Motorsport Images
Castroneves joins list of four-time winners with thrilling Indy 500 triumph
Helio Castroneves capped a thriller in the closing laps of the Indianapolis 500 to become the newest member of the four-time winner’s club in his first drive for Meyer Shank Racing.
It was a duel to the end with Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou coming up just 0.4928s short at the checkered flag as Honda-powered drivers completed a 1-2 finish ahead of Team Penske’s Simon Pagenaud. Arrow McLaren SP’s Pato O’Ward was fourth and Ed Carpenter followed as Chevrolet completed the top five.
The driver nicknamed "Spiderman" stopped just after the yard of bricks and leapt from the No. 06 Sirius/XM Honda to climb the fence for the first time since 2009. Rather than move toward the podium, the Brazilian started a new tradition by running backwards up the track, cheering with fans and hugging MSR crew members and former Team Penske teammate Will Power and MSR teammate Jack Harvey along the way.
A breakthrough moment at Indy for Shank (far right) amid the four-finger salutes for Castroneves. Motorsport Images
Before he ran off, team owner Michael Shank joined Castroneves by climbing the fence, and moments later, team co-owner Jim Meyer gave the 46-year-old a massive hug. Castroneves, welcome to the exclusive club with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears.
“I can’t thank the entire organization [enough],” said the 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021 Indy 500 winner. “Power by Honda -- I needed it most and they were right there. I love Indianapolis. The fans, they give me energy. This is absolutely incredible.”
Castroneves drove for Wayne Taylor Racing in January at IMSA’s Rolex 24 At Daytona, winning overall in the No. 10 Acura ARX-05 DPi. He’s perfect so far in 2021.
“I knew I had to fight, put the elbows out,” Castroneves added. “Man, I only did two races this year and I won two. You think I still got it? It’s not the end of it. It’s the beginning. The old guys are still kicking the young guy’s butts.”
Palou looked strong while leading past the start/finish line to start Lap 199, but Castroneves shot past entering Turn 1, and with a big line of slower cars ahead, traffic had the potential to ruin the MSR driver’s run, but he was not significantly slowed as the field tore around the oval to start the final lap.
https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1399099805574520832
Palou closed slightly into Turn 1, but Castroneves got a great run out of the corner and again leaving Turn 2, and with a few car lengths in hand, the motored around Turns 3 and 4 to reach the checkered flag without the Spaniard in tow. Despite losing to one of the Indy 500’s all-time greats, Palou showed his team and the 135,000 fans in attendance that he’s something special at the Speedway.
“Oh man, it hurts,” he said. “It’s the Indy 500. I cannot be angry about finishing second. And man, Honda gave us a lot of speed. Super proud of finishing second. It hurts, but it hurts less being beaten by the best in the business.”
O’Ward held third as Castroneves and Palou were locked in their fight for the win, and after trying to make a great run to catch the leaders, a slight loss of speed allowed Pagenaud, the 2019 Indy 500 winner, to take third.
“He’s a great friend and writing a great page of history in Indianapolis,” the Frenchman said after finishing 0.5626s arrears to his former teammate. “Very happy for him, but very disappointed for myself. I think one more lap, I could get Helio.”
O’Ward did big things for his AMSP team, which was slightly off the pace all month at Indy.
“I really think we did a perfect race,” said the Mexican who won the second Texas race just prior to the 500, and came home 0.9409s behind Castroneves. “I don’t think we could have done anything better. We just needed to be faster. I would have loved to get this win for everybody, but we didn’t have enough speed.”
Carpenter had a few challenges on the way to finishing fifth, with an early stall on pit lane and shifting issues, but he persevered and recovered to finish 1.2424s behind the winner. His team, led by Rinus VeeKay and Conor Daly, ran up front for 72 laps on Sunday, but both faded with VeeKay taking eighth and Daly 13th.
“We were pretty fortunate to get up into the top five,” Carpenter said of the No. 20 Ed Carpenter Racing Chevy. “I stalled it. Fought hard, kept my head in the game. The guys were great in the pits. At least we were able to fight our way back in it. A lot of things to be happy about. Not a bad day.”
