MIKE KING:  Great to have Tim Cindric with us, the president of Penske Racing. Tim is actually on the pit box that he calls all of Helio's races. And of course Sam Hornish Jr., Helio Castroneves. Helio, two-time Indy 500 champion. Helio, we were talking the other day about your first three races here. You've done what no other driver has done, in three starts at Indianapolis, your average finish is 1.3. That's not bad. That's not bad. And Sam Hornish Jr., two-time IndyCar(R) Series champion. The team opened at Homestead-Miami Speedway this year running one-two, a great duel between the teammates for the final 10 laps. Perhaps, in my opinion, in IndyCar Series history, it's the best opener we've ever seen and one of the best races start to finish that we've ever seen. A lot of conversation between Tim and Roger during the closing stages of that race. It was fun to hear the post-race press conference. This past weekend, not quite the same outcome. Helio battled, I think you went loose into your first turn, right?

HELIO CASTRONEVES: He's thinking. (Laughter)

KING: We had Kim Morris, our pit reporter, ask Tim why you had slowed up a little bit, and I think Tim said that you had gone a bit loose, but you were holding onto it.

CASTRONEVES: I tell you, every time I go into turn Turn 1 I was praying to not end up in the wall. But anyway, we were able to fix it up in the first pit stop. Unfortunately, we didn't have any yellow as we were expecting, but after we made the first stop, we were able to fix the car, get our lap back and finish sixth, which is good for the championship.

KING: Particularly given what you had to work with your first stint there. Sam uncharacteristically had a bit of a problem, rear got loose on him and brushed the wall. It's kind of funny after the race to talk to the safety team, and if any of you know Mike Yates, who is with the Delphi Safety Team, Mike is a real good guy, and I'm talking to him before the plane takes off and he said, "Sam yelled at me." I said, "What? " He said: "Yeah, he thought we could push start him out there. He didn't realize his wing was damaged, and he wanted us to push start him. And when I told him we had to tow him, he got upset, and he yelled at me." And he stopped for a second and he goes, "Sam's never yelled at me before."

SAM HORNISH JR.: The rear wing was already broke; they couldn’t do any more to it.

KING: So you were, "Just push it." It's great to have you guys. Let's get to Tim's thoughts first. Tim, before you get to Indy, you've got to take your team 7,000 miles to Japan and then come back for the race there and then get set for this race. How difficult a task to do that while you're preparing for the 500?

TIM CINDRIC: After what we did in 2001, where we did both in the same month, it seems pretty easy. I think that we're certainly looking forward to going back to Japan and having a better result. That place hasn't been good to our organization; I think we had a couple second places and a couple should have, could have. We're looking forward to going there and at least getting us back on the right path for Indy. All things considered, relative to last year, at least we've got both guys sitting next to me after Phoenix, whereas last year we were scrambling to figure out how to get to Japan and figure out who was going to drive and what car we were going to use and that type of thing. Relative to Phoenix, I think we're sitting second and fourth in the championship still. Helio was right, I couldn't even watch him through (turns) 1 and 2 anymore, I quit watching him and started watching Sam. Sam was a lot more comforting to watch in the first part of the race than what Helio was. I said hello to you once in a while, but I couldn't watch anymore. Aside from that, we're certainly looking forward to coming back here. Roger (Penske) sends his apologies. He had his day job today so he couldn't make it. Weekdays are tough. But anyway, he's certainly looking forward to coming back here and trying for what would be our fourth straight with relatively the same people in terms of the crew. I would say most of the guys within our organization have been with us since we came back in 2001, and I think that's a big testament to us and not only the race, but they're looking forward to the pit stop competition as well. They're always geared up for that. So here we go.

KING: Helio, two firsts and a second in your first three starts at the Speedway. You don't know anything but success here. Tell us about getting set for the month of May.

CASTRONEVES: Obviously, Tim said most of it. Nothing came like easy. Everybody's been working, everybody is well synchronized, and I think that's most of it. You know, when you have an entire crew that knows what to do and obviously well connect, makes things a little bit easier. But this place, again, as the same way I approached three times, you always have to respect, you always have to work. That's why they gave us the month to make sure that we cover all the areas, and obviously I'm not thinking about what the result, but achieve the result, I guess. Sam is now on the team, for sure it's going to be a big boost for everyone, as well. And again, I don't think we need to change what we've been doing because so far here we've been very successful. But we know the other teams are going to come strong and we just need to keep focus in our team.

