North American Endurance Cup.
For the 2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
season, he remained at Penske in the new DPi class. He again partnered Taylor in the No. 7 car, joined by Rossi at the 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
and 12 Hours of Sebring and Rahal in the season-ending Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...
. Castroneves and his co-drivers finished the rain-shortened Daytona season-opener third from starting second. A fourth place at Sebring and a second in the following BUBBA Burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach moved him and Taylor to a season-high second in the DPi standings. The rest of the season saw Castroneves and Taylor achieve two third places in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic and the Petit Le Mans and a second place in the Monterey Grand Prix
The Firestone Grand Prix of Monterey is an IndyCar Series race held at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca near Monterey, California. The event dates back to 1960, and became an American open wheel race in 1983. The race was part of the CART/Champ ...
at Laguna Seca. With 284 points, he finished third in the DPi standings and was joint fifth with Oliver Jarvis
Oliver Jarvis (born 9 January 1984) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest.
Jarvis won the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona with Meyer Shank Racing.
Early life
Bor ...
and Tristan Nunez
Tristan Nunez (born October 31, 1995 in Boynton Beach, Florida) is an American racing driver from in Boca Raton, Florida. He is the son of Juan Núñez (tennis), Juan Nunez, a former professional tennis player and coach. Nunez has a fraternal twi ...
of Mazda Team Joest in the North American Endurance Cup.[
Castroneves remained at Penske's IMSA program in ]2020
2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...
. He was again teamed with Taylor in the No. 7 vehicle, with Rossi joining them for the endurance races. Castroneves' team was comprised in the fourth hour of the season-opening 24 Hours of Daytona
The 24 Hours of Daytona, also known as the Rolex 24 At Daytona for sponsorship reasons, is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is run on the Sports Car Course layou ...
following a collision with Harry Tincknell
Harry Tincknell (born 29 October 1991 in Exeter, Devon) is a British professional racing driver currently racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Mazda Team Joest. He won the LMP2 class on his Le Mans 24 Hour race debut i ...
restricting them to finishing 22 laps down in eighth. He won consecutive races in the rain-affected Road Race Showcase at Road America from pole position, the Grand Prix of Road Atlanta, and the Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Castroneves and Taylor won the championship at the season-ending 12 Hours of Sebring, his first in auto racing, by one point over Briscoe and Renger van der Zande
Renger van der Zande (born 16 February 1986) is a Dutch racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Chip Ganassi Racing. He is the son of the 1978 National Dutch Rallycross Champion Ronald van der Zand ...
.
In the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship
The 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 51st racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship. This was also the eighth United SportsCar Championsh ...
, he won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona as an endurance driver, sharing the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing
Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque and ...
Acura ARX-05 car with Filipe Albuquerque
Filipe Miguel Delgadinho Albuquerque (born 13 June 1985) is a Portuguese professional racing driver, currently driving a Acura ARX-05 in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Wayne Taylor Racing, and an Oreca 07 in the FIA World Endurance Cham ...
, Rossi and Taylor. Castroneves replaced Olivier Pla
Olivier Pla (born 22 October 1981) is a French racing driver currently competing in the FIA World Endurance Championship for Glickenhaus Racing. His younger brother Jim is also a racing driver
Career
French Formula Campus and Formula Three
Bor ...
in the No. 60 MSR Acura ARX-05 DPi car he shared with Montoya and Cameron at the season-ending Petit Le Mans
The Petit Le Mans (French for ''little Le Mans'') is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA. It uses the rules established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO), which ...
. He has been signed by MSR to share its No. 60 Acura ARX-05 entry for the Endurance Cup races of the 2022 IMSA season alongside full-season racers Tom Blomqvist
Tom Leonard Blomqvist (born 30 November 1993) is a New Zealand-based, Britain-born Swedish professional racing driver, and BMW Motorsport works driver, currently racing in the 2022 IMSA SportsCar Championship with Meyer Shank Racing. Blomqvist ...
and Jarvis. Castroneves fended off Taylor in the final laps of the 2022 24 Hours of Daytona to win the event for the second year in succession. Although he was set to enter both the 12 Hours of Sebring and the IndyCar round at Texas that were held on the same weekend, he later withdrew from the Sebring race due to logistical complications and he was replaced by Stoffel Vandoorne
Stoffel Vandoorne (born 26 March 1992) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is currently racing for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He had previously competed in Formula One for McLaren from 2016 to 2018. He is currently a test driver of M ...
