Published>Sat, May 29 10 03:47 AM
Helio Castroneves arrived at the Indianapolis 500 last year trying to put legal troubles behind him, but this weekend the charismatic Brazilian comes to the Brickyard looking to join an elite group.
In nearly a century of racing at the famed speedway, only three men -- A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears -- have finished the 500 on Victory Lane four times, and a win on Sunday for Castroneves would make him the first non-American to join that exclusive club.
"For me, Rick and A.J., they're the gods of racing, the legends. I'm so honoured to have this opportunity," said Castroneves, who will launch his bid for a fourth 500 bid from the pole. "To be compared with those guys, if I'm able to accomplish what I want, it will be a dream come true."
A year ago the Brazilian's career appeared in jeopardy.
He had been forced to step out of the cockpit and turn over his seat in the Penske Dallara to Australian Will Power while he battled tax evasion charges that could have landed him in prison for six years if convicted.
But just weeks before the Indy, Castroneves was cleared of the charges and he celebrated his return to the Brickyard with a third 500 win, thanking his team for "giving my life back" as he chugged from the traditional bottle of milk.
With the darkest chapter in Castroneves's life closed, the bubbly Brazilian known to race fans as 'Spiderman' for scaling the fences surrounding the track after a victory is now focused on the task at hand.
The 35-year-old driver's biggest challenges on Sunday are likely to come from team mate and Indy Car series leader Will Power, who will line up alongside him in row one, and Briton Dario Franchitti, who will try to give his team owner Chip Ganassi a special place in the motor-racing record books.
Roger Penske and Ganassi are the only two owners to win America's two biggest motor sports races but no one has claimed the 500 double in the same year.
"I don't look at it in terms of winning the two races in one year," said Ganassi, who won the Daytona 500 in February with Jamie McMurray. "It would be a huge thing but right now my focus is to beat this guy (Penske) next to me.
FOUR WOMEN
The 94th running of the Indy 500 will include a record four women among the 33-car field.
Brazil's Ana Beatriz produced the best qualifying effort among the women putting her car on the outside of row seven.
She was followed closely by 21-year-old Swiss rookie Simona de Silvestro, who will start on the inside of row eight just ahead of American Danica Patrick, the only woman to ever win an Indy Car race.
The poor qualifying effort added to what has been a disappointing season for Patrick, the only woman to lead a lap in the 500 and who has traditionally produced some of her best results the sprawling speedway.
Sarah Fisher will start from near the back in row 10.
"Coming (to Indy), I thought it would for sure would be good and it hasn't been," said Patrick, who recorded the best ever result by a woman in an Indy 500 with her third place finish last year. "I'm trying not to think about that.
"I need to focus on each day and move along because when I look back on this season it makes me disappointed."
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