By Dick Mittman
allstate400atthebrickyard.com
Friday, August 1, 2003
Get ready, NASCAR fans.
Two-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves guarantees he'll climb the front straightaway fence should he win the True Value IROC race Aug. 2 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
"Absolutely," Castroneves said. "That'll be a pleasure."
Actually, a victory in the IROC at Indy event will be more stunning than his first Indianapolis 500 victory in 2001 since his experience in stock cars is minimal. When he won in 2001 at Indy, he had plenty of open-wheel experience and was driving for Roger Penske, the winningest car owner in "500" history.
Castroneves, 28, from Sao Paulo, Brazil, will start on the pole Saturday and also started on the MBNA Pole for the 87th Indianapolis 500 in May. He will become the first driver since the end of World War I to start on the pole in two different races at IMS.
But there is a vast difference in how he gained the pole for both races.
In May, he turned a spectacular four-lap qualifying average of 231.725 mph in winds of nearly 30 mph to knock his Brazilian friend Tony Kanaan off the pole. This time, Castroneves takes the green first because he is last in the IROC standings, and the field starts in reverse order of the points standings.
Castroneves chuckled about the comparison.
"I wish it would be like when we had the race here in May with qualifying," Castroneves said. "It's still pole. I don't care.
"Again, it's a tough race, tough cars. When you go into the corner, it's like sideways. It's true I enjoy being in Indianapolis. The NASCAR guys seem to be pretty nice. I'm having a good time, so it's pretty good."
He has been learning the intricacies of driving a stock car, and he knows his lack of experience is a handicap against the NASCAR veterans who are competing. Still, he says IROC racing is fun and that he's continually learning something whenever he climbs into a car.
Castroneves said he talks to fellow IROC drivers who are from NASCAR - "Mark Martin, Jimmy Johnson, Ryan Newman, everybody" - and they all have been helpful. But he suggests they don't tell him everything but just enough that he can do well.
Drafting, of course, plays a big role in both IRL IndyCarTM Series cars and IROC cars, but Castroneves noted there is a major difference in how a driver tries to use it entering a corner.
"In our cars in the IRL, you try to go flat out in the corner," Castroneves said. "Here you just try to get out of the corner well. So it's different. Obviously, it's still not the same as a Winston Cup car, but it's pretty much the same, I guess. We find speed OK."
Castroneves is two different people on the track and off. Fans mostly see him climbing fences after victories, laughing and crying and talking to large groups of media with a smile and twinkle in his eye. But that isn't him when he's working, as he was Friday during the IROC practice sessions.
"It's funny, because people see me all the time like talking to a lot of people and stuff like that," Castroneves said. "I guess when I put on my racing helmet, it's all about me. I don't like people talking on the radio too much. I just like want to focus and do my best. Yes, I get serious. I get upset. I say bad words, too. I'm a human being, too.
"But when I finish racing or get out of the car, (the media), the fans, have nothing to do with what happened. Yes, I am not in the same mood if I win a race, but at same time you just have to be polite and try to separate the problems from normal life."
After the morning IROC practice session today, a Brazilian TV crew interviewed Castroneves in the garage area. Castroneves floated back and forth between his native Portuguese and English like a butterfly.
The interviewer wanted to know why he was such a big hero in the United States.
"Well, because first of all Indy," Castroneves said. "For many years, any driver that wins at this place turn out to be famous."
He then continued on explaining the fan fervor for NASCAR racing.
"It's like Formula One for us," Castroneves said. "That's why we were talking about Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon, all these drivers, Rusty Wallace. They are hugely popular here, because it's like Formula One for us over there.
"And he (interviewer) did not understand how I could be so famous here and not there. I said, you guys are ones who make me famous. If you want to make me famous, just tell the whole world. But I won, and I enjoy it a lot over here."
Then he held up his left hand and the camera zoomed in on the Indy 500 winner's ring from 2001.
"This is the first year," he said. "Since I won the first, you never forget. The second year, I gave to my dad. The third year I always play a joke, I give to my teammate, Gil de Ferran."
He laughed.
De Ferran beat Castroneves to the finish line by .2990 of a second in May to prevent him from winning a record three straight Indianapolis 500s. But he joined his more conservative teammate in climbing the fence anyway.
Nobody, though, will share that climb if he wins Saturday.
Tickets: Reserved-seat Race Day tickets for the Brickyard 400 remain available. Tickets for the IROC at Indy race also are available. Tickets and parking can be purchased on the World Wide Web via www.imstix.com or by calling the IMS Ticket Office at (800) 822-INDY or (317) 492-6700.
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