KING: Sam, it's hard to believe that we're talking about your fifth start here. It seems just like yesterday you were a rookie here and just a kid. But your fifth start, the previous four haven't gone the way that you had hoped, and you've been a little bit snake-bit here. How do you prepare differently with a brand-new team?

HORNISH: I don't know, I guess the same amount of pressure is always on. Everybody asks me how do you feel about going to the Speedway and driving for Marlboro Team Penske. Like I said before, nobody puts more pressure on me than I do. I'm going to go into this race and be as hungry to win as I ever have been. But I feel that my chances are greatly improved this year, mostly because I have a lot of experience. This team also has a lot of experience winning this race and, you know, I guess two years ago Helio kind of came from nowhere but he was on pace all day long. They had a program, and they stuck to it. It proved that you don't always have to be the fastest car to win this race. I've kind of went about it the wrong way a couple times. Last year gave me a lot of perspective. I mean, we were three or four miles an hour off the pace, and we had good pit stops and were able to move through traffic, and we were right there within sight of the leaders when the engine blew. We're looking forward to this year.

CASTRONEVES: Have you noticed Sam is prettier today, makeup? Look at that.

KING: You know, I've got to say, and I think everyone here will concur, of all the teams that have been in here, you guys across the board have the best hair going. (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: Well, my hair you guys know about, but I give some tips to Sam this time. Look at that.

KING: You all just look like you walked out of the stylist.

CASTRONEVES: We just did that.

KING: I think Sam shot a commercial today. Questions for Marlboro Team Penske.

Q: Tim, this is for you. Sam has a phenomenal record on the mile-and-a-half tracks, and that's the one sort of track where the first two years Team Penske tended not to have an advantage on everyone else. Does Sam sort of provide the missing piece when it comes to the mile-and-a-half tracks or have you learned other things during the first two years that you expect to ratchet up your level of success on those tracks this year?

CINDRIC: Certainly, no question. I think Sam's been great on the mile-and-a-half tracks, but he's been pretty good everywhere else, as well. So I think that he can hold his own wherever he goes. But with regard to our team, it's true that the first, really the first year and a half, through '02 and halfway through '03, it took us a little while to figure out the game because it was different than what we were used to. Some didn't believe us, but coming from the CART program into the IRL program, it's hard to unlearn some things, and it's hard to change your thought process. About halfway through last year, I think we fell onto a few things that started to make sense for us. As you saw, we ended up on the pole at Fontana; I think we were competitive the last half of the year on the bigger tracks. And Texas, we were on the pole there again and certainly competitive throughout the race. It seemed like whenever we had to, I don't know how Helio found at the end of '02 when these two guys were racing each other at Texas, but we went from being completely lost at Texas to running wheel to wheel with this guy the whole time. The fact that he's on our side now makes it a little bit easier to digest that side-to-side program. But no, I think we've definitely made strides as a team, and certainly Sam is a big part of that.

Q: Sam, maybe the answer is obvious since you won your first race ever for Marlboro Team Penske, but when you join a new team, there's a certain feeling-out period where you get to know the team members, the team members get to know you. How well has the team blended with you and you blended with the team so far to get going for this year?

HORNISH: It was kind of hard the first time I went to Reading (Pa.) when we announced the deal. I was still driving for Panther Racing, so it's kind of weird because you're going in there, and you're still kind of the enemy but not so much anymore. The second time I went was right after the Texas race, which was only like two days after the season finish, naturally. So that was a little bit better. We started our, I guess whenever I go to Reading, we have a little poker tournament, which allows me to get to know the guys a little bit better. I seem to talk a little bit more when I'm away from the race cars. I don't know, I guess a little bit of courage. But the guys have all been great. Really nice to me and just made me feel at home more than I ever could. We're still in the learning process, learning each other. You go from a team that has maybe 20 employees to one with 67, and then you've got to learn their names and not only that but their nicknames, and some of the guys have two nicknames. (Laughter) Whatever they're calling you today, you know. But no, it's been great. Everybody's been really receptive and from both sides, both teams, they've really proved there's no A or B team, just the team.

