Despite poor starting position, Helio Castroneves’ 'drive for five' is still alive
INDIANAPOLIS - He may be starting 27th in Sunday's 106th Running of the Indianapolis 500, but Helio Castroneves is very confident he can win a record fifth win in the Greatest Spectacle In Racing.
The 47-year-old Brazilian made history last year when he won his record-tying fourth 500 last year, joining the legendary company of A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr, and Rick Mears.
Now he looks to take the record all to himself.
Castroneves admitted that his starting position in the back of the pack does put him at a disadvantage, but he said racing to the front is a challenge that is “difficult, but not impossible”.
“I do have a great team,” Castroneves said. “I do have a great car like I proved last year.
“Yes, maybe it is a little different than having 4-5 cars in front of you compared to having 15-20. But I’ve been in this situation before and I know what to do.”
In 105 previous editions of the race, one driver has won the Indy 500 from the 27th position. Fred Frame achieved the feat in 1932.
Only two drivers have won the race from a worse starting position. Both of those winners started 28th (Ray Harroun and Louie Meyer).
Castoneves believes that one silver lining from his poor qualifying effort is that a lot of other big names qualified towards the back of the pack as well
“You have Colton [Herta], you have (Juan Pablo) Montoya, you have (Alexander) Rossi. Marco [Andretti] is there too,” Castroneves said. “You have a good group of guys. Hopefully if we can organize ourselves, maybe we can actually move to the front.”
So, now that Helio revealed his thoughts on his chances, what do the other four-timers think?
One of them offered his thoughts on Helio’s drive for five.
“I'm not going to be supportive,” said four-time winner Rick Mears before breaking out into laughter.
Rick Mears says Helio Castroneves can win a fifth Indy 500 on Sunday. Photo: IndyCar
Mears, of course, was joking.
“No, as a matter of fact, I told him just the other day, I said ‘all of you know how much of a people person Helio is’,” Mears said. “I said, ‘you'd better be very careful what you wish for here’. If you win that fifth, first of all, we're going to kick you out of the club and you're going to be all by yourself. Nobody to hang out with. So be careful.”
In all seriousness, Mears stated he supports Castroneves’ efforts and thinks a five-time winner of the 500 would be great for the sport.
Castroneves isn’t letting his starting position affect his motivation, though. For him, the biggest concern is just making safe passes and ensuring his pit crew doesn’t make any mistakes - both of which can separate an Indy 500 win and a loss.
“You got to do your homework,” Castroneves said. “To achieve what we achieved last year, we got to do more. We didn't do a very good job in qualifying, I admit. We win as a team and we lose as a team.
“That’s why I said ‘let’s work on it. Let’s get our heads where we need to in order to fix it’, and we did. We know that the car is good in traffic. Lacking a little bit of speed? Yes. But that doesn’t make me afraid of going for it.
"It might be difficult to hold it, but I was able to pass. That’s where you start understanding what you need to do. I feel like we can do it.”