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[h=2]MILLER: Castroneves, odd man out[/h] Tuesday, 11 July 2017


By Robin Miller / Images by IMS Photo

A.J. hung on way too long. Ditto for Johnny Rutherford. And Richard Petty and Darrell Waltrip didn't know when to quit either. Super Tex and Lone Star J.R. only knew IndyCar racing as a way of life, but it was sad to see a couple of badasses reduced to field fillers while those two fading NASCAR stars were simply making too much money to walk away.
But Helio Castroneves isn't in that fraternity. Not even close.
He's not a backmarker. His reflexes aren't gone. He's as quick as anyone most days on street and road courses as well as ovals. And he still drives with the hunger of a 22-year-old instead of a 42-year-old veteran.
His sell date isn't close to expiring, yet his career as a full-time IndyCar driver looks to be down to six races.
We understand Roger Penske wants to downsize to three cars in 2018, we know The Captain is heading for IMSA sports cars with Honda Performance Development and Acura and wants to make a big splash with Juan Pablo Montoya and another Indy 500 winner.
And we can add. Will Power (36), Simon Pagenaud (33) and Josef Newgarden (26) are under contract to drive Indy cars for R.P. and this is reportedly the last year of Helio's deal. They're all in their prime while Castroneves has been primo in 2017 but it's a numbers game, and despite his performance – he's the odd man out.
Much like Montoya's plight a year ago. Coming off an Indy 500 victory in 2015, Montoya looked to be a lock in the Team Penske rotation for 2017 but was demoted to a May-only participant because Roger Penske wisely went after Newgarden.

It wasn't fair because Montoya had almost delivered a championship to go with his Indy triumph and he was still plenty fierce at speed. But his contract was up and he was 41 and deemed expendable for JoNew – that's how racing works.

And even though Castroneves hadn't been to Victory Lane since 2014 prior to last Sunday's blitzkrieg at Iowa, it wasn't like he'd lost anything. He only started worse than seventh twice in 17 races in 2016 – winning two poles, four podiums and leading seven races for 143 laps.
This season has been a continuation but even better. He's got three poles (four really except for a penalty at Detroit), a couple podiums, two fourths and has led seven races for 353 laps – second only to Power's 390. His near win at Indy might have been his finest drive yet at IMS.
"The guy is amazing," praised Power a few races ago. "He's still as fast as anyone and really pushes us and he's driving the best and most consistent on our team."
When we learned of Team Penske's sports car plan last summer, we heard it was going to be Montoya and Castroneves. So when we heard Honda was having a news conference this week it was time to ask. To his credit, Helio was forthright and said he'd heard the same rumor but hadn't talked to Roger yet about 2018 except that he knew he had a job with Team Penske.


Then I said, you know there's one way to make things really difficult. "Win the championship," he said with a grin.


It's something he's not been able to accomplish in 20 years, but he's only eight points behind Scott Dixon with six races remaining. And he's driving like, well, there's no tomorrow.


His victory was well received by the fans at Iowa Speedway, in the press room and on pit row because even the people who think he's a grandstander had to admit he kicked everybody's ass and deserved it after being so close the past few years.

Regardless of whether you think he's an actor or really that happy, Castroneves has always been one of the most gracious drivers ever with the fans and the media. He and his pal Tony Kanaan are the two most popular drivers in IndyCar – and they could both be Indy 500-only drivers next year.

Since Saturday, my mailbag has been flooded with letters from IndyCar fans upset that Helio is going to sports cars and they all said they hope my story on RACER.com is wrong.

I've got to admit, so do I.

senor honda

So when you get demoted by the boss, does that affect your performance?
Does it bother you that you heard it from a reporter, instead of the boss?
Do you try just a little bit less hard because you just got slighted?
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On the other hand, Castroneves is a pro racer.
He will try to kick your butt no matter what he races.
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8 points from the championship and 6 races to go.