CASTRONEVES: No worry, Sam, still learning the names, too. (Laughter)

Q: Helio, has Sam taught you how to bowl yet?

CASTRONEVES: No. Yeah, that should be our next adventure. I still wait for invitation for his marriage, his wedding. I don't know what's going to happen. Maybe I know why he's not inviting me. (Laughter) No, I'm waiting for that.

Q: Sam, with some of the guys you bowl with, how do you think they would accept Helio?

HORNISH: It's kind of hard –

CASTRONEVES: Wait, wait, think, then breathe. (Laughter) Hey, I used to live in Columbus, Ohio. In fact, when we were doing this autograph on the merchandise, anyway, we were signing autographs, a lot of fans from Ohio came to see Sam. Obviously later on I said, “Listen, I like Ohio, I used to live in Ohio.” So no worries, guys.

HORNISH: I think that going from two years of like when they knew I had to really beat somebody out there on the track, that that was Helio I had to beat. So they probably had a couple of times rooting against him. So it would probably be a little bit awkward for them the first couple times, but you can't help smile when the guy is around. I'm sure everybody would be OK with it after a little while. Never know what can happen but it would be funny, I'm sure.

CASTRONEVES: As long as you bring (Hornish fiancée) Crystal's friends, we'll be fine.

KING: That, by the way, has been a common theme. Helio, you downplayed it a little bit last May, it's never easy to come to this track having the opportunity to do something that no other driver had ever done, and you had the opportunity last year to win your first three starts here at the Speedway, and you played it down, look, I'm approaching this as just another race, you know, got the focus going. Really, though, was it, was there a lot more pressure on you? Were you thinking more about it? When Gil (de Ferran) beat you at the end of the day, did you leave the track saying, “Damn it,” you know?

CASTRONEVES: Yes. (Laughter) That's what I did at Homestead, too, damn it. (Laughter) Anyway, no, approaching way is pretty much the same. As I said, you can't – as Sam was talking about, you're the one putting pressure on yourself. Trust me, my family, they're more upset than anybody that I didn't win, because obviously they'll be all supportive and help me out all the time. Obviously, I want to win more than anybody, but sometimes you just have to learn and accept it. You just can't figure out why or questioning, you know, what happened. So, again, through the whole month we did a hell of a job, especially putting that four laps together in the pole, on the qualifying day. So, you know, when you put those perspective together, you say, man, that wasn't that bad. Unfortunately, we had an awkward situation during the race that made us lose the position. But Gil did obviously a hell of a job coming back from an injury and putting the car as well in that situation. So it's just a matter of being in the right place at the right time. That's why I say this place is magical, because I was very fortunate, not only myself and my team, to do those kind of situations, especially after 500 miles. So the same way is going to happen, I'm going to have a lot of fun through the whole month again, I'm going to enjoy it. I think that's what makes me release any kind of pressure I put on myself.

Q: Question for Sam, what with your Marlboro patch there and your love for poker games. Is it also true, I've heard that you sing in a church choir, is that true? If so, what do you sing? Are you bass or have you gotten Helio there to try to get him and how does he sing?

CASTRONEVES: Oops, we were just singing, actually.

HORNISH: He was singing a little bit of Britney Spears a little while ago. (Laughter) No, I don't sing but I could try sometimes but, no -- I wouldn't say it's vicious, but it's false.

Q: Helio, last May you and Gil drove different cars. You traded back and forth and everything and then made your choices. Is that going to happen again this year?

CASTRONEVES: Well, I don't know. That question should be for this guy here. You're going to like the G Force, it's pretty good. You should go for it. I don't know; it's just a question that I think right now we are comfortable with what we have. But I guess we just have to wait and see.

KING: Tim, you're planning on running just Dallaras in Japan, right?

CINDRIC: I think we'll approach this race like we always do, prepared for whatever we need to do. The rule changes coming in here, we have no idea how that's going to affect the cars, whether it be the G Force or Dallara or affect them equally. The main thing for us is to stay focused throughout the month, regardless of which car we have or what we do. But in our typical fashion we'll prepare ourselves to do either or. But it's certainly not our intention to change the path that we already have. But if the testing shows that it's necessary to do that, then we'll do everything we can to give these guys the things to win.

KING: You'll have G Force chassis prepared just in case?

