The four-time winners club at the Indianapolis 500 is very exclusive. The list includes A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Sr. and Rick Mears.
And now you can add Helio Castroneves to that historic list, as he out dueled Alex Palou to win his fourth career Indianapolis 500.
It was a race that saw old age and treachery win out over youth and exuberance, as the 46-year-old Castroneves make the final pass for the lead on the 24-year-old Palou with a bold outside move in turn one with two laps to go.
“The car was so good, so I just have to make sure that I stay there in the end,” said Castroneves. “Once the pit cycles came in, I was in second place with Palou. Pato (O’Ward) came to play a little bit. I was like just keep doing what I’m doing, understanding what I need to do.
“I lost too many races in second place here. I was like, this is not going to be the day.”
It’s the first time in 30 years that a driver has scored their fourth win in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” with the last coming in 1991 with Rick Mears.
The win came in the fastest ever Indy 500 in the 105 year history of the event at 190.690 mph. It also comes in a year that Castroneves is competing in a limited schedule for Meyer Shank Racing.
“Great moment. I mean, amazing to follow in this group with Al Unser, Sr., A.J. Foyt, and my hero Rick Mears,” Castroneves said. “Super honored to be in this group. But more important is I love to be surrounded by great people. It was great to be with Penske, and now my new friends, I really am having a great time. New opportunity with this amazing team. Look what they’re showing.”
Castroneves climbed from his No. 06 Honda on the yard of bricks at the start/finish line and made his traditional climb of the fence in front a grandstand filled with fans in celebration.
“Look, I don’t know what I was doing to be honest. I was drawn by the positive energy of everyone,” said Castroneves. “For a long time these people want to see a four-time winner. I say that because they tell me. Every time we sign the autographs, they are like, I’ve never seen a four-time winner. I want to see it. That’s what probably made me thank all of them because they made this place special. I can’t deny that without that I wouldn’t be able to be who I am. I’m thankful for them to be here. This is great.”
The battle between Castroneves and Palou was nothing short of epic. With pit strategy playing out ahead of them after their final pit stop, the duo swapped the lead back and forth several times over the closing 25 laps. Once those ahead of them pitted with seven laps to go, the fight for the win was on.
Castroneves first inherited the lead, but with five laps left, Palou moved back to the point. It looked like Palou would have an opportunity to pull away as he was drafting behind Felix Rosenqvist, who had just pitted for fresh tires. But that advantage went away when Rosenqvist was hit with a pit road speeding penalty and had to return to pit road.
That allowed Castroneves to again close on Palou, and with two laps to go, Castroneves made the winning pass.
Entering the final lap, the leaders found themselves in lapped traffic. Palou tried to find a path back to the point, but Castroneves held him off and drove into the history books.
“They were strong. I have to say they were really, really strong,” Castroneves said. “I was understanding what the benefit to be in front, and be behind him. As long as I knew I could pass in turn two or four, I knew I would have amazing opportunity to win this race, and that’s what I did.”
After exiting his car, Castroneves was beset by team members, drivers, family and even Hall of Famers Mario Andretti and Johnny Rutherford, all wanting to congratulate the popular driver.
“That was cool,” Castroneves said. Look, (Andretti)’s an incredible legend in motor racing, motorsport world. When he came by, it was very nice. I always respect what they accomplished. Wow, yeah, that was special.”
Palou had to settle for a second place finish in the end – but he said being so close to the win “hurts.”
“I didn’t expect that a second place would hurt that much until I crossed the finish line. But I’m super proud, super happy,” said Palou. “I think the No. 10 NTT Data car was super fast. I had the best car for sure. I was really confident. It was a close battle until the end. The good thing is that the two cars were Honda powered. That’s good. Congrats to Helio and Honda.
“Yeah, I tried everything. It hurts. But to be honest, it’s good to lose against probably one of the best. Well, it’s one of the best, probably the best. Yeah, it’s Helio. I don’t know why, but he had three, and why he wanted four? He could have gave me one (smiling). I just wanted one. But it’s okay. We’ll come back next year, for sure.”
In a month of May that had seen frustration for Team Penske, Simon Pagenaud carried the flag for the team with a third place finish.
“I really think we had the race car to get it done today,” said Pagenaud. “Certainly Chevy amazing job with the engine power and the race was amazing. Handling was phenomenal all day. We managed to really adjust the car through the beginning of the race. At the end I was pedal to the metal. I didn’t care. Just wanted to get to these guys and have some fun with them. I could see Helio was playing a very smart game. Obviously he knows how to win the race. Alex was trying his best to hold him off. Helio was just biding his time.”
Pato O’Ward finished in fourth, with Indianapolis native Ed Carpenter in fifth.
Santino Ferrucci, Sage Karem, Rinus VeeKay, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan rounded out the top 10.
While the racing on the track was fast and furious, there were only two cautions on the day.
The first came out during a round of green flag pit stops, when the car of Stefan Wilson spun on pit road, making contact with the outside pit wall and leaving his car with right front suspension damage.
