The IMSA Influence Is Strong in Molding the Brazilian’s Record-Tying Fourth Win
By Jeff Olson
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Sometimes it’s as much the journey as it is the destination.
In the case of Helio Castroneves, the journey to Sunday’s historic Indianapolis 500 victory included a timely and successful run in the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship that concluded with a title and led, unplanned and unexpected, to more racing.
Last year’s championship proved to be a critical point in Castroneves’ rejuvenation. Acura Team Penske’s three-year foray into the IMSA Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class was coming to an end, he’d raced at Indy for the final time with Team Penske in August, and it appeared as if his career were coming to an end.
One problem with that assumption. He didn’t want it to end.
Instead, Castroneves signed a part-time IndyCar deal for 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, the team started in 1989 by co-owner Mike Shank when he was still himself driving, and a one-off to join Wayne Taylor Racing for the Rolex 24 At Daytona in January.
Even the eternally optimistic Castroneves didn’t expect the Meyer Shank deal to result in his fourth Indy 500 victory, tying him with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for most 500 victories in a career. Yet there he was Sunday afternoon, climbing the fence and drinking the milk – strawberry flavored and tinted pink to match the color of his car – an unlikely winner at 46 years old.
“I’m super honored to be in this group,” Castroneves said of Foyt, Unser and Mears. “But more important is I love to be surrounded by great people. It was great to be with Penske and now my new friends (at Meyer Shank). I really am having a great time. … This is a great group of people. That’s why I love it.”
Castroneves’ deal with Meyer Shank called for six IndyCar races in 2021, starting with the 105th Indianapolis 500. But the circumstances that led to that deal lie with sports cars – both Meyer Shank’s success as a two-time WeatherTech Championship champion and Castroneves’ seven victories in three years with Team Penske’s DPi program.
“When I moved to the sports car program, I have to say I learned so much,” Castroneves said. “My knowledge of racing just expanded. When you start racing with three different (classes) in the same race with different speeds, you start learning (about) timing. You start learning how to calculate moving and passing without damaging the car.”
Castroneves had been with Roger Penske’s storied IndyCar program for 21 years and three Indianapolis 500 victories – in 2001, 2002 and 2009. In 2018, though, his role with the team changed from full time to part time. At the same time, he joined Penske’s IMSA team.
When Penske announced the end of its Acura DPi program following the 2020 season, Castroneves suddenly became a free agent. He signed with Wayne Taylor Racing as the team’s Rolex 24 specialist, joining Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura DPi to win the Rolex 24 – his seventh win in 36 sports car races but first in the iconic 24-hour event.
He also signed a six-race IndyCar deal with Meyer Shank, which was preparing for its fifth season in IndyCar racing and second full-season effort with driver Jack Harvey. While Castroneves didn’t want to part with Team Penske, he found an unlikely opportunity to carry on at Indy through his sports car connections.
“I have to say that was great,” Castroneves said. “Was it when I wanted? No, because I wanted to keep going at Indy. You do lose a little bit of the timing because it’s a completely different car.”
The 2020 DPi championship with Ricky Taylor in the Team Penske No. 7 Acura ARX-05 relit Castroneves’ flame. They won four races and clinched the championship at the 68th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in November. It was Castroneves’ first professional racing championship of any kind.
“It wasn’t just like luck,” Castroneves said Sunday. “It was a lot of wins. Then I wanted to go back (to IndyCar racing). I said, ‘I want to go back. I am eager to want to go back.’ I did everything that I possibly could to go back. I’m very fortunate that Mike and Jim (Meyer) said, ‘You know what, I can see this on you. Here we go.’”
Much of Sunday’s historic Indy victory can be traced to Meyer Shank’s success in IMSA. The team’s competition director, Adam Rovazzini, was on the team’s sports car side in 2017 before moving back to IndyCar, where he’d worked with Chip Ganassi Racing and three-time Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti.
“We talked him in,” Shank said. “He didn’t really want to do it. We kind of talked him into helping here at Indy in 2017 with Jack. We kept building the IndyCar program. (Rovazzini) kind of took the reins. He’s a tiger, a pit bull. He runs it exactly how we want it to be run, military-like (in) a lot of ways but forgiving in others. He is the bond.”
If Sunday’s uproarious Indy celebration had a specific source, it was a WeatherTech Championship race in August at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Encountering a sudden downpour that sent other cars sliding off track, Castroneves – admitting later that he couldn’t see where he was going – held on to win with a drive Taylor called “magic.”
Afterward, the questions about Castroneves’ future returned. He recalled a conversation with Mario Andretti from the 2019 Indy 500.
“I said, ‘Mario, why did you stop racing?’” Castroneves said after the Road America win. “I could see in his eyes that he never wanted to retire. He was 54 when he stopped. Age is just a number. He still had that sentimental feeling. If guys as incredible as Mario can do it, why can’t I? As long as you have the desire, the work ethic and the love for the sport, you can keep racing.”
As he ran along the track following his win to acknowledge and reciprocate the love from fans in the grandstand, Castroneves was greeted by Andretti, a reminder of their undying passion for racing. After things calmed down, Castroneves recalled the transition from Penske to Meyer Shank and the desire that led him to one more shot at history.
“When you work hard, when you put all the (pieces of the) puzzle together, it should be a great opportunity,” he said. “I’m so grateful for that.”