Helio, if you win that championship, Roger Penske will look like an even bigger butthead.

and maybe if Penske sends you to sports cars, it will be the perfect way to step out of

INDYCAR as a winner, and kick some butt as the professional racer that you are.
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Helio, We are all with you, man.
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senor honda

PRUETT: Helio, sportscars – and a million moving pieces

Monday, 10 July 2017



Marshall Pruett / Images by IndyCar, LePage/LAT

The plan uncovered last August at Mid-Ohio was fascinating: Team Penske, Honda, and veteran drivers leading the charge in a new IMSA Daytona Prototype international program. With the confirmation of the deal expected imminently, a trip through some of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering over the past 12 months seems appropriate.

One year removed from his second Indy 500 win and a runner-up finish in the Verizon IndyCar Series championship, Team Penske's Juan Pablo Montoya was facing the end of his full-time open-wheel career with the Captain. The speculation at Mid-Ohio positioned the mercurial Colombian as having to choose between staying on with Penske in a limited IndyCar role while waiting for a new Honda DPi effort to come online in 2018, or to search elsewhere for full-time IndyCar opportunities.
As RACER's Robin Miller wrote more than once after Mid-Ohio, Montoya met with numerous IndyCar team owners to explore his chances before settling on a return to Penske. With the announcement of his part-time role for 2017 that followed, namely as the fifth driver at Indianapolis, the rumors that sprang forth from Mid-Ohio looked a lot like facts.
We also learned around this time that a new Acura IMSA program, which Michael Shank Racing leading the factory charge using Acura NSX GT3s, was in motion. That 2017 deal, which was set for one year, would then give way to Honda using the Acura name in its top-tier Prototype program, just as it had in the American Le Mans Series.
The other driver tidbit from Mid-Ohio involved Penske's career man, Helio Castroneves. The energetic Brazilian was mentioned as a possible package deal with Montoya for the Acura DPi effort, but questions lingered on the timing of his involvement. Would it be 2018 or 2019 for his sports car shift?

Embroiled in yet another championship showdown, Castroneves would go on to finish third in the 2016 standings behind teammates Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Compared to Montoya (BELOW), who finished a distant eighth behind the 1-2-3 orchestrated by his teammates, there was a feeling of one veteran being readied for a quick sports car transition while the other was still in IndyCar title-contending form. Montoya heading to IMSA in 2018 was little more than a formality. For Castroneves, however, the IMSA question continued to be one of optimal timing.

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Before Castroneves won Sunday's IndyCar race at Iowa, Castroneves held third in the championship, and with his dominating victory, he's up to a fighting second behind Chip Ganassi Racing's Scott Dixon.

On the surface, pulling the plug on Montoya after a bad season in favor of young star Josef Newgarden was an easy thing to sell (although JPM had no desire to step out of his car). But what about Castroneves, who leads Penske's four-car IndyCar program after 11 of 17 championship rounds? That's not quite as simple – or so you'd think.


The surprise, based on what we started hearing at the recent IndyCar race at Road America, was that Team Penske is planning to trim one car from its roster, which prompted the renewed look into which paddock Castroneves will call home next year. Just as Montoya's fate appeared to be set well before the 2016 season concluded, the same could be true for Castroneves in 2017.

Moving Montoya sideways to accommodate Newgarden's arrival made sense, but why would Penske commit so early to downsizing from four cars to three?

Persistent rumors of a downturn in spending from Verizon, and a possible departure as IndyCar's title sponsor after 2018, could be part of the answer. Penske already spends a significant amount of his own money to support the IndyCar team; if a sponsorship change is on the horizon, being proactive and reducing operating costs before the big checks stop arriving would be very Captain-esque.

And then there's the matter of staffing the two-car DPi program. Provided the IndyCar downsizing takes place, Penske would have a crew of world-class mechanics and engineers to spread across the IMSA campaign, just as it did throughout its ALMS LMP2 program with Porsche from 2005-'08.

These are "ifs," but if Penske has locked itself into a three-car IndyCar rotation, and committed the fourth crew to the DPis, it could be hard to reverse the process and keep Castroneves in IndyCar if he wins the championship.

It's safe to assume IndyCar would not want its newest champion – and most popular, most recognizable driver – to have his bags packed and be dispatched to sports car-land because of a long-term plan that was made before he earned the title, but taking people away from the DPi program at this stage would not make sense.