While the incident only involved one car, it proved disastrous for two pre-race favorites.
Several cars had yet to make their pit stops, including pole sitter Scott Dixon, who came into the race as the odds-on favorite to win.
Dixon’s car was low on fuel, and he was forced to pit while pit road was closed as his No. 9 Honda ran out of fuel. His Chip Ganassi Racing team worked feverishly to get his car restarted, but lost a lap in the process. Dixon, the 2008 Indy 500 winner, was never a contender in the race from that point on, finishing 17th on the day.
The same fate befell 2016 race winner Alexander Rossi, who also ran out of fuel. He lost a lap as well as his Andretti Autosport team worked to get his car re-fired. He would go on to finish 29th.
The second caution period of the race came on lap 119, when Graham Rahal crashed hard in turn two. Working pit strategy, Rahal had just made a pit stop from the lead, but his crew failed to get the left rear wheel tightened up on his No. 15 Honda. As he charged back out onto the track, the wheel came off, sending him spinning into the outside safer barrier in turn 2. Rahal was uninjured, but was visibly disappointed. He was credited with a 32nd place finish.
Rahal’s crash also spoiled the day for another driver, as the loose wheel bounced down the track and was hit by the oncoming car of Connor Daly, leaving the nose of his No. 20 Chevrolet damaged. Daly had led 38 laps to that point, but his car never seemed up to snuff again the rest of the day. A slow green flag pit stop put him back in the pack, where he finally finished 13th.
NTT IndyCar Series
Indianapolis Motor Speedway – Indianapolis, IN
Indianapolis 500 – May 30, 2021
1. (8) Helio Castroneves, Honda, 200, Running
2. (6) Alex Palou, Honda, 200, Running
3. (26) Simon Pagenaud, Chevrolet, 200, Running
4. (12) Pato O’Ward, Chevrolet, 200, Running
5. (4) Ed Carpenter, Chevrolet, 200, Running
6. (23) Santino Ferrucci, Honda, 200, Running
7. (31) Sage Karam, Chevrolet, 200, Running
8. (3) Rinus VeeKay, Chevrolet, 200, Running
9. (24) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 200, Running
10. (5) Tony Kanaan, Honda, 200, Running
11. (9) Marcus Ericsson, Honda, 200, Running
12. (21) Josef Newgarden, Chevrolet, 200, Running
13. (19) Conor Daly, Chevrolet, 200, Running
14. (15) Takuma Sato, Honda, 200, Running
15. (22) JR Hildebrand, Chevrolet, 200, Running
16. (2) Colton Herta, Honda, 200, Running
17. (1) Scott Dixon, Honda, 200, Running
18. (20) Jack Harvey, Honda, 200, Running
19. (25) Marco Andretti, Honda, 200, Running
20. (17) Scott McLaughlin, Chevrolet, 200, Running
21. (16) James Hinchcliffe, Honda, 200, Running
22. (7) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Honda, 200, Running
23. (30) Dalton Kellett, Chevrolet, 199, Running
24. (29) Max Chilton, Chevrolet, 199, Running
25. (13) Pietro Fittipaldi, Honda, 199, Running
26. (27) Sebastien Bourdais, Chevrolet, 199, Running
27. (14) Felix Rosenqvist, Chevrolet, 199, Running
28. (11) Ed Jones, Honda, 199, Running
29. (10) Alexander Rossi, Honda, 198, Running
30. (32) Will Power, Chevrolet, 197, Running
31. (33) Simona De Silvestro, Chevrolet, 169, Contact
32. (18) Graham Rahal, Honda, 118, Contact
33. (28) Stefan Wilson, Honda, 32, Contact
Winner’s average speed: 190.690 mph
Time of Race: 2:37:19.3846 Margin of victory: 0.4928 of a second
Cautions: 2 for 18 laps
Lead changes: 35 among 13 drivers
Lap Leaders: Herta, 1; VeeKay, 2-30; Herta, 31-32; Dixon, 33-35; Castroneves, 36-38; Herta, 39-48; VeeKay, 49; Daly, 50-70; Castroneves, 71-76; Palou, 77; O’Ward, 78; Rahal, 79-81; VeeKay, 82-83; Daly, 84-102; O’Ward, 103-113; Rahal, 114-118; Palou, 119-124; Castroneves, 125-126; O’Ward, 127-130; Palou, 131-147; Castroneves, 148-149; O’Ward, 150; Sato, 151-156; Rosenqvist, 157; Dixon, 158-161; Palou, 162-168; Castroneves, 169-171; Palou, 172; Pagenaud, 173-175; Karam, 176-177; Ferrucci, 178-179; Rosenqvist, 180-192; Sato, 193; Castroneves, 194-195; Palou, 196-198; Castroneves, 199-200
Point Standings: Palou 248, Dixon 212, O’Ward 211, Pagenaud 201, VeeKay 191, Newgarden 184, Herta 154, Rahal 148, McLaughlin 143, Ericsson 138.