.
Other racing ventures
Castroneves was invited to compete in the International Race of Champions
International Race of Champions (IROC) was a North American auto racing competition, created by Les Richter, Roger Penske and Mike Phelps, promoted as an equivalent of an American motorsports All-Star Game. Despite its name, the IROC was primar ...
in 2002
File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...
, 2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
, 2004, and 2005
File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...
. Driving a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am
The Pontiac Firebird is an American automobile that was built and produced by Pontiac from the 1967 to 2002 model years. Designed as a pony car to compete with the Ford Mustang, it was introduced on February 23, 1967, five months after GM's Ch ...
, his best in the series was eighth with two podium finishes in 2002.[ In the 2010 V8 Supercar Championship Series, Castroneves joined ]James Rosenberg Racing
James Rosenberg Racing was a V8 Supercar racing team owned by South Australian agricultural business identity, James Rosenberg. The team was reformed in 2010 with Tim Slade as the team's driver after a toe-in-the water year working with Paul Mo ...
in its No. 47 Ford FG Falcon
The Ford Falcon (FG) is a full-sized car that was produced by Ford Australia from 2008 to 2014. It was the first iteration of the seventh and last generation of the Falcon. Its range no longer featured the Fairmont luxury badge, replaced inste ...
as Tim Slade
Tim Slade (born 3 August 1985) is an Australian racing driver who competes in the Repco Supercars Championship. Slade currently drives the No. 3 Ford Mustang GT for Blanchard Racing Team.
Early career
Slade first appeared at a national leve ...
's international co-driver for the Gold Coast 600
The Gold Coast 500 (formally known as the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part o ...
double header. He visited the team's factory for a seat fitting as preparation. Castroneves and Slade finished outside the top ten in both races. The following year, he again joined Slade at James Rosenberg at the Gold Coast 600
The Gold Coast 500 (formally known as the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part o ...
race of the 2011 International V8 Supercars Championship. The duo finished the first race 12th and 10th in the second.[
In late 2012, Castroneves joined Shell Racing in the season-ending ]Stock Car Brasil
Stock Car Pro Series, formerly known as Stock Car Brasil, is a touring car auto racing series based in Brazil organized by Vicar. It is considered the major Brazilian and South American motorsports series. Starting in 1979 with Chevrolet as the ...
race, the Stock Car Corrida do Milhão, after a sponsor invited him to enter with Roger Penske's support. He placed 14th in a Peugeot 408
The Peugeot 408 is an automobile nameplate
A nameplate identifies and displays a person or product's name. Nameplates are usually shaped as rectangles but are also seen in other shapes, sometimes taking on the shape of someone's written ...
.[ Castroneves was signed as a guest driver for Shell Racing in the seventh round of the 2013 Stock Car Brasil at Ribeirão Preto Street Circuit; doctors ordered his withdrawal due to sustaining bruised ribs, neck sprain and a deep shin cut in a practice accident.
In the 2017 off-season, he paired with Gabriel Glusman at the Latin America team in the 2017 Race of Champions Nations Cup,] being eliminated at the group stages. He returned with the same team for the 2018 Race of Champions
The 2018 Race of Champions was the 29th running of the event, and took place on 2–3 February 2018 at King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh, it was the first-ever international motorsport competition in Saudi Arabia.
Participants
Nation ...
Nations Cup, this time with Montoya, finishing runner-up to Team Germany's Bernhard and René Rast
René Rast (born 26 October 1986 in Minden) is a German professional racing driver and the 2017, 2019 and 2020 DTM champion. He previously drove for Audi Sport Abt Schaeffler in Formula E from 2019 to 2021 before Audi left the sport at the end o ...
. At the 2019 Race of Champions, Castroneves joined Formula E
Formula E, officially the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, is a single-seater motorsport championship for electric cars. The series was conceived in 2011 in Paris by FIA president Jean Todt and Spanish businessman Alejandro Agag, who is ...
champion Lucas di Grassi
Lucas Tucci di Grassi (born 11 August 1984) is a Brazilian professional racing driver who competes in the FIA Formula E World Championship for Mahindra Racing. He became the FIA Formula E Champion in 2016–2017, achieved three overall podium ...
at Team Brazil, being knocked out of the semi-finals of the Nations Cup by Team Germany's Mick Schumacher
Mick Schumacher (; born 22 March 1999) is a German racing driver who is the current reserve driver for the Mercedes-Benz in Formula One, Mercedes AMG Formula One Team.