CINDRIC: Yes.

Q: Tim, your former boss (Bobby Rahal) made a big decision last week to consolidate his team, bring them over to the IRL full time. As a former key member of his team, what are your feelings on that to see him decide to make that call and his partners?

CINDRIC: Well, he and I joke a lot about that. I mean not recently, but when we came over to the IRL, you know, from CART, I had a few calls. But I think that within his organization I can see the same scenario in a lot of ways that we went through as Marlboro Team Penske just a couple years later, whereas the climate changes, and at the end of the day this is a business, and you have to put emotions aside whether you're in the car or out of the car and take care of business. I think that's the situation he was in, as well. It just happened a couple of years later for his organization than it did for ours.

Q: For all of you, actually, the IRL and IndyCar Series are looking at running road courses next year in 2005. Helio's run quite a number of them to begin with, and Sam has early on. Are you guys looking forward to doing some three, four or five road courses, street courses?

HORNISH: I'm excited to do a couple. I think that the IRL needs to remember what has gotten them as far as they have, and that's the people being able to see the whole racetrack, see the finishes, and we have great races on the ovals. I think we do need to throw a couple road courses in there to spice it up. But as long as we don't ever get to the point where, you know, it's more heavily based on road courses or street races or whatever than it is on ovals because you've got to look at the things that have really helped us grow. And while a lot of people will refuse to see that, I mean we have been going in the right direction, and it takes time. You don't just get a hundred million fans overnight; you have to continue to have good races. I think that we can do that on and off road courses.

CASTRONEVES: Well, as racing Brazil and turning right and left, for sure, we're looking for, it was a challenge coming to IRL and racing ovals. I have to learn a lot, and I'm still learning. Yeah, it would be phenomenal having road course back again. Sure, it give us chance to all the different teams that may be not doing well or drivers not be doing well with ovals, show a little bit that they can be fast in road course and stuff like that. So as Sam said, it gives a little bit of spicy on the shining on the series, and right now we already have a lot of our competition and bring this new road course around, it's going to just boost it up the series even more.

Q: This is for both Sam and Helio, and this is purely your personal preference. If each of you could add only two road or street circuits to the IRL schedule, which two would they be?

CASTRONEVES: That's a tough one. I don't know. I like obviously Long Beach is one of the places that I think everybody enjoyed, and Surfers Paradise, yeah. (Laughter)

HORNISH: Or we could just send you over there.

CASTRONEVES: It's good, man, trust me. See Surfers Paradise, you have no regret.

CINDRIC: That was the easy way out. (Laughter)

HORNISH: I'd agree on Long Beach and probably Elkhart Lake or Mid-Ohio.

CINDRIC: I think this whole road course-oval situation, I think we need to go where the market wants us, where the fans want us regardless of turning right, left, oval, racing backward. I don't think it matters where we go, I think it just needs to be the strongest markets in North America. From our perspective, it needs to be wherever the marketplace is best for the IRL to continue to grow, and it shouldn't matter which way we're turning or what way we go. We're in the racing business, and wherever Tony (George) thinks we ought to be to grow this series is where we ought to go.

Q: What about Cleveland, the Beach?

CINDRIC: Let me interpret that for him. (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: I didn't know there was a beach there.

KING: There is, but it's a lake.

CINDRIC: We try to keep him out of those places.

Q: Tim, last year the big story, of course, was Helio would try to go for three in a row, and now Penske is trying to go for four in a row, which I think would be a record. I think you tied it last year. What's the pressure on that?

CINDRIC: Well, I think, first of all, if there's an owner out there that deserves that kind of accolade, to come here and win four times in a row or what have you, it should be Roger. You know, what he's put into this and the passion that he has for it, and I think these guys both share, I know they share the same feelings. Just to be part of that situation and be part of his organization at this event, regardless of the outcome of it, is something special. You know, to be able to go through the month of May and have that type of discussion and that type of scenario, it may or may not play out. But like I said, for a guy to have that opportunity, it should be him.

Q: Gentlemen, Roger has said for many, many years that he won't have team orders if it comes down to the finish. Nothing proved that any better than the Homestead race between the two of you.

CINDRIC: There's always one team order.

