IndyCar: How Helio Castroneves could play a major role in 2020 Silly Season

By Asher Fair | Jun 28, 2019

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MAY 24: Helio Castoneves of Brazil, driver of the #3 Pennzoil Team Penske Chevrolet talks with team owner Roger Penske during Carb Day for the 103rd Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on May 24, 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images) /

Helio Castroneves will not be a full-time IndyCar driver in the 2020 season. But he could still play a major role in Silly Season for next year.

Helio Castroneves has not been a full-time IndyCar driver since the 2017 season, after which time Team Penske released him from their team in America’s premier open-wheel racing series so he could drive for the team in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, which is where he is still competing on a full-time basis.

As a result, Team Penske downsized to become a three-car full-time IndyCar team from a four-car full-time team.

After Team Penske fielded five cars in the 2017 Indy 500, one for each of their four full-time drivers and another for two-time Indy 500 champion Juan Pablo Montoya, who drove full-time for the team from the 2014 season through the 2016 season, they fielded four cars in the race in both 2018 and 2019.

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It was the 44-year-old Castroneves who returned to IndyCar in both the 2018 and 2019 seasons to compete in the Indianapolis 500 as the team’s fourth driver alongside their three full-time drivers, Josef Newgarden, Will Power and Simon Pagenaud. He also competed in the IndyCar Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course in both seasons.

While a one-off (or in this case, a two-off) entry for the Brazilian may not seem like a huge deal in terms of the grand scheme of things in IndyCar, whether or not he returns to the team next year for what would be his 20th Indy 500 bid for 18-time Indy 500 champion team owner Roger Penske could play a major role in the complexion of IndyCar’s short-term and long-term future driver lineup.

There is no guarantee as it is that Team Penske will field four cars in next year’s running of the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing”. However, they have been rumored to do so for quite some time, even with that race being still being around 11 months away. But five cars is seemingly out of the question.

This is where the Castroneves situation becomes huge.

Andretti Autosport’s Alexander Rossi is a free agent following the 2019 season, and 2020 Silly Season revolves pretty much solely around him. Every significant and currently possible move between the 2019 and 2020 seasons is somehow tied to where the 27-year-old Nevada City, California native ends up.

Among such possible moves is a move from Andretti Autosport to Team Penske.

There are several factors in Rossi’s decision, including a potential new sponsorship deal with current primary sponsor NAPA Auto Parts, Andretti Autosport’s decision to switch to Chevrolet or stick with Honda, Team Penske’s desired driver lineup size…the list goes on and on.

Then again, maybe these so-called factors won’t actually end up being factors. Maybe some will and maybe some won’t. Maybe they all will.

Who knows?

God. That’s about it. Rossi has said so himself.

"“I’m sorry, I just can’t. It’s very, very sensitive…It’s in God’s hands.”"

Whether or not Castroneves’s Indy 500 bid, which he is currently hopeful and optimistic about, hinges on Penske’s decision whether or not to hire Rossi as his fourth full-time driver or vice versa is what remains to be seen.

Given Rossi’s career upside and Indy 500 upside and given Penske’s loyalty to Castroneves (and vice versa) as well as Castroneves’s potential to earn would be his record-tying fourth Indy 500 victory, it really could go either way.

But last year at this time — in fact, a few hours after the 2018 Indy 500 itself — it was all but confirmed that Castroneves would be returning to Team Penske for his 19th Indy 500 attempt this year.

While this year’s running of the Indy 500 now took place more than a month ago, Penske did send a text to the Associated Press about Castroneves returning to the team for next year’s Indy 500, and he stated the following.

"“At the moment I think he will be in our plans.”"

Team president Tim Cindric is opposed to becoming a four-car full-time team again, and Rossi replacing any one of the drivers in the team’s current stacked three-driver lineup of three former champions and two Indy 500 champions would make no sense as is it. They aren’t going to willingly replace any one of these three drivers with Rossi at this point, nor should they. It’s not rocket science.

But if Castroneves ends up not returning to the team for next year’s Indy 500, what would that mean?

Would Penske really turn down the opportunity to let Castroneves try for the 11th time for his fourth Indy 500 victory for any other reason than to hire the most promising driver on the grid as his fourth full-time driver to effectively change the balance among the series’ top teams for the foreseeable future?

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Will Helio Castroneves return to Team Penske for his 20th Indianapolis 500 bid next year? If so, what will that mean for Alexander Rossi’s future in IndyCar? If not, what will it mean for Rossi? Will it even matter either way depending on Rossi’s other options? Aside of Rossi himself, the biggest player in IndyCar’s 2020 Silly Season might very well be a potential part-time driver.