Schumacher began his career in karting in 2008, progressing to the German ...
and Sebastian Vettel. He competed in the Superstar Racing Experience
Superstar Racing Experience (SRX), officially known as the Camping World SRX Series, is an American stock car racing series founded by Tony Stewart, Ray Evernham, Sandy Montag and George Pyne. The formation of the series was announced on July 13, ...
in 2021, finishing fifth in the points standings with six top-ten finishes.[
For the 2022 Race of Champions, Castroneves competed in the individual competition and for Team Latin America in the Nations Cup alongside rally driver ]Benito Guerra Jr.
Benito Iván Guerra Latapí (born 25 March 1985) is a Mexican rally driver competing for Citroën Racing, a privateer team in the FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) in 2013, with his co-driver Borja Rozada.
In 2012 he won the Production World R ...
He was eliminated in the first round of both events.
Media appearances
Castroneves was encouraged by Apolo Ohno, an Olympic speed skater
Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long track speed skating, short track speed skating, and marathon speed skating. ...
, to participate on dance program ''Dancing with the Stars
''Dancing with the Stars'' is the name of various international television series based on the format of the British TV series '' Strictly Come Dancing'', which is distributed by BBC Studios, the commercial arm of the BBC. Currently the forma ...
'' in 2007. He was accepted onto its fifth season by the casting director and producers, who watched a video of him and his teammate's Hornish driving styles in different locations. He was paired with professional dancer Julianne Hough
Julianne Alexandra Hough (; born July 20, 1988) is an American dancer, actress, and singer. In 2007, she joined the cast of ABC's ''Dancing with the Stars'' as a professional dancer, winning two seasons with her celebrity partners. After leavin ...
, with whom he built a rapport due to their similar personalities. He prepared by watching episodes of the fourth season and instruction videos. The couple lasted until the finals, which they won with a higher percentage of the public vote than singer Mel B
Melanie Janine Brown (born 29 May 1975), commonly known as Melanie B or Mel B, is an English singer, songwriter, and television personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Sc ...
. When he won ''Dancing with the Stars'' Castroneves appeared on ''The Oprah Winfrey Show
''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', often referred to as ''The Oprah Show'' or simply ''Oprah'', is an American daytime broadcast syndication, syndicated talk show that aired nationally for 25 seasons from September 8, 1986, to May 25, 2011, in Chicag ...
'' in February 2008. From 2007 to 2010, he was a correspondent on ''Dancing with the Stars'' for ''Entertainment Tonight
''Entertainment Tonight'' (or simply ''ET'') is an American Broadcast syndication, first-run syndicated news broadcasting news magazine, newsmagazine program that is distributed by CBS Media Ventures throughout the United States and owned by Para ...
''.
In 2010, he collaborated with writer Marissa Matteo on his autobiography, ''Victory Road: The Ride of My Life''. Castroneves was inspired to write the book to convey his negative emotions in his tax evasion trial and how he dealt with them. He was selected to be a judge on Miss Universe 2011
Miss Universe 2011 was the 60th Miss Universe pageant, held at the Credicard Hall in São Paulo, Brazil on September 12, 2011.
At the end of the event, Ximena Navarrete of Mexico crowned Leila Lopes of Angola as Miss Universe 2011. It is the f ...
, a beauty pageant held that September in São Paulo. In 2012 Castroneves appeared on ''Dancing with the Stars 15th season and was partnered with Chelsie Hightower
Chelsie Kay Hightower (born July 21, 1989) is a ballroom dancer. She is known for being a regular dance partner, trainer and choreographer on the ABC competition show ''Dancing with the Stars'', on which she was a professional from Season 8 to 1 ...
. The couple were eliminated in the competition's third week. Castroneves appeared on the December 17, 2012 edition of ''The Jeff Probst Show
''The Jeff Probst Show'' was an American syndicated talk show hosted by '' Survivor'' host Jeff Probst, who also served as an executive producer. This was his first television talk foray, which is co-produced by Big Ticket Television, and distri ...
