![]() Some of what Andretti is describing is luck-and luck plays a part. Your car has to perform, you have to rely on your team, and you have to hope that nothing unforeseen is going to happen to you.” “Everybody prepares and puts their best foot forward, but any mistake can mean the race, no matter how good you are on the track. “A million different things have to fall into place,” says Mario Andretti, one of the all-time great racecar drivers in any series, who only won once at IMS in 29 attempts. This adds up to more opportunity for a mistake-yours, your crew’s, or another driver’s-to come between you and that trophy. It also means more time on the track with 32 other cars, a third more than a typical Ind圜ar field, all vying for position on a narrow track. The “500” stands for 500 miles, about twice as long as any other Ind圜ar race, which means more pit stops for fuel and tires. ![]() But the dirty little secret of open-wheel racing is that it also takes more than talent, a good crew, and a fast car. Helio knows that and praises his new team at Meyer Shank Racing. Of course, it takes more than one person to win a race-especially this race. “This one was important to me,” says Helio, looking back, “because I did it on my own.” He intended it for everyone in the stands, in the press box, and watching at home who thought that he was too old or that he couldn’t do it without that Penske ride-and even for those miniscule parts of himself that wondered, if only for a second, if they might be right. He aimed it at every other driver, new and old, and anyone else in the paddock who thought his career, or at least the fruitful part of it, had expired. He meant it for Team Penske, which had cut him loose after more than two decades and given his seat to someone younger. Helio directed the smile at everyone and no one in particular. As Helio accepted the Borg-Warner Trophy, the sterling silver cup that carries the sculpted faces of everyone who has ever won the 500, including three younger miniature happy Helios, he beamed with hard-won gratification, as if he had answered the question of whether Helio had anything left in the tank with a question of his own: How do you like me now? Something behind those straight-but-not-too-straight rows of white-but-not-too-white teeth that went beyond mere passion or joy. From competitive go-karting at the age of 10 on the tracks of South America to achieving the highest measure of success on the world’s most famous oval at 46, Helio has never hidden his passion for racing.īut on this day, there was something else in that smile. It’s a kid’s grin, honest and effortless, framed by midlife character lines, crow’s feet streaking across his temples like fireworks. Rather it’s an expression in the fullest sense that involves the entire face. And to be fair, it’s a hell of a smile, much more than a pair of upturned lips. That smile is the Brazilian’s defining characteristic. Then, after embracing his new boss and team, Helio unsnapped his neck harness and removed his helmet to unleash his omnipresent smile. He climbed down and curled up on top of the wall for a brief moment to let the gravity of the achievement wash over him. He pumped his gloved fist to his pit crew and to the fans shouting his name. Last May at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, after holding off a driver almost half his age for the final two laps, Helio Castroneves climbed out of the cockpit and revived his signature Spider-Man ascent up the fence along the front straightaway. Meyer Shank Racing co-owners Jim Meyer (top, right) and Mike Shank, a former driver who had run in three Indy 500s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |