Castroneves seeks historic fifth Indy 500 win

INDIANAPOLIS » Helio Castroneves lost his first battle for position in the parking lot of Global Preparatory Academy, a dual language school located less than 10 minutes from Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He’d been to the school before, knew he was supposed to park in an alley around back and knew he’d lead passenger Romain Grosjean through a cafeteria door into their appearance. But the carpool line was jammed, so Castroneves slowed his bronze Acura through the school parking lot to wind his way past the traffic.

A speeding hatchback suddenly flashed past Castroneves on his outside and darted into the empty parking spot ahead of him.

“Somebody’s in a hurry,” Castroneves chuckled. “Passing only counts on Sunday.”

He will have to pass a lot of cars May 29 when Castroneves attempts to become the first five-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. The Brazilian joined A.J. Foyt, Bobby Unser and mentor Rick Mears as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” last May in a raucous surprise that produced one of the most enthusiastic fence-climbing celebrations in race history.

It took 30 years between Mears’ fourth Indy 500 win for Castroneves to join the club. Mears wants him to stick around for a bit.

“I said, ‘You’d better be very careful what you wish for here. If you win that fifth, we’re going to kick you out of the club and you’re going to be all by yourself. Nobody to hang out with. So be careful,’” Mears said.

Sorry, pal: Castroneves has every intention to race for his fifth Borg-Warner this weekend. It will be his 22nd start in the Indy 500, more than any other driver in the field, and that experience proved invaluable last year as Castroneves predicted traffic patterns to use the wake from lapped cars to hold off Alex Palou for the win.

He is back for a second time with Meyer Shank Racing, the team that offered Castroneves the chance to race Indianapolis again when his 20-year career with Team Penske ended. The Indy 500 win last year — the first IndyCar victory for Michael Shank’s organization — elevated what was a one-car program into a team expected to challenge for wins every race.

It helped MSR expand and sign Simon Pagenaud, another Indianapolis 500 winner and teammate of Castroneves’ at Penske, and Castroneves’ exuberant personality has raised the worth ethic of everyone within the organization.

“He has an undying spirit inside him that drives him to do this and he’s not done yet,” team founder Michael Shank told The Associated Press.