'', and featured on an episode of ''Celebrity Wife Swap
''Wife Swap'' is an American reality television program that was first broadcast on ABC in 2004 based on the British show with the same name. In the program, two families, usually from different social classes and lifestyles, swap wives/mothers ...
'''s third season in 2014. In 2016, he was chosen to take part on ''American Ninja Warrior
American(s) may refer to:
* American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America"
** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America
** American ancestry, p ...
'', and teamed up with IndyCar drivers Conor Daly
Conor J. Daly (born December 15, 1991) is an American professional racing driver who competes in the NTT IndyCar Series, driving the No. 20 Chevrolet for Ed Carpenter Racing, and part-time in the NASCAR Cup Series, driving the No. 50 Chevrolet Ca ...
, James Hinchcliffe
James Douglas Meredith Hinchcliffe (born December 5, 1986) is a Canadian race car driver and commentator best known for competing in the IndyCar Series. Hinchcliffe won six races for Andretti Autosport and Schmidt Peterson Motorsports. In 2015, ...
, Tony Kanaan
Antoine Rizkallah "Tony" Kanaan Filho (born 31 December 1974), nicknamed TK, is a Brazilian racing driver. He currently competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 6 Toyota Corolla E210 for Full Time Bassani a ...
and Will Power
William "Will" Steven Power (born 1 March 1981) is an Australian motorsports driver who currently competes in the IndyCar Series, driving for Team Penske. He is the 2014 and 2022 IndyCar Series champion and the 2018 Indianapolis 500 champion. ...
on '' Celebrity Family Feud'' that same year.
Public image and other interests
Castroneves is one of IndyCar's most popular drivers; Dave Caldwell of ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'' noted Castroneves' personality transcends IndyCar through his achievements and media attention outside it.[ J.J. O'Malley of ''Auto Racing Digest'' wrote that Castroneves received some coverage for "his charisma and personality", adding, "The driver seems to permanently wear a smile, and he's not afraid to show his emotions."] After 2007, he became more recognized for winning ''Dancing with the Stars'' than his sporting achievements.[ A merchandise sales tallying company attributed Castroneves' popularity outside racing for increasing IndyCar attendances by 68 percent in 2008.][ Of his IndyCar Series legacy, ]NBC Sports
NBC Sports is an American programming division of the broadcast network NBC, owned and operated by NBC Sports Group division of NBCUniversal and subsidiary of Comcast. The division is responsible for sports broadcasts on the network, and its d ...
' Tony DiZinno said, "With four championship runners-up in 2002, 2008, 2013 and 2014, Castroneves is your equivalent Dan Marino
Daniel Constantine Marino Jr. (born September 15, 1961) is an American former football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 17 seasons with the Miami Dolphins. After a successful college career at Pittsburgh and be ...
, Buffalo Bills
The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...
or Mark Martin
Mark Anthony Martin (born January 9, 1959) is a retired American stock car racing driver. He has the second most wins all time in what is now the Xfinity Series with 49. He scored 40 Cup Series wins. He finished second in the NASCAR Cup Series st ...
of IndyCar. He'll forever be acknowledged as one of the best, but perhaps known more as the driver who never quite won a title".
After winning a race, Castroneves celebrated by stopping his car, and climbing the catchfence to send a message of delight in achieving success. He began the tradition with his first CART victory in Detroit in 2000 and repeated it each time he won a race.[ After this celebration, John Kernan, host of RPM 2Night, first gave Castroneves the nickname "]Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer-editor Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko, he first appeared in the anthology comic book '' Amazing Fantasy'' #15 (August 1962) in the ...
", and has been mimicked by other drivers in the following years.[ His photogenic looks have been picked up the press,] Including ''People
A person (plural, : people) is a being that has certain capacities or attributes such as reason, morality, consciousness or self-consciousness, and being a part of a culturally established form of social relations such as kinship, ownership of pr ...
'', ''ESPN The Magazine
''ESPN The Magazine'' was an American monthly sports magazine published by the ESPN sports network in Bristol, Connecticut. The first issue was published on March 11, 1998. Initially published every other week, it scaled back to 24 issues a year i ...
'', and ''Cosmopolitan
Cosmopolitan may refer to:
Food and drink
* Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo"
History
* Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953
Hotels and resorts
* Cosmopoli ...
