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IndyCar: Helio Castroneves plans to continue racing in Indianapolis 500

By Asher Fair

FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Helio Castroneves, driver of the #3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)
FORT WORTH, TX - JUNE 09: Helio Castroneves, driver of the #3 AAA Insurance Team Penske Chevrolet, looks on during qualifying for the Verizon IndyCar Series Rainguard Water Sealers 600 at Texas Motor Speedway on June 9, 2017 in Fort Worth, Texas. (Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images) /
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Former full-time IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves says he plans to continue driving in the Indianapolis 500 for several more years.

Following a 20-year full-time IndyCar career, of which 18 seasons were spent driving for Team Penske, 42-year-old Helio Castroneves is now a full-time driver for Team Penske’s Acura program in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

However, Castroneves is still set to return to the Indianapolis 500 for Team Penske in the 2018 IndyCar season in an attempt to win his fourth Indianapolis 500 race, which would tie the all-time record currently shared by A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

But even after the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 in 2018, Castroneves isn’t planning on being done racing in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. In fact, he plans to return to the race for at least the next few years to pursue his fourth career win in the race, and then possibly even his fifth.

Here is what Castroneves had to say about the subject, according to Motorsport.com.

"“We gotta get that fourth win! Hopefully this year we’ll make it…then we gotta talk about five! Right now, for the next few years for sure [I will race at Indy]. I feel being in sportscars right now could help me [adapt to the ’18 car] because I’ve got to adapt quick. It doesn’t need to be the same car all the time, and this is perfect timing.“I will do the Indy GP, so I can get familiarized a bit with the car, and also the mechanics who will do the 500 can get the rhythm back and everything. It’s a great opportunity, and I also have my teammates to rely on. There are a lot of ways I’ll probably be able to adapt quick, but this is a great way to start it.”"

In 17 career Indianapolis 500 starts, Castroneves has finished the race 16 times, and he has racked up 14 top 10 finishes and eight top 5 finishes. He has started the race from the pole position four times. His pole position in 2009 translated into his third career victory in the race.

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Castroneves’ other two victories in the race came in his first two attempts in the race back in 2001 and 2002. In 2001 as a rookie, he started the race in 11th place and went on to win it. The following season, he won the race after starting in 13th.

In two of the past four Indianapolis 500 races in 2014 and 2017, Castroneves finished in 2nd place to Ryan Hunter-Reay and Takuma Sato, respectively,, giving him three career runner-up finishes in the race. His other runner-up finish in the race came in 2003 when Gil de Ferran won it.

In Castroneves’ three 2nd place finishes at the race, the margin of victory for the winners of those races were 0.2990 seconds in 2003, 0.0600 seconds in 2014 and 0.2011 seconds in 2017. He is essentially not a six-time winner of the race as a result of just 0.5601 seconds, or just over half a second.

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Will Helio Castroneves capture his fourth career Indianapolis 500 victory before he retires? If so, will he be able to do so this year to potentially set him up to win the race for the fifth time in the near future? Tune in to the 102nd running of the Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 27th to find out.