By John Goolsby, For the Tribune
IRONDALE – Helio Castroneves, winner of the inaugural Barber IndyCar race in 2010, returns to Barber Motorsports Park for the Children’s of Alabama Grand Prix later this month. “Leeds and Barber have become a place I enjoy very much,” said the four-time Indy 500 Champion. “My wife’s family is from Atlanta, so I always have many people go to Barber to support me.”
“Barber is only 50 minutes from Talladega and in the middle of the NASCAR world. The way people have accepted IndyCar at Barber has been incredible,” said Castroneves. “It is because of everyone; the promoter’s investment, the fans accepting us, and the media, too.”
Castroneves loves racing at Barber. “Turn 13 and 14 are incredible. People don’t realize how fast you go through there. It is absolutely incredible. The amount of Gs we pull through there is incredible,” he said. “It’s one of my favorites, for sure.”
Castroneves has won 31 IndyCar races (10th all-time) and 50 pole positions (4th all-time). He is one of four drivers (A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser) to have won the Indy 500 four times (2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021), and he has won the Rolex 24 At Daytona three times (2021, 2022, and 2023). At 47, Castroneves is still going strong. 2023 marks his 23rd year as a full-time driver in the IndyCar series.
The 2007 Dancing With The Stars winner first strapped on a racing helmet as a 12-year-old in 1987 when he began racing go-karts in his hometown of Sao Paulo. Castroneves progressed quickly to junior formula open-wheel cars. In 1992 he contested the Formula Chevrolet series in Brazil, finishing as runner-up. The following year he moved up to the South American F3 series. Over the next two years, Castroneves won seven races and was runner-up in both seasons’ championships.
In 1995 Castroneves left his native Brazil for England to compete in the ultra-competitive British F3 series for Paul Stewart Racing. He finished 3rd in the championship and recorded a victory at the famed Donington Park track.
Castroneves made the decision to move to the U.S., partially due to sponsorship issues, to compete in the Indy Lights Series for the 1996 and 1997 seasons. He finished behind fellow Brazilian Tony Kanaan for the Indy Lights championship in 1997.
He first raced in IndyCar (CART) for Bettenhausen Racing in 1998, where he was runner-up to Kanaan for CART Rookie of the Year. He moved to Hogan Racing for the 1999 season. In 2000 Castroneves joined Roger Penske’s legendary team and was a fixture as a full-time driver for the next eighteen years. That same year, the likable Brazilian tasted victory for the first time in an IndyCar at the Detroit Grand Prix.
After the 2017 season, Castroneves stepped away from racing full-time in IndyCar to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar series for Team Penske. Between 2018 and 2020, Castroneves recorded five wins. In 2020, his 21st year with the Penske organization, Castroneves won the IMSA championship with co-driver Ricky Taylor in an Acura Daytona Prototype. The IMSA title was Castroneves’ first championship in any racing series. He previously finished as the runner-up in the IndyCar championship four times (2002, 2008, 2013, and 2014).
Castroneves, focusing on his sports car career, only raced an IndyCar for Team Penske at the Indy 500 and the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course events in 2018 and 2019. In 2020 he returned to the Indy 500 with a new team, Arrow McLaren SP, for the first time in 20 years.
Castroneves would join Meyer Shank Racing in 2021 for a limited IndyCar schedule and put his name in the record book by winning his fourth Indy 500. He moved back to the IndyCar series full-time for the 2022 season with Meyer Shank Racing.
The move back to open-wheel cars was not an easy transition physically for Castroneves. “Oh, man. It was something,” he said. “I remember testing in 2018, just prior to the Indy 500, just being away for five or six races, I felt it.”
“After two years of not even being there, it was a big change. The cars are incredible machines. They don’t have power steering, and with the new aero screen, it becomes very warm inside,” Castroneves said. “It’s still an adjustment. Whenever you lose a little bit, it takes a little bit longer to get it back.”
Castroneves will go down in racing history as one of the greatest Indy 500 drivers ever. He has four pole positions at the Brickyard (2003, 2007, 2009, and 2010) to accompany his four victories and has finished second three times (2003, 2014 and 2017). His fastest four-lap, ten-mile qualifying run is 231.725 MPH. He holds the record for the longest span between wins at 20 years and the record for the fastest average winning race speed at 190.690 MPH in 2021. With all his success at Indy, Castroneves is still not done. His goal for 2023 is to win his fifth 500. “Drive for five is our goal,” he said.
While Castroneves is at home behind the wheel of an IndyCar and a prototype sports car, he enjoys racing other types of race cars as well. “Moving from one type of race car to another presents a big challenge,” he said. He previously tested a Formula One car for Toyota, raced in the IROC series, raced in the American LeMans series, competed in Australian V8 Supercars races, and regularly competes in the Race of Champions-Nations Cup.
Castroneves competed in the inaugural Camping World SRX Series in 2021, finishing 5th in points. This past summer, Castroneves won a heat race and the main event in the SRX event at the half-mile Five Flags Speedway in Pensacola, Florida. Castroneves, a last-minute addition to the race, beat NASCAR veterans Tony Stewart, Bobby Labonte, Ryan Newman, Michael Waltrip, Greg Biffle, Bill Elliott, and Five Flag track star Bubba Pollard. “Spider-Man,” as Castroneves is known, climbed the fence, his usual victory celebration, after his SRX victory.
Castroneves has enjoyed getting used to the SRX car. “Stock cars are very difficult to drive,” he said. “It is a different driving style and takes a different understanding of the fundamentals. Some drivers are more adaptable than others, and with the simulators, you have an idea of where you are going before you get in the car.”
“How cools is this?” he said. “I’m getting to try different things.” Castroneves hopes to be able to compete in the Daytona 500 and the 24 Hours of LeMans in the near future. “Last year, we discussed the idea of running LeMans very openly and talked about it again this year after the 24-Hour win, but it is in Acura’s hands,” he said. “Look, I’m trying. If it happens, it happens, and if it doesn’t, it wasn’t meant to be.”
Castroneves has a message for those that have never attended an NTT IndyCar race at Barber. “Take a chance and try IndyCar. We aren’t comparing ourselves or competing against NASCAR and Talladega. We are adding another flavor to racing. It’s another type of racing they can try and have a good time with,” he said.
Tickets for the race on April 28-30 can be purchased at indyalabama.com or by calling 877-332-7804.