Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves, won a hotly-contested vote for the second quarter DRIVER OF THE YEAR 2009.

The Brazilian, who won his third Indy 500 - from the pole - this May, narrowly edged NASCAR’s Tony Stewart, 119-116. It was the closest margin of victory since Stewart lost the overall award in a tie-breaker in 2002.

Castroneves, who drove a Team Penske Racing Dallara-Honda in the IndyCar series backed up the Indy 500 win with a victory at Texas Motor Speedway, in the quarter which ended on June 21rst.

The ebullient driver, also known as Spiderman for his fence climbing antics after his victories, said “I’m really honored with the prestige to be included in such an incredible group of drivers,” when he learned he beat such other racing icons as Stewart who was voted DRIVER OF THE YEAR in 2005 and the ageless Mark Martin.

He continued “honestly it’s an honor to be in an amazing group. Mark Martin is an incredible driver - nothing against Tony Stewart - I want to be like him when I grow up.”

Barry Schmoyer, President of the Driver of the Year Foundation, said “I’m amazed at the coincidence that Tony Stewart was beaten again in such a close vote and that Stewart also is a fence climber after a race win.”

In the voting Castroveneves took eight first-place votes and was on every ballot. Stewart, who drives the #14 Old Spices/Office Depot Chevrolet for Stewart-Haas Racing, was second only three points behind Castroneves. He also garnered eight first-place votes.

The ageless, but 50-year old Mark Martin, who drives for #5 Kellogg’s Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports in the NASCAR Sprint Cup series was third in the voting with 42 points. Kyle Busch also received one first-place ballot. A total of 19 drivers scored points in the first quarter voting.

In its 42nd year, the DRIVER OF THE YEAR title is unique and the oldest award of it’s type. A panel of 17 leading journalists from across the U.S. determines the winner. In quarterly voting, points are awarded on a declining 9, 6, 4,3,2,1 basis. Castroneves will receive a trophy and a Tissot wristwatch to be presented at a later date.

“I want to thank my Penske team. Without them I couldn’t do what I’m doing. And I want to thank my loyal fans.”

THANK YOU GUYS!

Richmond here he goes!

Helio talks about Richmond:
“Richmond is one of my favorite tracks on the IndyCar Series circuit. It’s one of the smallest circuits we run at, which means we’re able to turn laps in about 15 seconds. Because of the speeds and the track size, it feels like you’re constantly turning. As a result, Richmond is very physically demanding. Team Penske has been running really well this season and hopefully we’ll see more of the same this weekend. We’re coming off a tough race in Iowa (Castroneves finished seventh), so hopefully we’ll be able to turn things around a bit this weekend and have a solid showing at Richmond.”

Did you know?

Team Penske has started from the pole in Richmond in four of the eight races in which the IndyCar Series has competed; including three of the last five years (Castroneves started from the pole in 2006 and 2004; in addition to former Team Penske drivers Sam Hornish Jr. in 2005 and Gil de Ferran in 2002).

In the seven races that Team Penske has competed in at Richmond International Raceway, it has earned two wins (Castroneves won in 2005 and Sam Hornish Jr. won in 2006).

Local Knowledge

Richmond is home to long-time Team Penske sponsor Phillip Morris USA.
Helio visited the Philip Morris factory (posted on his twitter yesterday) meeting the factory workers, and thanking them for the support and sponsorship.

After 7th on the first practice and 4th on the second practice, Helio will start on the pole this sunday.

Ready for today’s race Helio comments:
“Those points definitely kept me in the front of the pits and now gave me the pole position at Iowa. Unfortunately for the fans, they didn’t get to see the excitement of qualifying. Fortunately, I ended up getting a great situation here with a good starting position. Now that we have a Team Penske front row, we’ll go for the win.”
Don’t miss this sunday, June 21st at 1pm on ABC.

Pronto para a corrida de hoje Helio comenta:
“Os pontos definitivamente me mantiveram na frente nos pits, e agora me deram a pole em Iowa. Infelizmente para os fans, não houve a adrenalina da tomada de tempo. Felizmente, a situação me ajudou bastante me colocando em um ótimo lugar para largar. Agora que o Team Penske tem a frente do grid”
Não perca neste domingo dia 21 de Junho as 2 da tarde (horario de Brasilia).

Helio captured his third win at Texas Motor Speedway last Saturday (June 6th), and now heads for a weekend off.

After saving fuel the entire race, Helio was able to short fuel at the last pitstop, and take on the lead.
Providing another 1-2 finish for Team Penske.

The next race will be in IOWA, make sure to tune in to ABC at 1pm on June 21st.

We launched the watch here on the website a few months ago (Click on the link for the article, and pictures.)

Check it out at RitmoMundo’s website: www.ritmomundo.com

Hello Everyone,
As you can see I’m on the plane, waiting for take off to TEXAS!
Yeeeehaaa!!!