Q: Yeah, don't crash. But that was almost in effect for us to see last year here with you and Gil. Do you expect that to maintain itself as the same if it comes down to the two of you for the finish? Will they let you go?

CASTRONEVES: Oh, yeah. At least my point, yes. So far the team's been successful this way.

CINDRIC: It happened for you twice, '01 was the same. Gil tried to pass you on the outside.

CASTRONEVES: I'm sure it's going to continue the same way we've been doing. So for if we're winning this way, why you want to change? Let's just keep the same way.

Q: Which of you two is better? (Laughter)

CINDRIC: At what? (Laughter)

HORNISH: At PR? (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: What? Come on. I can do both. I can fake a little driving, too. (Laughter)

HORNISH: We both have our days.

KING: I feel like I'm watching a joust.

CINDRIC: Next question, Mike.

Q: This is for Sam. Can you talk about being in a team, particularly a team that demands so much teamwork, as opposed to being with a single-car team the last few years?

HORNISH: Well, one of our advantages of being on a single-car team like you don't have to worry about your teammate beating you. That's the biggest one, though. That's really the only advantage. Right now, being with a teammate for the first time in my IndyCar career full time, it's been pretty good so far. I mean I wouldn't say that either one of us have learned a lot from the other person, but we're still kind of getting to know each other. But if you look at the setups on the car, they usually tend to be fairly close when it comes down to the race, you know, I may be running a little bit less wing or even he might. And I've enjoyed it so far because it gives me a benchmark. If I'm having a bad day and there's no other teammate, it could easily be put upon the driver. But if I'm having a good day and I have a teammate, it's easily put on the driver that you're doing a little better job. I don't know how, other than to say it's just been a great, great experience so far and hope that we'll have a lot more one-two finishes. It tends to be exciting when we get running side by side. I know that would be hard to do that here at Indianapolis, but going back to the question of whether there would ever be any team orders, there's nothing more they want than to see the two cars going across the finish line side by side. It would be a great picture.

Q: Tim, a lot of traditions that you liked about this event, some has changed, and I know it's been shut down for a couple of years now, but did you kind of get your eyes well up with tears that you saw the Steak 'N Shake had been leveled across the street? (Laughter)

CINDRIC: Without a doubt. I think the first time I came here and went to go across the street for Steak 'N Shake because I stay in the Speedway Motel just as a tradition, Roger and I both do actually. I think this year we might have negotiated some new carpet in there. (Laughter) Stayed in the same room every year that I've been here. And there's a few traditions I have, and Steak 'N Shake is certainly one of them. That's probably the way I ended every day that I was here. Actually a tear came to my eye here. But I'm sure Tony (George) will make it right with something else.

Q: Tim, how close is your organization to being the prototype that organizations win championships or organization breeds winning? In a good deal of sports, there are individuals who stand out. What it is about the type of component that you have been running the top three teams out here that breeds success?

CINDRIC: I think Roger says it best; it's really the human capital. You can talk about resources, and you can talk about sponsors, and you can see in all forms of racing or motorsports or even athletics where the all-stars don't always win the games, and the people with the most money don't always win the races. Believe me, every weekend we look for how to improve. But I think the thing that I really came to realize moving, not just from my previous organization, but any organization I've been with, whether it was athletics or racing, was really the quality of people that not only work for the race team but work for Roger, in general. He demands that and weeds that out, and it's an attitude, it's an approach. He's not the highest-paying guy out there; he's a lot of different things. Some people really don't, you know, see the whole side of it. I've always said it's either a team you love or a team you hate. You know, I can see after being there how things are a lot different inside from maybe what they appear outside, good and bad. I mean, we have our bad days. We find ourselves fumbling around trying to change a rear wing on Sam's car that should have been changed a lot more efficiently, a lot better, and we weren't prepared for that. We take that to the bank that the next time it won't happen like that again. You know, it comes down to not making the same mistake twice and trying to be prepared for whatever it may take. That obviously takes resources, as well. You have to have the tools to do your job, and that's what Roger tries to give all of us, and at the end of the day there's nobody that expects more results than he does. So it's a give and take, for sure.

Q: Helio, after Homestead when you were in the media room, you had said that somebody asked you, how did you like your result, and you made the comment you were going to call Sam on a regular basis to see how he was doing, how life was treating him, try to get into his head. Did you do it? Did he get a lot of phone calls from you?

