Podcast: Helio Castroneves on the advice that kept him at Team Penske

By Jan 21, 2019, 11:45 AM EST
Matt Sullivan/Getty Images
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When his racing career reached a crossroads with Team Penske two years ago, Helio Castroneves solicited advice from someone who had stood at the same juncture.

The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner asked a four-time winner of the Indy 500 who also has spent nearly his entire racing life with car owner Roger Penske.

Castroneves, who had options to drive for other race teams, said it was a “pivotal point” in deciding to remain with Penske but move into the IMSA sports car series last year after a 20-season career in IndyCar.

“I sat down with Rick Mears and asked him, ‘What would you do?’ ” Castroneves said on the latest edition of the NASCAR on NBC Podcast. “He said, ‘It’s difficult for me because I’ve made my decision. But I can see you still have the fire in the guts and still want to do it.’

“He mentioned something I’ll share with everyone today. ‘He said RP is an incredible human being. At the end of day, stick with him. I guarantee it’ll be the best for you.’ ”

ROLEX 24 COVERAGE: Full announcer lineup, NBCSN/NBC Sports App schedule

The 30-time winner in IndyCar, including the 2001, ’02 and ’09 Indy 500s, said he had options to leave after driving full time for Penske from 2000-17. The talks with other teams came close to yielding official offers, which Castroneves had planned “to bring to Roger and say, ‘This is what we’ve got. You’re a businessperson. Guide me.’”

But his talk with Mears, who tied a record for Indy 500 wins while racing at Penske from 1978-92, helped assuage any doubts Castroneves had about departing Penske.

“I start playing a little movie in my head,” Castroneves said about hearing Mears’ suggestion. “In 2000-01 when we moved from CART to the IRL, I kept with Team Penske. When I had my case with the tax scenario in 2008, (Penske) stayed and backed up me up. So you start making any these scenarios. I’m like, ‘You know what, Rick is right.’ That’s what I should do.

“I’m extremely happy and hopefully I can accomplish another goal with him which is the Daytona 24.”

Teamed with Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi in the No. 7 Acura ARX-05 Daytona Prototype International, Castroneves will be making his second Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona start after finishing ninth overall with Taylor and Graham Rahal last year (coverage of the race will begin Saturday on NBCSN at 2 p.m.).

Helio Castroneves tests his Acura at Daytona International Speedway. (Brian Cleary/LAT Images)

Castroneves will share the ride with Taylor, a veteran American of sports car racing, for the 2019 season in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The pair won last year at Mid-Oho Sports Car Course in Castroneves’ rookie season.

“Ricky Taylor is a phenomenal kid with more (sports car) experience than myself,” Castroneves said. “It’s fun. I missed this. I want to keep going as far as I can. It’s definitely a new challenge. New tracks. New cars. It’s starting all over again. It’s great. I’m just so blessed I’m still racing.”

Though he is adjusting to a new cockpit with a lower steering wheel, Castroneves has found the cars to be less demanding on his neck. That in part is why the effervescent Brazilian, who will turn 44 in May, believes he can follow the path of Scott Pruett and race into his 50s.

“I’m just starting, man,” Castroneves said on the podcast. “No question, I hope I can drive just like Pruett did. I see a lot of drivers way older than me who still are driving very well. That would be my goal.”

But he also is keeping a hand in IndyCar. For the second consecutive season, he will return in an Indianapolis 500 one-off with Penske and also might run the Indianapolis Grand Prix as a warmup.

“Oh I do still miss it,” Castroneves said of IndyCar. “Twenty years! It’s like that ex-girlfriend, I still need to tell her, ‘Honey, come on. Let’s do one more time.’

“It’s hard to give up 20 years and wipe it out from your memory. The good news is the transition has been phenomenal because now I’m still racing at a point in my career that I feel I can still be very competitive.

And this is able to calm those urges of, ‘I should do it.’

“Definitely IMSA has been able to fulfill that. And I’m glad! Because otherwise I’d be depressed, smoking, drinking and be miserable.”

In the podcast, Castroneves also discusses:

–His joy of racing against Alex Zanardi again in this year’s Rolex 24;

–His thoughts on the renaissance IndyCar is experiencing;

–How he witnessed the evolution of safety in racing. Castroneves ran his first race in 1998 after a practice crash that he was “99% sure” caused a concussion.

“Back then I just remember my head hurt so bad, but I said I’ve got to be able to race my first race,” he said. “Even that evolution of the cars and safety of tracks, it’s still a very dangerous sport. I’m very fortunate to have big crashes and get out of there without serious injury. Those things you’ve got to feel blessed to do something you love and know the risk and still able to come back home and see your family.”

–Whether he still keeps up with Dancing With The Stars contestants 10 years after winning the event;

To listen to the podcast, you can click the embed above or by downloading the episode on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Play or Stitcher.

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
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LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).