“It brought me to the next level, totally,” said Castroneves, 34. And, let’s face it, he’s very personable and all of that goes toward what we really want to do and that is have our drivers create an emotional bond with our fans.”Īpparently, Michaelian was right on about Dancing with the Stars, which Castroneves won in the Fall of 2007. “And his ability to attract those fans to an event like ours where he’s performing in a race car, certainly is very, very significant. I mean, his success with ‘Dancing with the Stars’ certainly pivoted him into a new orbit in terms of the interest from people who aren’t necessarily even race fans, or hard-core devotees. They’re very vast in terms of their interest levels. “Helio is one of those guys that has a tremendous amount of what we call crossover appeal,” said Jim Michaelian, CEO of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. He has 22 victories – one in Long Beach – including six during his CART days. He entered this season as the IRL series’ all-time leader in wins from the pole (8), pole positions (27) and top 5 finishes (73). He previously won the Indy 500 in 20, becoming the first driver to win it consecutive years in his first two starts. Castroneves is one of the most popular and decorated drivers in open-wheel racing. “All he wanted was to race for this team again and we felt he deserved that opportunity.” So, it did not really surprise us that he was able to get right back in the car and be competitive, despite missing so much time. “He has incredible focus, especially on the race track under difficult conditions. People see his personality and his emotions and they might not realize just how strong he is,” Penske said. It didn’t astonish Penske one bit that Castroneves was so successful upon his return. I believed in him and our team believed in him and I thought it was important for him to know that, especially at such a difficult time in his life.” “I think I said it at the time, Helio really doesn’t have a bad bone in his body. “After working with Helio for many years and getting to know him as a person, I knew his integrity,” Penske said. That’s for sure, said Penske, who signed Castroneves 11 years ago. “When he called me and said he would testify for me, that just goes to show he cared about the person, not just the driver.” “As you know, Roger doesn’t like any kind of scandal,” Castroneves said. It meant the talented Will Power, who has a full-time ride with Penske this season, would be without one.īut during the trial Penske went beyond just saving a seat for Castroneves. After Castroneves was acquitted, Penske gave Castroneves back his place on the team. Roger Penske is the owner of Penske Racing. I really respect her for that and now I can’t wait for this family to get biggger and bigger.” She gave me a beautiful daughter, she gave me a fantastic present, a gift from the sky and I’ll cherish that. It shows that if we go through that without a problem, we could go through anything in life. “For me, having her, especially in the toughest time of my life, right there supporting me … she could have said, ‘What the heck am I getting myself into? I’m going to get out of here,”‘ Castroneves said. 28 gave birth to their daughter, Mikaella. One was his girlfriend, Adriana Henao, who, on Dec. It was those people around Castroneves who gave him the strength to go to court each day. “Sometimes we get caught up in the material world here and you forget to say, ‘I love you,’ and, ‘Thank you,”‘ said Castroneves, “especially to people around you because they are all the time there so you’re like, ‘Ah, no problem.”‘ That’s what I’ve been doing my entire life. “After my IRS ordeal, let’s put it that way, the whole situation coming back it just proved that what I know to do is racing. “Well, you know, it was a lot,” Castroneves said during an exclusive interview with the Press-Telegram. By then, Castroneves was feeling inordinately good. With no time in the car because of his six-month trial, he qualified eighth on Saturday and Sunday stunned many by finishing seventh at the 35 th Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach.įive weeks later – on May 24 – Castroneves became the ninth person to win the Indy 500 three times and first foreign-born driver to turn the trick. Then, Castroneves high-tailed it to Long Beach. His sister and their private attorney – both of whom were also indicted – would have joined him. A conviction would have sent him to prison. It was one year ago almost to the day that Castroneves, of Brazil, was acquitted of federal income tax evasion charges in Florida. Then he had it on a gas pedal in Long Beach. Helio Castroneves had a foot in prison’s door.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |