WITH THIRD INDIANAPOLIS 500 WIN
INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, May 24, 2009) - An emotional Helio Castroneves choked back tears in Victory Lane after becoming the first foreign-born three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500.
The affable Brazilian performed his signature fence climb along the front straightaway after taking the checkered flag in his third race since returning to the IndyCar Series following an acquittal in federal court on charges of tax evasion.
"This is incredible," Castroneves said. "I think my tears speak for everything. What a great team. I just have to thank, first of all, the Lord for giving me this opportunity, to be strong, to have a family that I have. I have to think Roger (Penske), Tim (Cindric), my guys, Phillip Morris, all the associates (sponsors), Verizon, everybody because they gave my life back. I'm here today because of those guys. And obviously the fans. You guys don't understand. You guys kept me strong. You guys are the best. I'm honored to have fans like you. Thank you so much. Let's celebrate now."
Castroneves passed 2008 race winner Scott Dixon on Lap 142 and led the final 59 circuits around the historic 2.5-mile oval, beating 2005 winner Dan Wheldon to the finish line by 1.9819 seconds. Danica Patrick was third.
Castroneves is the ninth driver to win the Indianapolis 500 at least three times, and the first to do so since Rick Mears recorded the third of four race wins in 1988.
The win capped a perfect month for Castroneves, who was the first driver since Buddy Rice in 2004 to sweep the Peak Performance Pole Award, Indianapolis 500 Pit Stop Challenge and the race.
The win was the 15th in the Indianapolis 500 for Roger Penske, the most of any entrant.
Townsend Bell finished fourth and Penske Racing driver Will Power was fifth. Dixon finished sixth, and 2007 race winner Dario Franchitti was seventh. Dixon and Franchitti combined to lead 123 laps for Target Chip Ganassi Racing.
There were eight cautions during the race. The final incident on Lap 174 involved rookie Raphael Matos and veteran Vitor Meira. Meira was admitted to Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis after sustaining fractures of the L1 and L2 vertebras. He will be treated with non-operative management under the supervision of Dr. Terry Trammell and fitted with a back brace.
INDIANAPOLIS 500 POST-RACE NOTES:
· Helio Castroneves wins his third Indianapolis 500, becoming the ninth driver to win the race at least three times. Castroneves also won in 2001 and 2002. Other three-time winners include: Louis Meyer (1928, 33, 36), Wilbur Shaw (1937, 39-40), Mauri Rose (1941, 47-48), Johnny Rutherford (1974, 76, 80) and Bobby Unser (1968, 75, 81). Four-time winners include: A.J. Foyt (1961, 64, 67, 77), Al Unser (1970-71, 78, 87) and Rick Mears (1979, 84, 88, 91).
· Castroneves became a three-time winner in his ninth Indianapolis 500 start. No other driver has become a three-time winner in fewer races. Louis Meyer became a three-time winner in 1936 in his 10th Indianapolis 500 race (nine as a starter and one as a relief driver for Wilbur Shaw in 1927.) A.J. Foyt Jr. also became a three-time winner in his 10th Indianapolis 500 start, in 1967.
· Castroneves is the 20th driver to win the "500" from the pole, the most of any starting position. The pole sitter has won the last two "500s" and four of the last six.
· Castroneves is the first driver to win the pole, Pit Stop Competition and the race since Buddy Rice in 2004.
· This is the second consecutive year the winner led both the first and last lap of the Indianapolis 500.
· Castroneves won a race from the pole for the eighth consecutive season, extending his series record.
· This is the 15th Indianapolis 500 win for Roger Penske, the most of any entrant. No other entrant has more than five.
· Team Penske has won five of the last nine Indianapolis 500s.
· This is the seventh time a Penske-owned car has won the Indianapolis 500 starting from the pole position. The other pole winning years for Penske were 1979 (Rick Mears), 1981 (Bobby Unser), 1988 (Rick Mears), 1991 (Rick Mears), 1994 (Al Unser Jr.) and 2006 (Sam Hornish Jr.).
· This is the 31st IndyCar Series victory for Team Penske, second among all teams. Andretti Green Racing has 35 victories.
· This is Castroneves' 15th career victory in the IndyCar Series, tying Dan Wheldon for third all-time. Sam Hornish Jr. has 19 wins, and Scott Dixon has 17. Castroneves' last victory came in the 2008 season finale at Chicagoland Speedway.
· Castroneves has 91 top-10 finishes, most in IndyCar Series history.
· Castroneves has led 74 races, most in IndyCar Series history.