CASTRONEVES: Hey, I just got his cell phone number. He doesn't know that he gave me. Not yet, but hold on, give it a time. We're going to have a month here in Indianapolis. (Laughter)

KING: A lot of late-night calls?

Q: Helio, you've been to Ohio, have you gotten Sam to Brazil yet? What would you show him there if he gets there?

HORNISH: I was told I'm not supposed to go to Brazil with Helio. (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: What did you hear?

CINDRIC: It's in his contract that he can't go. (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: What's up, guys? Come on. I'll show the good stuff, the Brazilian beach. Now you're going to get married, man, so I'm sorry, I can't show you.

Q: Have you been to Brazil, Indiana?

CINDRIC: They don't let Brazilians in Brazil, Indiana. (Laughter)

KING: Helio, it's a little town about 30 miles west of here, Brazil.

CASTRONEVES: Oh, Indiana, no. Gil used to translate those things to me. Sam, you need to do that, all right? Don't forget it.

Q: Tim, going back to a previous question, when you get -- when it comes to team improvement, when you get someone in like Sam who has been successful with another operation, do you put the new person through any sort of debriefing or whatever to see whether they have ideas that can be carried over and transferred into the Penske organization? Or do you have your ways of doing things that sort of preclude that?

CINDRIC: I think the answer to that question is not in a formalized way. We don't sit down and interrogate him and put the bright lights on like you have to do. (Laughter) But certainly we go through a process where we try and whether it be strictly the engineering front, the management front, just the guys in general, the PR, the marketing, Phillip Morris, we try and take someone like Sam, and I think he'll speak to this in the first couple months, and expose him to a lot of different things but not really expect a reaction, just absorb it all, see how it goes. And then I think as you get more comfortable, those thoughts will happen and that process will occur. I think I know for certain that I've seen that with Sam. It's not all going to happen in the first week or the first meeting or the first month, but things will start to come out where, hey, you know, we can maybe do this a little different or a little better or what have you. I'm sure he can speak to that much better than I could, because I don't see that firsthand, I just know that my job is to, number one, make him feel welcome in the team, get him acclimated with the different people, have it to where he has one-on-one time with his guys, with his engineer, with Roger and I, with Helio, and just try and bring that continuity because it's really that strength that maybe sets us aside from some of the two-car teams as we try and work together as a team. With Marlboro, that's certainly the way, they emphasize things and they want us to look as Marlboro Team Penske, not just this guy or that guy.

HORNISH: My opinion? I mean, totally, that's one of the biggest parts is just we've made four seats in the offseason, two for each car. But just in doing that, I mean you get to know the guys a little bit better and just to be able to go there in the shop. You sit there, they've got the car up on high stands and they make the seat and you have to sit in it for about 25 minutes to a half an hour, and for the second time I look at all the pictures on the wall, all the Indy 500 wins. It's great to just sit there, and they've got all kinds of little bits of history, and I sit there and I read about, you know, the team or Roger. I feel like I do very little because the schedule is so busy, and you look at all the things he's done. But I mean I've had a great time getting to know everybody. If we're going about something with the setup, I might say let's try this, you know, this is something that I've done in the past, but I firmly believe that these guys know much more about setting the car up than I do. That's their job to do it. So I just tell them what I feel about the car and if I can think of anything that we may have done a little bit differently in the past from radio conversation to actually how the car is, we might try it. But a lot of the things that I found out that we just end up going back to their way of doing it because they've got, been at it for 30-plus years. So there's a lot of know-how and a lot of things they've just perfected over that much time.

KING: Sam, when it comes to – Helio's got two Baby Borgs back in Miami sitting at the condo, he has the champion ring that he always wears. Do you talk to him about winning this race or, you know, Rick Mears I know said that he was going to spend a lot of time talking with you trying to get you over the psychological hump of excelling here. How much conversation is there between either you and Helio or you and Rick pertaining exclusively to this place?

