Castroneves has sights set on first win of 2016 and first ever at Toronto - MotorSportsTalk

The first 10 races of this season has been somewhat of an elevator ride for Helio Castroneves.

Up, down, up, down – that’s how the Brazil native has been scored in the Verizon IndyCar Series standings.

He was sixth after Phoenix, third after the Indianapolis 500, second after Belle Isle Race 1, back to third after Belle Isle Race 2, second after Elkhart Lake and then fell back to fifth after this past Sunday’s race at Iowa.

“We keep shuffling around in the points standings, so it would be nice to start setting ourselves apart from that little group we’ve been in,” said Castroneves, who is still looking for his first win of 2016. His best finish thus far has been second in the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis.

Castroneves now prepares for Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto, a place that has been very good to him of late. He finished third there in last season’s race, and was second in 2013’s Race 2 and 2014’s Race 1 in the doubleheader events there.

While he has one pole there (2014 Race 2), he’s never won on the temporary street course in 13 tries (including four in the former Champ Car World Series league).

Could it be that Castroneves may be able to not only check off his first career win at Toronto and his first win of 2016 with the same effort on Sunday?

He sure thinks so.

“Toronto has been pretty good to us overall,” Castroneves said. “On the track, we’ve done pretty well over the last few years.

“The Pennzoil Chevy team definitely is looking to break through with a victory. Last week at Iowa was frustrating, but we have to move on and keep it in the past.”

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With three multiple winners now vying for the championship, the Monster Energy AMA Supercross Series heads to Round 11 at Lumen Field in Seattle, Washington.

Chase Sexton earned his second victory of the season in Detroit when Aaron Plessinger fell on the final lap. Though he was penalized seven points for disobeying a flag, Sexton is third in the championship race. The Honda rider trails leader Cooper Webb (two victories) by 17 points, and defending series champion Eli Tomac (five wins) is three points behind Webb in second with seven races remaining.

Tomac won last year in Seattle on the way to his second season title.

Honda riders have a Supercross-leading 20 victories in the Seattle event but none at Lumen Field since Justin Barcia in 2013. Tomac and Barcia are the only past 450 Seattke winners entered in Saturday’s event.

Here are the pertinent details for watching Round 11 of the 2023 Supercross season in Seattle:

(All times are ET)

BROADCAST/STREAMING SCHEDULE: TV coverage of Round 11 will begin Saturday at 10 p.m. ET streaming on Peacock with a re-air Monday at 1 a.m. ET on CNBC. The Race Day Live show (including qualifying) will begin on Peacock at 4:30 p.m. ET Saturday.

NBC Sports will have exclusive live coverage of races, qualifiers and heats for the record 31 events in SuperMotocross. The main events will be presented on Peacock, NBC, USA Network, CNBC, and NBC Sports digital platforms.

Peacock will become the home of the SuperMotocross World Championship series in 2023 with live coverage of all races, qualifying, and heats from January to October. There will be 23 races livestreamed exclusively on Peacock, including a SuperMotocross World Championship Playoff event. The platform also will provide on-demand replays of every race. Click here for the full schedule.

POINTS STANDINGS: 450 division l 250 division

ENTRY LISTS: 450 division l 250 division

EVENT SCHEDULE (all times ET):

Here are the start times for Saturday’s Supercross Round 11 in Seattle, according to the Monster Energy Supercross schedule from the AMA:

4:50 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 1
5:05 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:20 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 1
5:35 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 1
6:25 p.m.: 250SX Group B Qualifying 2
6:40 p.m.: 250SX Group A Qualifying 2
7:55 p.m.: 450SX Group A Qualifying 2
8:10 p.m.: 450SX Group B Qualifying 2
10:06 p.m.: 250SX Heat 1
10:20 p.m.: 250SX Heat 2
10:34 p.m.: 450SX Heat 1
10:48 p.m.: 450SX Heat 2
11:22 p.m.: 250SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:34 p.m.: 450SX Last Chance Qualifier
11:54 p.m.: 250SX Main Event
12:28 a.m.: 450SX Main Event