''. Castroneves has done business with oil companies Pennzoil
Pennzoil is an American motor oil brand currently owned by Shell plc. The former Pennzoil Company had been established in 1913 in Pennsylvania, being active in business as an independent firm until it was acquired by Shell in 2002, becoming a bra ...
, Shell
Shell may refer to:
Architecture and design
* Shell (structure), a thin structure
** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses
** Thin-shell structure
Science Biology
* Seashell, a hard o ...
, and electronics company SMS Audio
SMS Audio is an American consumer electronics company that primarily manufactures and markets headphones. The company was founded by 50 Cent in 2011 and acquired Kono Audio that same year.
History
SMS Audio was founded in 2011 by rapper and entr ...
. In December 2004, he had an audience with Pope John Paul II
Pope John Paul II ( la, Ioannes Paulus II; it, Giovanni Paolo II; pl, Jan Paweł II; born Karol Józef Wojtyła ; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 1978 until his ...
and spoke to a congress on how Catholicism impacted his life and racing career. Castroneves was part of the National Motorsports Coalition that spoke about spectators returning to race tracks and his season to the Congressional Motorsports Caucus in June 2021. He won the 2001 Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year
The Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year is an annual award "presented to the driver who has performed with the most distinction among first-year drivers in the Indianapolis 500." Criteria includes "on-track performance in practice, qualifying an ...
and the 2004 Scott Brayton Award for "displaying the character that best exemplifies the racing spirit of the late Scott Brayton." Castroneves was inducted into the Indy Lights Hall of Fame in 2014 as a 1997 graduate, the Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame
The Long Beach Motorsports Walk of Fame is a walk of fame located on South Pine Avenue in the downtown waterfront area of Long Beach, California, to recognize those who have made a major contribution to auto racing in Long Beach. The project was ...
and the Texas Motorsports Hall of Fame in 2018, the Team Penske Hall of Fame in December 2020, and the Motorsports Hall of Fame of America
The Motorsports Hall of Fame of America (MSHFA) is hall of fame that honors motorsports competitors and contributors from the United States from all disciplines, with categories for Open Wheel, Stock Cars, Powerboats, Drag Racing, Motorcycles, Sp ...
as part of the class of 2022.
Motorsports career results
American open–wheel racing results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (small number denotes finishing position)
Indy Lights
CART results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (small number denotes finishing position)
IndyCar Series
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (small number denotes finishing position)
* Season still in progress.
* 1 ''Run on same day''
* 2 ''Non-points paying, exhibition race''
* 3 ''The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon
Daniel Clive Wheldon (22 June 1978 – 16 October 2011) was a British motor racing driver who won the 2005 IndyCar Series Drivers' Championship for Andretti Green Racing (AGR). He won the Indianapolis 500 in 2005 and 2011, and was co-winner ...
died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.''
Indianapolis 500
Touring/Sports Cars
Complete American Le Mans Series results
V8 Supercar results
+ Not Eligible for points
Complete Stock Car Brasil results
† Ineligible for championship points.
IMSA SportsCar Championship
International Race of Champions
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
Superstar Racing Experience
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
) * – Most laps led. 1 – Heat 1 winner. 2 – Heat 2 winner.
Season still in progress
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
Notes
References
External links
*
*
IndyCar Driver Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Castroneves, Helio
1975 births
American Le Mans Series drivers
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United Kingdom
Brazilian expatriate sportspeople in the United States
British Formula Three Championship drivers
Brazilian racing drivers
Brazilian Champ Car drivers
Dancing with the Stars (American TV series) winners
Indianapolis 500 drivers
Indianapolis 500 Rookies of the Year
Indianapolis 500 polesitters
Indianapolis 500 winners
Indy Lights drivers
Brazilian IndyCar Series drivers
International Race of Champions drivers
Living people
Participants in American reality television series
Racing drivers from São Paulo
Supercars Championship drivers
Stock Car Brasil drivers
Brazilian WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers
24 Hours of Daytona drivers
12 Hours of Sebring drivers
American Ninja Warrior contestants
Paul Stewart Racing drivers
Tasman Motorsports drivers
Bettenhausen Racing drivers
Hogan Racing drivers
Team Penske drivers
Arrow McLaren SP drivers
Meyer Shank Racing drivers
Porsche Motorsports drivers
Wayne Taylor Racing drivers