![]() ![]() ![]() “I was so eager to win my first oval race that I was like, wait a minute. ![]() Twelve years after winning Indy for the third time, Castroneves crossed the finish line, jumped out of the car, climbed the fence with his team, sobbed and ran backward down the front stretch in a victory celebration for the ages. If you lose against Helio, I mean, sorry, like he's 20 years more experienced than me. “He didn’t make it by luck, which I think would have hurt more if there was another first-time winner. “And he just said, ‘You will never know.’ That's the best answer he could have come up with. “I was like, were you waiting ?” Palou said. With two laps to go, Castroneves made his move on the outside down the front stretch for the lead, and made it stick heading into Turn 1. It was something I never did before, it was my first time leading an oval race - the biggest race - but it was good. “And there's always one that is thinking ahead and one that is not, which it was me, but it was awesome to be in that position of, hey it’s 10 laps left and it's only Helio and you. “There's always the race, so exciting in the last 30 laps where normally it's two drivers or three where they just battle back and forth and you don't know who's gonna win. “I never thought that I would be in the position of leading the Indy 500 on the last laps,” said Palou, who led 35 laps and passed for the lead with five laps to go. On race day, for 405 miles, the two stayed near the front, taking the top two spots with 38 laps to go, playing cat-and-mouse with the lead and cycling back to the front after pit stops, Palou taking the lead from Castroneves with five laps to go. Castroneves, who has won the 500 pole four times, started eighth. And it's like, oh no, I’m done.”īut his team repaired the main car, Palou stayed in the top nine and started from sixth, the second row on the starting grid. … I knew that was my best car - the best front wing, the best rear wing, undertray, the best everything, and you crash it. “Not that much for crashing, but it was more like pushing the limits and not having enough downforce for those conditions. “I felt really bad for pushing the team,” he said. Afraid that his time wouldn’t be good enough, he pushed members of his team to let him go out for a second run. But last year, driving for Chip Ganassi Racing, he rocketed into the top nine qualifiers who would compete in a shootout for the pole. Palou’s first Indy 500 in 2020 ended in a crash after 121 laps. To do so, he’ll have to work his way up from the 27th starting spot through one of the fastest, most competitive fields in Ind圜ar history - including last year’s 500 runner-up, Alex Palou, who lost the race but went on to win the series championship, one of the only accomplishments Castroneves hasn’t achieved.Īlex Palou crashes during the 2020 Indianapolis 500. The Brazilian, who turned 47 on May 10, is vying to become the sport’s first five-time Indianapolis 500 winner, and first back-to-back winner since, well, he did it in 20. “There’s a line between bravery and stupidity and we were really playing with the edge of it,” he told NBC Sports. Two qualifying attempts later, Castroneves felt far from perfect, backing off the throttle but completing his four-lap attempt with the threat of rain looming. But a sealant issue on the pit exit lane sent Castroneves (and two other Indy 500 winners) into the wall during a test day and brought the team back to square one leading into the world’s biggest motor race.Ĭastroneves’ Meyer Shank Racing team, which the 22-year open-wheel veteran joined for the first time last year, rebuilt the car until it was “perfect” for the start of 500 practice last week. Hundreds of hours went into perfecting this car. (Michael Conroy / Associated Press)Ī little more than a month before this year’s Indianapolis 500, Helio Castroneves stood on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Turn 2 with his hands atop his head, staring in distress at the now destroyed car he’d raced to a record-tying fourth Indy 500 victory in 2021. The veteran Ind圜ar driver is looking to win the prestigious race for the fifth time Sunday. Helio Castroneves celebrates after winning the Indianapolis 500 last year. ![]()
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