Indy 500: The 0.560 seconds separating Helio Castroneves from 6 wins

Helio Castroneves is a three-time winner of the Indy 500. But he is just 0.560 seconds away from being a six-time winner.

IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves is one of the greatest drivers in Indianapolis 500 history. As a three-time winner of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, he trails only four-time Indy 500 winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears on the all-time Indy 500 wins list.

We hear all the time that every second counts in racing. But realistically, even what seems like an overused cliché is an understatement.

There is no denying the fact that Castroneves’s three Indy 500 victories are impressive and the fact that he has been able to win this race three times makes him an Indy 500 legend.

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But there is also no denying the fact that the 43-year-old Brazilian is just 0.560 seconds away from being a six-time Indy 500 winner.

Castroneves won the Indy 500 in his first two career starts in the race back in 2001 and 2002. He earned his third career victory in the 200-lap race around the four-turn, 2.5-mile (4.023-kilometer) Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval in Speedway, Indiana in 2009. On three other occasions, Castroneves finished the race in second place, and he finished it in a close second every single time.

In 2003, Gil de Ferran beat Castroneves to the finish line by just 0.299 seconds to earn his first Indy 500 victory. In 2014, Ryan Hunter-Reay beat Castroneves to the finish line by just 0.060 seconds, the second closest winning margin in Indy 500 history, to earn his first Indy 500 victory.

Most recently, in 2017, Takuma Sato beat Castroneves to the finish line by just 0.201 seconds to earn his first Indy 500 victory.

Had these 0.560 seconds swung in Castroneves’s direction, he would be seeking to become the first seven-time Indy 500 winner this year, and there would likely be no chance for anyone else to catch what would be his all-time record — ever.

Instead of trying to chase down Foyt, Unser and Mears and become the fourth member of the four-time Indy 500 winners’ club, Castroneves would have already left these three retired drivers in his shadow.

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It is true that every second matters in racing, especially in a series that is as competitive as IndyCar is and in a race that is as competitive as the Indy 500. There is no way to argue that.

But based on the scale that cost Helio Castroneves three Indy 500 victories in the matter of 0.560 seconds, one second literally translates to more than five Indy 500 victories.

A more accurate phrase would be that every millisecond matters in racing. There is absolutely no way to argue that, either.