INDIANAPOLIS — Helio Castroneves celebrated his record-tying fourth Indianapolis 500 victory in Could.
The rewards are nonetheless rolling in.
When the favored 46-year-old Brazilian driver returned to Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Thursday, observe officers introduced him with a bronze brick, and on Friday, he was named because the headliner of the nine-member Motorsports Corridor of Fame of America induction class for 2022.
“The motivation has at all times been there,” Castroneves mentioned. “It isn’t in regards to the title. I by no means misplaced religion. I would not be going contained in the helmet if I did not suppose I had an opportunity to succeed. For me, that retains me proper there on the sting, and the competitors within the IndyCar Sequence, it is so aggressive that when you sneeze, you lose a tenth.”
Castroneves, the open-wheel choice, might be joined by longtime NASCAR proprietor Jack Roush, Pete Brock from sports activities automobiles, Dick LaHaie from drag racing, NASCAR co-founder Raymond Parks, NASCAR builder Banjo Matthews and Denise McCluggage within the media class whereas motorbike innovators Trey Vance and Byron Hines will go in as a single entry.
Roush was the mastermind of greater than 300 Cup Sequence wins. Brock designed the 1965 world champion Cobra Daytona coupes. LaHaie is the one individual to win NHRA Prime Gasoline titles as a driver and a crew chief.
The ultimate inductee might be named later this month.
George Levy, president of the Florida-based Corridor of Fame, mentioned half of the 200 ballots come from journalists and historians and the opposite half is from Corridor of Fame members. He mentioned this 12 months’s votes have been forged earlier than Castroneves turned the primary foreign-born driver to win 4 500s.
But it surely definitely added to his first-ballot résumé.
Along with the 4 Indy wins, Castroneves is the final back-to-back winner in 2001 and 2002 and was the five hundred Rookie of the Yr in 2001. He is completed within the high 5 9 occasions at Indy, together with three runner-up finishes, and has made the highest 10 in 15 of 21 profession Indy begins.
Castroneves’ six profession CART wins and 25 IndyCar wins give him 31 total, tied with Paul Tracy and three-time Indy winner Dario Franchitti for No. 10 all-time. His 47 profession poles additionally rank among the many all-time leaders.
Most of these successes got here whereas he spent 23 seasons driving for powerhouse Crew Penske. He received this 12 months’s 500 with Meyer Shank Racing, the group he’ll symbolize in Saturday’s Indianapolis Grand Prix.
“To announce it right now, on the place the place Helio made historical past simply a few months in the past, is wonderful,” speedway president Doug Boles mentioned. “I do know George talked in regards to the first foreign-born winner, however I feel lots of people right here contemplate you a Hoosier.”
Levy additionally introduced a trophy to longtime car racing author and tv analyst Robin Miller, a 2021 inductee.
“There is a knack to selecting expertise at a spot like this, and I feel the velocity and the depth simply match proper in Helio’s wheelhouse,” Miller mentioned. “I feel he is one of many guys who was made to race right here. Look how shut Helio is to being a six-time winner, what, 40 ft?”