Castroneves chasing No. 4 as his Indianapolis 500 career winds down
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The screaming yellow firesuit made Helio Castroneves easy to find at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The glowing smile didn't hurt, either.
Castroneves is wrapping up another May at his favorite race track and getting another chance Sunday at a record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory. The Brazilian has a seat as a favor from Roger Penske, because when the boss needed Castroneves to anchor his new sports car team, the company man agreed.
With a caveat: Castroneves could still run this year's Indy 500.
And if he happens to win in the Pennzoil-sponsored "Yellow Submarine" that Johnny Rutherford and four-time winner Rick Mears made famous? Well, Penske told The Associated Press, "he will have an open ticket to go for a fifth, for sure."
The tightknit Penske lineup rolled its eyes at Penske's promise. Castroneves desperately wants to be in IndyCar, where he won 30 races and finished second in the standings four times. He also never finished lower than fifth in points his final six seasons.
"If he wins, he's never going to go away," teammate Simon Pagenaud said. "He's going to come back for five. If he wins Sunday, then he's going to Detroit (next week), and he's going to do really well there and then he's going to finish the season. And look at that, now he's back."
If only it was that easy. Penske is a businessman first and race fan second, so when Team Penske had to downsize its IndyCar operation to three fulltime cars, the 43-year-old Castroneves was cast away to its nascent sports car program. He's the longest-tenured Penske driver, side-by-side with "The Captain" since 2000, and the two are intertwined in businesses beyond racing. But moving Castroneves into that sports car program was the best move for the Penske brand, and as such, an easy business decision.
"You have to be careful because if you make your business decisions with emotion, you'll probably make the wrong decision," Penske said. "This was a planned process with Helio. We talked about it.