HORNISH: We haven't talked too much about it yet. I think that's something that's kind of getting saved until it's time to come and race here. As far as having a psychological hump or whatever, I don't know that there totally is, it just hasn't happened yet. It hasn't been the right time. I mean, I've pushed hard, and I've got away with things at other tracks that I just haven't been able to get away with here. I kind of look at this track a lot like Phoenix. I don't know, I don't think I ever finished a race at Phoenix until the first time I won there. Johnny Rutherford told me, "It took me 10 years before I ever finished a race at Indianapolis, and I won that race." I thought, “Boy, I hope it doesn't take me 10 years.” (Laughter) But I think that there's going to be – and during May, you know, even just the time that we have been able to spend here, I'm going to try to be learning as much as I can, and Helio has got probably the best record of any person at the Speedway, and you might want to retire while it's still like that. Give me a better chance, but I'm sure he's going to be tough to beat.

CASTRONEVES: So you listen to me, OK? (Laughter)

Q: Helio, there's a lot of competition in the IRL. There's a lot of drivers out there that you got to battle with every week. But the rivalry that you've had with Sam, you know, the two of you are going to be the two guys going at it probably for the rest of your careers. How much do you look at Sam and kind of use him as kind of like a competitive yardstick for what you've got to go out there and do?

CASTRONEVES: Well, as all competitors, as you just said, Sam is another one, obviously. Being specific in the same team, you just have to learn where the strong way and learn where is the weakness way and obviously in those situations is the same way you learn with other competitors, but you just learn with other competitors driving. And I think that happened between Gil and I in so many race. So obviously I see Sam, again it's a great American talent, driving very fast, and that's where we need to find out where we're going to help you and benefit to carry you on and be competitive. When teammate push you, it's good because you don't let the guy and, OK, that's it, and the guy goes ahead and does whatever he's going to do, and I don't care. The way I see, it's going to work and trying to find other ways to beat the teammate, you know, and the same way as I always did with Gil. If both cars are battling at the end of the day, it's just going to be like the rest of the field in the back, and that's what we reach for.

Q: Does it appear that your careers could be on path with like it was with A.J. and Mario? Are they pretty much – there's other guys and drivers –

CASTRONEVES: I hope, I hope. I just hope we'll be like that forever, you know. And we're going to be all the best friends or the best enemies. (Laughter) So far we're getting along OK. Here, you tell that.

CINDRIC: I said if he's as famous as A.J. and Mario, you'd know how to say his name now. (Laughter)

CASTRONEVES: He said that.

KING: By the way, it's Helio.

CASTRONEVES: That's OK, guys.

Q: Have you ever thought of doing stand-up? You've been firing one-liners.

Q: I'm curious, during a normal week, if there is such a thing, how much of your time would be spent with sponsor commitments?

CINDRIC: These guys?

Q: In particular the drivers and you, too, Tim.

HORNISH: Sponsor or PR? There's a big difference. So far this week about three hours. I mean, it's not – everybody told me, you go to Marlboro Team Penske you're going to be working all the time, flying here, flying there, doing all this. I think I had more stuff to do last year, but it's – not that I want more.

CINDRIC: It's coming. (Laughter)

HORNISH: It's great. Everything that we do –

HORNISH: Everything that we do is very worthwhile, and it's right on track. Everything is very organized.

KING: We've got to wrap it up here in a second. It's 3:30. Sam, real quick, you and Crystal, your fiancée, you're going to be getting married the Saturday following the 500. Now, thinking back to my wedding – and, let's see, Helio, you're not married, so you can't do that – Tim, are you married?

CINDRIC: Yeah.

KING: OK. You remember what it was like the week or two before your weddings. How are you going to manage this? Is it going to be tough?

HORNISH: In what sense of the word?

KING: Getting set to get married, and you're going to be here the entire month

CINDRIC: You're a guy here; you're not helping.

KING: Yeah, I'm just wondering because it could be a distraction, I guess.

HORNISH: I've got a lot of things working on my side. One, I've got a fiancée that's very organized. Everything is taken care of. She has all the invitations ready. They haven't been sent out yet, but everything's ready. The hall is booked, food is pretty much taken care of, everything is right on track. I get to be in Indianapolis all month of May and hopefully, if I win, I get to go and do all the other stuff while she's fretting over the last couple of days. I get to show up on time. (Laughter) So I've got three good things working on my side right now. I'm very excited about it.

Q: Helio invited?

HORNISH: I'm going to make him sweat a little bit longer.

KING: Gentlemen, we've gone on a bit over our allotted time. Thanks to Marlboro Team Penske.