After Carpenter, the top 10 was rounded out with Santino Ferrucci maintaining his incredible Indy 500 finishing record, taking sixth with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing -- adding to his seventh and fourth places -- in the No. 45 Honda. The driver with the longest haul was Dreyer & Reinbold Racing’s Sage Karam, who raced from 31st to seventh in the No. 24 Chevy.
Spectacular early on, VeeKay faded to eighth in the closing stages. Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
VeeKay was eighth in the No. 21 Chevy, AMSP’s Juan Pablo Montoya was ninth in the No. 86 Chevy, and Ganassi’s Tony Kanaan, who started fifth and fell towards the back after the first pit stop sequence, charged back to 10th in the No. 48 Honda.
Outside of Pagenaud, best of the rest among Penske drivers was Josef Newgarden, who tried an alternate pit strategy that helped him to improve from 21st to 12th.
As high as the highlights were for the finishers up front, the bottom half of the field was littered with dashed hopes and big disappointments.
Chip Ganassi Racing went from the strongest overall team heading into the first round of pit stops to the biggest losers as the team’s plan to run long was dashed when Stefan Wilson crashed entering pit lane. With no response from his brakes, the Andretti Autosport driver pumped his brake pedal and when they caught, his car slewed sideways and hit the right-side wall. The timing of the ensuing caution was everything race leader Scott Dixon and fellow CGR top-10 runners Kanaan and Marcus Ericsson didn’t need.
https://twitter.com/RACERmag/status/1399052059224199170
Forced to make emergency pit stops, Dixon suffered most as he coasted into the pit stall with his motor silenced by an empty tank. He’d sit and lose an immense amount of time as the car refused to fire, and by the time it did, and he returned when the pits were open to receive full service, a lap was lost. His other teammates, barring Palou, would go through the same emergency procedure and tumble to the rear.
Palou, by chance, was able to circulate under the caution and make a normal stop that kept him in contention all day, but for the former points leader, leaving Indy with the pole and a finish of 17th as Palou claimed the championship lead was well shy of expectations. Ericsson, like Kanaan in 10th, never gave up and got back to 11th by the finish.
“It was just unlucky with that yellow,” Dixon said. “Unfortunate day for us. It hurt a few of us from the team. Tried to go longer on that first stop and it hurt us.”
Ahead of Dixon, Colton Herta spent most of the afternoon in the mix up front, but fell back over the last two pit stops to an unrepresentative 16th. Remarkably, it was the best result among the six-car squad. Teammate Ryan Hunter-Reay was another strong presence for Andretti, but the no-brakes-then-full-brakes snake bit him as he blew past the point where he needed to be at the pit lane speed limit; a penalty for speeding dropped the 2014 Indy winner from a top five to 22nd. And the misery for Andretti Autosport wasn’t over.
Hunter-Reay’s teammate Alexander Rossi went through the same out-of-fuel anguish as Dixon, and the two spent a lot of the race running in tandem at the rear of the field. Dixon’s choice to go into hyper fuel-saving mode to eliminate a pit stop is what helped the No. 9 Honda to take 17th; without a similar tactic for Rossi’s No. 27 Honda, he was left two laps down in 29th.
Penske’s Will Power made great inroads from starting in 32nd, but like Wilson, going from no brakes to locked brakes in an instant on pit lane caused his car to spin, and while he didn’t hit anything, his day was ruined on the way to placing 30th.
Paretta Autosport’s Simona de Silvestro didn’t have a ton of speed to offer, but she kept digging until the same absence and rapid appearance of braking spun her car into the inside pit wall, damaging the rear suspension and relegating her to 31st.
Graham Rahal went from leading to crashing after his crew sent the No. 15 RLL Honda from the pit stall without the left-rear wheel held in place with a nut. He was uninjured and credited with 32nd. And behind them, Wilson had the unfortunate distinction of being first out in 33rd.
There wasn’t a lot of action of interest until the important laps arrived, as drivers focused on saving fuel for most of their stints. In-car footage confirmed that passing attempts were indeed possible for most of the race, but big lifts to improve fuel mileage on a day that only had two cautions is what kept a flurry of passing from taking place.
