A four-time Indianapolis 500 winner on track, Dancing With The Stars champion off-track, Helio Castroneves is known for being an effervescent ambassador in the world of auto racing. After racing full-time for Penske Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series for nearly 20 years, Castroneves was given the option to race the Acura DPi sports car for Penske in the IMSA WeatherTech Championship. He won that championship in 2020. Since then, he’s left Penske and joined the Meyer Shank Racing Indy car team and after winning the 2021 “500” as a part-time driver, he’s gone back to racing full time in IndyCar with MSR. Along the way he’s picked up two victories at the Rolex 24hrs of Daytona and also branched out this year and took the season opening victory in Tony Stewart’s SRX stock car series. Always a busy guy, we caught up with him at the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach just as he was getting ready to ride his scooter to another appointment. He talks about the details of seat fit and also reuniting with his former Penske teammate – Simon Pagenaud. Enjoy!
NOTE: Helio finished off his 2022 season by co-driving to an overall victory in the Motul Petit LeMans 10hr endurance race at Road Atlanta On October 1, 2022 in the MSR Acura DPi.
Helio waves to the fans just prior to the start of the 2022 Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach. Notice the Indy 500 winner patch on his driver’s suit listing all of the years that he’s won the race.
Castroneves is thrilled to be back behind the wheel of an Indy car full time and racing for Meyer Shank Racing. It takes a lot of sponsorship to put together a competitive effort and MSR has delivered results for these sponsors especially with their Indy 500 win in 2021.
The marbles build up on the rear tire ramp of Castroneves’ car late in the 2022 race in Long Beach. He earned a Top 10 finish (9th) after starting 14th in the race.
Mason gets the interview for Fast Lane listeners “on the run” as Helio gets ready to scooter off to his next appointment. Notice the Indy 500 winner’s ring on his finger. Photo by Brad Bernstein
Castroneves works with his crew to get his seat modified to get him lowered and more comfortable for the bumpy streets of the Long Beach circuit prior to the season ending 2021 race.
Helio is happy to have his former Penske teammate Simon Pagenaud as his current MSR teammate. Photo by Brad Bernstein
After Helio finished up his Indy car season he joined his MSR IMSA teammates (Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis) in this Acura ARX-05 DPi car to bookend his season with another endurance victory at Petit LeMans.
Interview and photos Copyright © by Larry Mason unless otherwise noted