As funny as it sounds, a Castroneves IndyCar championship could be an ugly scenario to consider for all involved... except for Helio.

Other than the union of Penske and Acura in IMSA with DPis, the initial confirmation of the deal is not expected to include the full-time or part-time driver roster. In theory, that news could be kept under wraps until the IndyCar and IMSA seasons are over.

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Funding for the DPi effort should be significant: we know Penske won't work for peanuts. In another IndyCar-related angle, it's entirely possible the series' move to freeze aero kit development by Chevy and Honda for 2017 – and to replace those kits with spec universal bodywork in 2018 – has allowed Honda and HPD to divert the savings from its seven- to eight-figure aero kit R&D budgets to bankroll a decent portion of the DPi program.
The last item of interest, for now, is where Roger Penske's long-held desire to return to Le Mans will stand. The sanctioning body that runs the famed 24-hour race will not allow DPis to compete at Le Mans, which makes the concept of a full-time IMSA program and an annual trek to France a non-starter with those cars.
Penske has always maintained he will only return to Le Mans if he can vie for the overall win, which leaves very few options – at least, ones that are feasible – for the team to explore. We'll save the potential Le Mans outcomes for the Penske-Acura relationship and its driver rotations for a future story.
From a few simple conversations at Mid-Ohio last year to where we are now, standing on the edge of a confirmation, everything that has gone into creating this new racing program will be a gift to sports car fans. IMSA bolsters its paddock with the biggest team in North American motorsports and a massive engagement by an auto manufacturer that lives to compete at the highest levels.
Although the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is loaded with brilliant talent, is has always lacked big-name star power among its drivers.

With Montoya and Castroneves to promote, IMSA will finally solve that problem.

IndyCar should get the duo back each May for the Indy 500, but the loss of two headlining stars won't be easy to overcome in the short term. It doesn't happen all that often, but in this instance, IndyCar's loss will indeed be IMSA's gain.

senor honda

IB1993 Very few athletes should get the right to decide when they go.

Helio at Penske is one of those exceptions. He has driven for Rog longer than any driver ever has and has produced more Indycar wins now, passing his holiness Rick Mears. I know it comes down to money, contracts and the timing of both, but Helio should have a ride as long as he wants it.

Penske would have never done this to Mears. On top of that, you are sending Indycar's biggest mainstream name away.

senor honda

[h=2]Castroneves on future: 'To be continued'[/h] Saturday, 15 July 2017


By RACER Staff / Image by IMS Photo

Above: Helio Castroneves was all smiles before Saturday qualifying at Toronto.

Helio Castroneves might find it hard to focus over the home stretch of the Verizon IndyCar Series season.
Amid the news that the Honda Performance Development and Roger Penske will team up to field a pair of Acura Daytona Prototype internationals in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship – and that the three-time Indy 500 winner is expected to join Juan Pablo Montoya on the driver roster – the 42-year-old is trying to avoid questions about his future, rather than the afterglow of his win in Iowa, which ended three-year winless drought.


"To be honest, if you start thinking about the future, that's where it starts being distracting to be honest, right at this point," said Castroneves, who will start third on Sunday at the Honda Indy Toronto.

"The only future that I'm thinking about is the race, which is Toronto, which is only one day from now. It's difficult to assume, and right now there is a lot of speculation for sure, and even between when we have some conversations, we're just still on the same page. "I mean, the team is going to make a sports car team, and we all here would love to drive. I mean, no question about it. We would like to drive whatever they have an opportunity like you have in the past. But at the moment, there is no commitment, no official decision, and I'm just focused – in my case, I'm just focusing on doing my best for the race here and the championship.


As RACER first reported, the creation of the Acura-Penske ARX-05 DPi project will debut in January of 2018 at the 24 Hours of Daytona, and RACER has learned Penske will move Castroneves to the DPi team while continuing to field a car for him at the Indy 500. Testing for the Acura ARX-05 is set to begin later this month.
It's certainly not due to his performance – he currently ranks second in the Verizon IndyCar Series standings, just eight points behind leader Scott Dixon, and is having a strong season with a win, three poles positions, two podiums and a pair of fourth places.
When he was asked to talk about his future, he responded, "There are people with more power than me actually to make things happen."