Nonetheless, it’s the finish that we’ll remember, and what an amazing finish is was with the second-oldest driver in the field of 33 schooling two of the youngest race winners in the series with Palou and O’Ward in that final blast to the checkered flag. And then there was Pagenaud, quiet all month until it mattered with a late pass to demote O’Ward.
And Carpenter, representing for his team, and Castroneves’ old crew chief Matt Swan from 1999 coming back to lead him to victory at the 500. And Shank, who loves nothing more than drinking Busch Lites with fans, knocking back a can on national television during the post-race interviews.
The magic, of Indy, with all the pageantry and surprises, in front of 135,000 fans at Roger Penske’s facility, closing with the happiest driver in the world receiving the one thing he waited 12 years to achieve by earning his fourth spot on the BorgWarner trophy.
It was a Penske-perfect day, with a upset win by a former Penske driver. How incredible.
https://twitter.com/IndyCar/status/1399092045613080580
AS IT HAPPENED
Will Power’s race went off without a spark as his No. 12 Chevy failed to start and leave the grid with the rest of the cars. He rejoined at the back of the field without issue after the car decided to fire.
Cool temperatures in the low 60s meant the cars would make ample downforce in the thicker air, and with 135,000 fans watching, the field of 33 rocketed into Turn 1 with Dixon leading Herta into Turn 1, and by Turn 3, Herta took the lead as VeeKay remained in P3. VeeKay took P2 from Dixon on Lap 2 entering Turn 3 and went after Herta, taking the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 3.
Power was charging, up to P25 from a P32 start on Lap 4.
By Lap 8, VeeKay held 0.4s on Herta and 0.9s on Dixon.
Lap 10 had a top 10 of VeeKay, Herta, Dixon, Carpenter, Kanaan, Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, Palou, Ericsson, and Rossi, 3.8s behind the Dutchman.
At the back of the field Wilson was P28 followed by Bourdais, Karam, de Silvestro, Kellett, and Chilton in P33. By Lap 12, Harvey was in P15 after starting P20.
Lap 20 had a top 10 of VeeKay, Herta, Dixon, Carpenter, a change with Castroneves taking P5 from Kanaan, Hunter-Reay, Palou, Ericsson, and Rossi, 4.0s behind the Dutchman. Simon Pagenaud demoted teammate Power from P25 to P26. On Lap 22, Hunter-Reay took P6 from Kanaan. Herta is doing an excellent job of staying close and drafting off of VeeKay. Dixon hovers between 0.4-0.9s back, doing the same.
Lap 30 had a top 10 of VeeKay, Herta, Dixon, Carpenter, Castroneves, Hunter-Reay, Kanaan, Palou, Ericsson, and Rossi, 4.7s behind the Dutchman. VeeKay was first to pit at the end of Lap 31, locking up a tire while slowing his car at the top of the lane. Carpenter was in on the next lap, the two leading Chevys, along with Hunter-Reay and Ed Jones.
By Lap 33, the majority of the field had pitted as Carpenter stalled and lost crucial time. Dixon stayed out as the caution came out for the first accident as Stefan Wilson went too fast into the pit lane, locked up and speared into the right pit wall, breaking the right-front suspension.
Dixon pitted from the lead on Lap 37 as he ran out of fuel and Castroneves inherited the lead while still needing to make his first stop. Dixon’s car refused to fire, losing a lap as it eventually started. Rossi also required an emergency stop, and dealt with the same failure to fire and delay. Once fired, Rossi nearly spun leaving his pit stall. Dixon pitted the next lap for full service and Rossi would do the same.
Lap 40 had Herta, VeeKay, Daly, Hunter-Reay, Castroneves, Palou, O’Ward, Sato, McLaughlin, and Rahal completing the top 10 under caution. The disaster for Dixon and Rossi was on display with their new homes in P31 and P32, one lap down.
Lap 47 restart sees Castroneves go ham, moving from P5 to P3 to chase VeeKay and Herta. At the back Kanaan was demoted by the series due to taking emergency service, and Hildebrand and Ericsson were there. All by Palou from Ganassi was at the back after being inside the top 10 before Wilson’s crash.
