Castroneves optimistic about another shot at Indy 500 - MotorSportsTalk

ELKHART LAKE, Wis. — Helio Castroneves is optimistic team owner Roger Penske will give him another chance to win the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time next year.

Castroneves no longer races full-time in IndyCar after a nearly two-decade career with Penske that included Indy 500 wins in 2001, 2002 and 2009. He now drives for Penske’s IMSA sports car racing team, and Penske brought him back to IndyCar for the month of May the past two years.

Will he be able to pull off a similar deal with Penske next year to go after a record-tying fourth Indy win?

Castroneves said it will depend largely on finding a sponsor, a search he believes will be helped greatly by the fact that another Penske driver, Simon Pagenaud, won Indy in May.

“The good news is, the team won the Indy 500,” Castroneves said. “Which helps tremendously to talk not only with sponsors, and with Roger. I did hear he’s talking about a fourth car. But who knows? I’m feeling confident that there could be another year, but let’s see.”

In a text message to The Associated Press, Penske said, “At the moment I think he will be in our plans.”

Outside of another shot with Penske, Castroneves’ options appear to be limited. Castroneves said his contract to drive for Penske’s IMSA team has a clause that prevents him from racing against Penske in any other series that the team competes in.

“I don’t think my contract allows a possibility of (racing Indy for another team) next year with (a Penske contract in) IMSA still,” Castroneves said. “We’re not allowed to race against them. I can race in Brazil, or Europe – anything that they’re not competing in. Which is understandable.”

Castroneves, who was at the IndyCar race at Road America over the weekend as a corporate ambassador for race title sponsor the REV Group, acknowledged it is difficult to be at an IndyCar race and not to be behind the wheel.

“When you jump in at the Grand Prix and jump in in Indianapolis, it’s like a case of `why?’ It’s actually worse,” Castroneves said. “Because I know I can do it. Especially after Indy Grand Prix. I only had one day (in the car,) and I was five hundredths away from the fast six (in qualifying.) Which shows that I have it, you know? But I trust the system, I trust the team and we’ll see what happens. And also doing the sports car program, it’s a great challenge. It’s very nice.”

The 44-year-old Brazilian is exploring some business opportunities outside racing, but wants to continue his career.

“I want to keep going, obviously,” Castroneves said. “I love racing. To be honest, that’s what I know what to do best.”

DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

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“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

New texts alert sound just dropped.@josefnewgarden| @EmpireStateBldg pic.twitter.com/YWLpS9UWrN

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 31, 2023

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”