To some of the world, Helio Castroneves is known as that racecar driver that won a Dancing with the Stars trophy, and he doesn’t mind people reminding him of that experience.
“In fact, when people don’t remind me, I try to remind them that I worked really hard to win that competition,” Castroneves comments. “I really appreciate the support of the racing community. I enjoy very much when people talk about it.”
Though instead of talking about what the Brazilian is doing off the track, this year they’re talking about what he is doing on the track. So far, Castroneves is having a stellar season as he leads the points, 23 points over defending series champion Ryan Hunter-Reay.
“Whenever you’re leading the championship, when it’s by 1 point or 100 points, it’s always good news,” Castroneves says. “Of course, we still have a long way, eight more races to go, a lot of points in the game. We’ve got to keep doing what we’re doing because right now, it’s keeping us up there.”
With being in IndyCar for 13 years now, some wonder how Castroneves keeps himself motivated to keep going after that first championship.
“I’m always motivated, doesn’t matter whether I’m first or last,” he says. “I love what I do. You have to learn how to enjoy the small, good moments, because racing is very, very brutal sometimess. For me I’ve learned how to enjoy that. I cannot only live in that moment. We just have to keep moving forward. I have a great team, a great car. Hopefully this weekend in Toronto we’ll continue doing a great job.”
To win a championship, Castroneves that it would be great as it would showcase what all their work has built up to.
“We’ve been always pushing, been very competitive every year,” he says. “You can only control what’s around you. Hopefully this year so far we’ve been able to do that, put ourselves in a good opportunity.
“It would mean a lot. I would be extremely happy to get this title. But I know there’s still a lot of racing to go, a lot of points, and I’m going to continue pushing for it.”
The next challenge for the Penske Racing driver will be the streets of Toronto this weekend as he looks for his first Toronto podium. The Honda Indy Toronto will also mark the second doubleheader of the season, following the first one of the year in Detroit.
“We certainly understand how it works,” Castroneves comments. “But because we’ve been through one, we know it’s not going to be the same. I believe people going to re-adjust from one race to another.”
Castroneves says that Toronto is a traditional street course – very tight and technical.
“Plus we’re going to be standing start (for Race 1), so it’s also another trick, something else for us to think about,” he continues. “But in the end of the day, we know what we need to do. Hopefully we put ourselves in good qualifying so we can start at the front.”
INDYCAR made the announcement that for race one of both the Toronto and Houston doubleheaders, they will be doing standing starts as a way to mix it up. Meanwhile, race two will have the traditional rolling starts.
“It’s going to be interesting when you have the clutch in your hand,” Castroneves says of the standing start. “We don’t have 900 horsepower like we used to have. You can wheel spin a lot. There’s a lot involved.
“Hopefully it’s for the best. Hopefully we take advantage that we can make good starts and collect double points.”
The doubleheader format is something that was questioned before the start of the season, espically with the turnaround time between races. Castroneves says for the promoters, it makes sense. However, it can be tough on the driver and mechanics.
“To do a race in IndyCar, it’s tough,” Castroneves says from a driver perspective. “We don’t have power steering. Street courses are very bumpy. It is very physically demanding.
“I think there is a lack of patience from the drivers, as well. They run the first race, and they know, Man, you know what, I’m going to kick that guy’s butt. That’s what happened in Detroit, a lot of people had a lot of issues in the second race.”
Castroneves hopes to put down two solid races this weekend and build momentum heading into the rest of the season, through a combination of maturity, experience and having a good group of guys behind him.
“It’s a combination of a lot of things,” Castroneves says. “So hopefully we keep going. Like I said, I have Roger (Penske) since I’ve been here on the team, we have four races together, and three of them was one win and a second and second. Last weekend unfortunately we had to do a saving fuel mode, but we had potential to finish another top five. I enjoy it, working with Roger directly. So it’s a lot of good things happening in a good way for us.”
