Castroneves Ready To Take Long Road to Indy Victory No. 4 on Sunday

INDIANAPOLIS ā€“ It has been 11 years since Team Penskeā€™s Helio Castroneves celebrated his third Indianapolis 500 win in Victory Lane, but the popular driver from Brazil is just as cheerful and ebullient as he when he arrived at Indy for the first time in 2001. In 2017, Castroneves was chasing Japanā€™s Takuma Sato for the win in the 101st Indianapolis 500. Go back even further to 2003 and Castroneves finished second to then Team Penske teammate Gil de Ferran by .2990 of a second. ā€œI could smell it and feel it,ā€ Castroneves said of those near misses. Castroneves is back for his 12th straight attempt at scoring a fourth Indianapolis 500 victory, but he will have to do it from the worst starting position of his career in this event. Castroneves starts way back in 28th place in the No. Castroneves has been one of the storylines to this unusual 104th Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge that was moved to Sunday, Aug. 23 because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Castroneves joined Team Penske after the 1999 CART season ended and was part of the INDYCAR effort as a full-time driver from 2000 to 2017. ā€œI havenā€™t talked directly to him about next year,ā€ Castroneves said, referring to Penske. Castroneves said last week that he has spoken to four or five different teams in the paddock about joining forces for next year. Castroneves calls Mears his ā€œthird eyeā€ as the spotter, but he is also a key advisor to the driver. Castroneves is the only driver in Indianapolis 500 history that won the Indy 500 in his first two attempts, in 2001 and 2002. ā€œThose stats will start being more explored when Iā€™m not here anymore,ā€ Castroneves said. ā€œHe never gave up on me under any circumstances,ā€ Castroneves said of Penske.

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