"A lot of decisions are – it's not in my hands, or results. Sometimes it's common sense. But at this point, I feel that I'm going to do everything I can. If we're in that position to make it harder for everyone if there is a decision in the end to change or not.
"To be continued."

senor honda

3 points behind and 5 races to go......
Castroneves inches closer to championship lead

Sunday, 16 July 2017


By Robin Miller / Image by Scott LePage/LAT

Early in Sunday's Honda Indy Toronto, Helio Castroneves was leading after making a bodacious move on the opening lap, Scott Dixon was limping around in 20th place and the Verizon IndyCar series had a new sheriff.

At that point, Castroneves owned a 33-point championship lead over Dixon and was sailing toward his second straight victory. But then the racing gods intervened.


With Castroneves, pole-sitter Simon Pagenaud and Graham Rahal pulling away from the field at about a second a lap, a full-course caution came out when Tony Kanaan plugged it into the tires on lap 23. Josef Newgarden, who had been running fourth and was in pit lane when the caution waved, was the benefactor.

Newgarden inherited the lead and held it to the end while Castroneves could only salvage eighth. Dixon, who tangled with Will Power on the first lap, recovered nicely to take 10th place and left Toronto still leading the championship.

Toronto Highlights:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OuKbdmj1TQM
"That's just racing," said Castroneves, who trails Dixon by three points with five races remaining in the season. "I had a fantastic car and made a great start and everything was going our way until that yellow.
"So it helped one of my teammates and hurt myself and Simon, but we've all been on both sides of that."
The three-time Indy 500 winner's move at the start when he jumped from third to first with a nifty, late, inside pass of the front row on Pagenaud and Rahal was nothing short of spectacular.
"I did that back in 1997 at the Indy Lights race and it worked again," he said.
But it's pretty obvious the 42-year-old veteran is driving better and smarter than ever before, and he's going to be a handful for Dixon and anybody else down the stretch as he tries for his first title.


"This is a great team and I've had some great cars this year and I feel like we can win anywhere," he said. "We've got five races to go and I can't wait for the next one."

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'Huge mistake' costs Castroneves in title chase

Saturday, 26 August 2017


By RACER Staff / Image by Perry Nelson/LAT

Helio Castroneves' possible last shot at an elusive Verizon IndyCar Series title likely slipped through his hands Saturday night, and when the 42-year-old got out of the No. 3 Chevy, he knelt by the side of his car with his helmet in his hands.


Castroneves led 52 laps of the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 and had an almost three-second lead when he pitted on lap 157 during a round of green-flag pits stops. But the car stalled, and when he came out he dropped to fourth behind teammates Josef Newgarden, Simon Pagenaud and Ganassi's Scott Dixon. And fourth was where Castroneves finished, dropping him from 18 points back in the title hunt to 42 back of Newgarden with two races to go.


"[Stalling in the pit] certainly didn't help," an emotional Castroneves told NBC Sports after the race. "My team did an incredible job, put me in the lead, and obviously when I came in [to the pit] I pressed the neutral button, unfortunately it didn't come in and as soon I released the clutch it was still in first and stalled, so I tried to call attention to it as fast as I could. [The team] did a great job putting me back.


"It was a costly mistake. The car was so phenomenal. Unfortunately with the dirty air it was very difficult to pass. Everybody was very tense, hundreds of a seconds difference from each other, so we tried to come back, but after putting so much fuel probably the other guys short fueled and ended up in front of us. Super disappointed, especially at this stage in the championship. It's not even a small mistake, it's actually a huge mistake. So disappointed. But at least one of the team will end of taking home the championship."

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Penske has 4 cars and wins the championship........ONLY 4 cars?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_c...&v=q5IGFmxRAUc

Roger Penske speaks with RACER's Marshall Pruett moments after watching his young American driver Josef Newgarden win the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series championship.