Daly reclaimed P3 from Castroneves and on Lap 50, took P2 from Herta. He took P1 from teammate VeeKay into Turn 3 on Lap 50 as well.
Lap 50 closed with a top 10 of Daly, VeeKay, Herta, Castroneves, Palou, Sato, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, McLaughlin, and Rahal, 3.2s behind Daly.
Castroneves took P3 from Herta on Lap 55. O’Ward did the same to a weaving Sato on Lap 58, moving into P6.
Lap 60 had a top 10 of Daly, VeeKay, Castroneves, Herta, Palou, O’Ward, Sato, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, McLaughlin, and Rahal, 3.1s behind Daly. Rossi was P31 and Dixon P32, still one lap down. Lap speeds hovered in the 217-218mph range as not much was happening in the middle of the stint.
Lap 60 had a top 10 of Daly, VeeKay, Castroneves, Herta, Palou, O’Ward, Sato, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, McLaughlin, and Rahal, 3.1s behind Daly. Rossi was P31 and Dixon P32, still one lap down.
Castroneves improved to P2 on Lap 69 as VeeKay pitted for fuel.
Lap 70 had a top 10 of Daly, Castroneves, Herta, Palou, O’Ward, Sato, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, McLaughlin, Rahal, and Newgarden 3.7s behind Daly. Rossi were still in P31 and Dixon P32.
Daly pitted from the lead at the end of Lap 71 as Castroneves, Herta, and the train behind kept motoring. Lap 76 started a big wave of pit stops for those behind the leaders. Lap 77 had Herta take the lead from Castroneves as they headed to pit lane. Castroneves’ stop was a little bit slower than Herta’s, which played out when they got back to racing and were separated by four cars.
Lap 80 had a top 10 of Rahal, Sato, Ericsson, Kanaan, Hildebrand, O’Ward, Rosenqvist, Montoya, VeeKay, and Daly as pit stops continued. Rahal pitted from the lead at the end of Lap 81. Rosenqvist’s tough season continued with the announcement of a penalty for speeding on pit lane.
Lap 83 had O’Ward taking P3 from Herta. Sato too P8 from teammate Rahal on Lap 86.
Lap 90 featured a top 10 of Daly, VeeKay, O’Ward, Herta, Hunter-Reay, Palou, Castroneves, Sato, Rahal, and Newgarden, 3.0s behind Daly.
Lap 91 saw Hunter-Reay pass teammate Herta for P4.
The halfway point, Lap 100, featured a top 10 of Daly, VeeKay, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, Herta, Palou, Castroneves, Sato, Rahal, and Newgarden, 2.9s behind Daly. Newgarden pitted on Lap 101, promoting McLaughlin to P10.
VeeKay took the lead from Daly in Turn 3 on Lap 103 as the two pitted. A slow stop for Daly with the left-rear meant VeeKay pitted with a one-car length advantage and return to the track with 20-plus. More green stops continued as leader O’Ward put Daly a lap down.
Lap 110 had a top 10 of O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, Palou, Castroneves, Rahal, Sato, McLaughlin, Jones, Karam, and Montoya, 6.2s behind O’Ward. Lap 116 saw McLaughlin return to pit lane to perform a drive-through penalty for speeding.
Leading into pit lane, Rahal stops and the car was sent before the left-rear tire was attached. He then crashed coming out of the pits in Turn 2, spinning in front of the leaders.
Palou, Castroneves, O’Ward, VeeKay, Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, Sato, Herta, Daly, Harvey were then the top 10. Rahal’s errant tire clocked Daly’s car in the nose, but Daly’s machine appeared to be mostly unscathed.
By staying out as other pitted, Dixon was able to get his lap back and improved to P26. Rossi wasn’t as fortunate, stuck one lap arrears in P31.
Palou led the field to green on Lap 126 but Castroneves took P1 entering Turn 1. O’Ward was next, pushing Palou to P3. Lap 127 saw O’Ward take the lead in Turn 3. Palou returned the favor on Palou into Turn 1 on Lap 130.
