The fastest driver doesn’t always win the Indianapolis 500. Every race fan knows that.
But it sure seems like Helio Castroneves is fixin’ to leave that adage in the dust. In 2009, he came back from nearly losing everything in a Miami courtroom to win his third ‘500’ in an ending that no Hollywood scriptwriter could have created better. And now, with this year’s running of the Greatest Spectacle in Racing less than 24 hours away, he’s on the pole and on the verge of making history.
As it stands now, Castroneves can be considered an Indy hero. But the honor of joining a trio of racing deities — A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Sr., and Rick Mears — as the only four-time winners of the race could be his if he takes the checkered flag tomorrow (1 p.m. ET, ABC).
We may see a legend become a Brickyard god before our eyes. However, Castroneves knows it won’t be an easy task — even though he’s certainly made it appear to be a done deal throughout the month.
“We have 500 miles to go and a lot of people say, ‘OK, it’s all taken care of,'” he said after his crew won the Carb Day pit stop competition. “Certainly, we’re going to do everything we can. But we’ve got to go through ups and downs and that’s happened before.”
Those ups and downs will be easier to handle for Castroneves if his crew performs as strong as they did on Friday. In the tooth-and-nail battle between Castroneves’ Team Penske squad and Target Chip Ganassi Racing, one mistake could be the decisive factor in which team will have a driver on the Borg-Warner Trophy. Just look at last year’s race.
The Target Chip Ganassi Racing duo of Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon saw their drives for victory effectively end with problems on pit road. Franchitti was second when he made a stop on Lap 134. But the stop went awry when the fuel hose got stuck in his car’s buckeye; the costly delay removed him from contention. As for Dixon, he lost the lead when Castroneves passed him on a restart at Lap 142 but was still third when he came in for his final stop of the day on Lap 163. Unfortunately for him, a slow change on the right rear wheel also took him out of the hunt.
And so, a strong pit crew will like prove every bit as critical to Castroneves’ chances as what he does in the No. 3 Team Penske machine. The Brazilian is counting on them to be mistake-free — and to help him get the positions he may not be able to get on the track.
“You can lose so much time behind a slow car, but sometimes you don’t want to take an unnecessary chance,” he said on Friday. “That’s when we need those guys…So it’s extremely important, especially the last few pit stops. I know we have the guys to make it happen again.”
Castroneves also can’t discount threats from teams outside of the Penske/Ganassi bloc. If Alex Tagliani and Bruno Junqueira of the surprising FAZZT Race Team can translate their solid practice and qualifying pace to Race Day, they may be very tough to shake. Graham Rahal is aiming for a ‘500’ win to possibly bring him back to full-time status. Ed Carpenter and Vision Racing have temporarily emerged from sponsorship hell and are looking stout. The Dan Wheldon/Panther Racing combination definitely knows how to get around the Brickyard. And you can never count out Tony Kanaan.
All of them may not quite have the pace of the “Big Two” teams, but one break in their favor could bring about a major upset.
But all month long, Castroneves has set the tone and has been able to find that extra burst of speed that the other drivers lack. If everyone on the No. 3 team — pilot and crew — works to the best of their ability, there may be nothing that can stop them from triumphing at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway again.
Last year, his victory was something out of a storybook. This year, he’s aiming for the record book. And it seems like his aim will be true.