· Castroneves has finished in the top 10 in eight of his nine Indianapolis 500s.
· Dan Wheldon finished second, his fourth top-four finish at Indianapolis in seven starts. The last time past winners finished first and second was in 1993 when Emerson Fittipaldi and Arie Luyendyk finished 1-2.
· This is Wheldon's second top-five finish of the season and his best finish since second at Nashville last July.
· Danica Patrick finished third, her best career finish at Indianapolis and the best-ever finish for a woman. She finished fourth as a rookie in 2005. Patrick has four top-10 finishes at Indianapolis in five starts.
· Patrick and Tony Kanaan are the only drivers with three top-five finishes to start the 2009 season.
· Townsend Bell finished fourth, improving 20 positions during the race to record a career-best finish. His previous best finish in the "500" was 10th in 2008. His previous best IndyCar Series finish was fifth at Nashville in 2004.
· Will Power finished fifth in his second "500." Last year, he finished 13th.
· Power has finished sixth or better in all three of his starts this season.
· Dario Franchitti finished seventh in his first start in the Indianapolis 500 since winning the race in 2007. He has finished seventh or better in four consecutive "500s."
· Franchitti led 50 laps and has led 84 laps in his last two "500s."
· Ed Carpenter finished eighth, his second consecutive top-10 finish in the Indianapolis 500. Last year, he finished fifth.
· This is Carpenter's second consecutive top-10 finish of the season.
· Paul Tracy finished ninth, his second consecutive top-10 finish in the Indianapolis 500. He finished second in 2002.
· Hideki Mutoh finished 10th, his second consecutive top-10 finish in the Indianapolis 500. He finished seventh as a rookie last year.
· Alex Tagliani was the highest-finishing rookie in the field, finishing 11th after starting 33rd.
· A record 19 cars finished on the lead lap in the 2009 Indianapolis 500. The previous record for most cars finishing on the lead lap is 16 in 1959.
· The 2009 and 2000 Indianapolis 500 races had only six lead changes, which is the fewest number of lead changes for the full 500 mile distance since 1965. The rain-shortened (133 lap) 1973 Indianapolis 500 race had four lead changes. The record for the fewest lead changes in the Indianapolis 500 race is 1 in 1930.
· This is the 11th time car number #3 has won the Indianapolis 500, the most times ever for an individual car number.
· A.J. Foyt IV finished 16th and completed the full 500-mile distance. This is the first time a Foyt finished on the lead lap since 1979 when his grandfather, four-time winner A.J. Foyt Jr., finished on the lead lap in second place.
· The top lap leader in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 was defending winner Scott Dixon, who led 73 laps and finished sixth. He also was the top lap leader (115 laps) in the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
· The three female drivers in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 field completed 599 laps out of a possible 600. Danica Patrick finished 200 laps, Sarah Fisher 200 laps and Milka Duno 199 laps.
· 19th-place finisher John Andretti completed the full 500-mile distance as did 16th-place finisher #41 A.J. Foyt IV. This is the only time a Foyt and an Andretti completed the full 500-mile distance in the same race. The Foyt family was first represented in the 1958 Indianapolis 500, and the Andretti family was first represented in 1965.
· The last time there was a yellow flag on the first lap was the 2001 Indianapolis 500 when pole sitter Scott Sharp crashed in Turn 1.
· When #3 Helio Castroneves led the first lap, it was the third time he has led the opening lap of the Indianapolis 500. The other two years were 2003 when his teammate, Gil de Ferran, won the race and in 2006 when his teammate, Sam Hornish Jr., won the race.
· When #5 Mario Moraes crashed before completing a lap of the 2009 Indianapolis 500, it marked the third time that a car starting in the seventh position crashed before completing a lap. Tom Sneva (1986) and Scott Brayton (1988) were the other two occurrences.
· In 2008, the youngest driver in the field, Graham Rahal, crashed and finished 33rd. In 2009, the second-youngest driver in the field, #5 Mario Moraes crashed and finished 33rd.
· The 45,000 mile mark in Indianapolis 500 race history was reached at the completion of the 27th lap.
· #6 Ryan Briscoe took the lead for the first time in his Indianapolis 500 career on Lap 53. This is Briscoe's fourth Indianapolis 500 start.
· When #11 Tony Kanaan crashed on Lap 98, it ended his Indianapolis 500-record streak of leading seven consecutive races (2002-08). The 2009 event is the only Indianapolis 500 he never led.
· When #3 Helio Castroneves took the lead on Lap 142, it represented the 1,000th lead change in Indianapolis 500 history.