Lap 130 had a top 10 of O’Ward, Palou, Castroneves, VeeKay, Newgarden, Hunter-Reay, Herta, Pagenaud, Sato, Daly, and Harvey.
Palou was on the move again, claiming P1 from O’Ward on Lap 131 into Turn 3. Castroneves took P2 from O’Ward the following lap. An off-strategy Newgarden pitted on Lap 137.
Lap 140 had a top 10 of Palou, Castroneves, O’Ward, VeeKay, Hunter-Reay, Herta, Pagenaud, Sato, Daly, and Harvey, 4.6s behind Palou. Daly dove in for service on Lap 141. A slow right-rear tire change impeded an immediate exit. VeeKay pitted on Lap 144. Dixon had risen to P22. Hunter-Reay and Herta pitted next. Pit stops continued as Lap 150 approached. The Ganassi team called Palou in from the lead after being slowed by Newgarden.
Lap 150’s top 10 was Castroneves, O’Ward, Pagenaud, Sato, Montoya, Power, Andretti, Ericsson, Ferrucci, Hinchcliffe and Rosenqvist, 11.6s back from the leader. Castroneves was in on Lap 151. O’Ward, the new leader, was in at the end of Lap 151. Power’s pit from P11 went wrong on Lap 153 as he spun and stalled while sitting backwards in Pagenaud’s pit box.
Lap 160’s top 10 was Dixon, Palou, Castroneves, O’Ward, Hunter-Reay, VeeKay, Sato, Herta, Pagenaud, and Newgarden, 14.5s behind the leader. Dixon pitted on Lap 163 with a goal of making it to the finish without another stop. He resumed in P24.
Lap 170 had Castroneves take the lead from Palou, and behind them, it was Hunter-Reay, VeeKay, Herta, Sato, and others as pit stop happened and de Silvestro spun on pit lane and remained there. Newgarden also stopped. Castroneves pitted from the lead on Lap 173. Palou was in at the end of the lap as Hunter-Reay locked a brake and sailed past O’Ward in avoidance. Castroneves passed Palou on Lap 176. Hunter-Rear would lose a lap after being called in for a pit lane speeding violation. He’d resume in P27, a lap down.
Lap 180 had Palou move ahead of Castroneves as others ahead needed to pit. Castroneves passed Palou on Lap 183 as Rosenqvist, Hildebrand, and Sato held P1-3 while needing to make their final stops. Palou went back ahead of Castroneves on Lap 184 with O’Ward behind the Brazilian. Castroneves went past Palou on Lap 186 into Turn 1 and Palou went back in front in Turn 3.
As the laps wound down it looked like a three-horse race with Castroneves, Palou and O'Ward up front. Motorsport Images
Lap 190 had Rosenqvist, Sato, Palou, Castroneves, O’Ward, Pagenaud, McLaughlin, Carpenter, Karam, and Montoya in the top 10. It’s on.
Dixon is in P15, but is running super slow to save fuel and falling back.
Lap 194 and Helio takes the lead from Palou as Sato pits from P1. Palou goes to P1 on Lap 196. Palou sets the fastest lap of the race on Lap 197 with a 225.931mph. Another pit lane drive-through for Rosenqvist.
Castroneves takes the lead into Turn 1 on Lap 199! Big traffic ahead of them entering the last lap....
HELIO CASTRONEVES AND MEYER SHANK RACING HAVE WON THE INDY 500!
Marshall Pruett
The 2026 season marks Marshall Pruett's 40th year working in the sport. In his role today for RACER, Pruett covers open-wheel and sports car racing as a writer, reporter, photographer, and filmmaker. In his previous career, he served as a mechanic, engineer, and team manager in a variety of series, including IndyCar, IMSA, and World Challenge.
Read Marshall Pruett's articles
Latest News
.jpeg?environment=live)
Comments
Comments are disabled until you accept Social Networking Cookies. Update cookie preferences
If the dialog doesn't appear, ad-blockers are often the cause; try disabling yours or see our Social Features Support.