Helio castroneves 2021 driver#

Helio castroneves 2021 driver#

and Rick Mears, his former mentor at Team Penske, as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.” Mears was the last driver to join the club in 1991.Ĭastroneves became the fourth-oldest winner in Indianapolis 500 history, behind Al Unser (47, 1987), Bobby Unser (47, 1981) and Emerson Fittipaldi (46, 1993).Īfter climbing down the fence, Castroneves ran nearly a mile down the frontstretch for a victory lap on foot.

When the Brazilian took the checkered flag, he rushed to the fence for his traditional “Spiderman” climb that belied his 46 years.Ĭastroneves had been trying since 2009 to join A.J. Given permission to open 40% of the grandstands this year, the exuberant crowd came in droves and went wild for Castroneves' historic win for the old guys.īiding his time until the moment was right, the veteran passed 24-year-old Alex Palou with two laps remaining and the frenzied crowd roared its approval. The race was postponed to August a year ago and held without spectators for the only time in its 105-year history. He became just the fourth four-time winner of the Indy 500 on Sunday in front of 135,000 fans at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, easily the largest and loudest sporting event since the start of the pandemic.

INDIANAPOLIS – The Indianapolis 500 was meant to mark the return of some sort of normalcy, at least for the marquee sporting events that Americans find so meaningful.įor Helio Castroneves, Indy provided a professional rebirth that pushed him into an elite club that last welcomed a new member 30 years ago.