Hoping for a good weekend, and better result!

Tune in on Saturday (June 6) at 9 p.m. (EST) on VERSUS.

Night Races are always fun!
Take Care!
VALEU!

Hello everyone,
After a looooong day yesterday I’m on my way to New York City!

I will be on David Letterman Tonigh!

Take a look at the pic I took on the plane.

also follow me on twitter, I always post pictures there directly from my phone.
twitter.com/h3lio (it’s a #3 instead of the E)

Valeu!

Helio wins the Indy 500 for the third time! He is only the 9th driver to achieve this and the first foreign-driver to do so.

He Thanks EVERYONE who made this possible, and of course without you FANS he would not be able to achieve this incredible mark.

This is a very emotional and unbelievable win, he is thrilled to be where he belongs!

With this win, Helio jumps to the second spot in the driver’s point standings towards the championship.

Thank you!

Helio had a fun time while doing a fun Milk Chugging Contest with Ryan Briscoe, Dario Franchitti on NBC’s “Late Night with Jimmy Fallon.”

Fallon also participated, wearing a clear rain poncho and drinking chocolate milk while the drivers drank the regular stuff.

Check it out on the clip below.

Source: http://www.latenightwithjimmyfallon.com/video/clips/indy-driver-milk-chugging-contest-51809/1106521/

Just a quick note for our readers:

Also, EXTRA filmed a segment on the hottest IndyCar drivers, based on an online poll (Helio was selected as one), which is scheduled to air on Thursday.

EDIT: Video Added (on May 19th 4:50pm EST)

Video Source: http://www.etonline.com/news/2009/05/74359/index.html

300 Bombardier Learjet 550k Tickets Priced At $1 Each Courtesy Of Helio Castroneves’ Indy 500 Pole-Winning Effort Sell Briskly
4-Pack At $79 Available To Fans Who May Have Missed Out On Special

FORT WORTH, Texas (May 12, 2009) – Apparently IndyCar Series fans had quite an appetite for “Helio’s Blue Plate Special.”

“Helio’s Blue Plate Special,” in which 300 frontstretch tickets for the Bombardier Learjet 550k on June 6 at Texas Motor Speedway were priced at $1, lasted all of 13 minutes Tuesday as fans gobbled up the tremendous bargain that was brought to them courtesy of IndyCar Series star Helio Castroneves. The special, which began at 9 a.m. CT and limited to four tickets per customer, was only available by calling the TMS ticket office or by visiting in person, and all 300 sold out by 9:13 a.m.

“I know of 300 fans specifically that may give Helio a standing ovation when he comes through the stands during pre-race introductions for the Bombardier Learjet 550k,” Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage said. “I was encouraged to hear that 45 percent of those fans who purchased tickets were new customers. It was a tremendous price point in this economy for potentially new fans – in particular families – to experience our sport and hopefully they will get hooked by the experience.”

“Helio’s Blue Plate Special” was a special promotion that tied the pricing of this limited supply of tickets – 300 in tribute to his car number 3 – to his qualifying performance for the Indianapolis 500. Castroneves responded by winning the pole Saturday and giving fans the best price possible from this promotion. The ticket promotion theme played off his visit Monday to Dallas where he received cooking lessons from world-renown chef Stephan Pyles at his downtown restaurant near the Arts District.

“Wow – 300 tickets in 13 minutes – that’s unbelievable,” Castroneves said. “The folks at Texas Motor Speedway do a great job to promote our race and our Series and always come up with fun ways to involve the fans. I had a great time cooking with Chef Stephan yesterday and was glad I was able to kick-off the ‘Blue Plate Special’ promotion. I want to thank everyone at the track and especially the fans for all of their support. We are all looking forward to racing there in June and paying back the fans with a great show.”

Source: Texas Motor Speedway Media Relations

Read the complete story at www.texasmotorspeedway.com

Castroneves visited Pyles’ restaurant in Dallas as part of a promotion for the Bombardier Learjet 550k at Texas Motor Speedway on June 6. Castroneves, officially deemed a sous chef by Pyles, learned to prepare salmon with roast banana black beans and coconut curry; chicken risotto with corn, red bell peppers and pineapple; and chocolate fondon.

“It was delicious,” said Castroneves, who two days earlier won the pole for the Indianapolis 500. “I loved the coconut curry with the salmon. I’ll always be a salmon fan. I think it’s a great food and it’s what I eat every night before I race because it’s light. I loved the way Chef Stephan did it. I want the recipe.”

Castroneves wasn’t disappointed with the dessert either.

“The dessert, chocolate fondon, was unbelievable,” he said. “I’m not French, but it was so good even I know how to say it. The experience was just incredible. Stephan has 25 years in the business and there is no doubt that he is absolutely phenomenal. I learned to appreciate cooking today.”

Pyles has cooked for the likes of Queen Elizabeth II and Mikhail Gorbachev to Mick Jagger.

“Helio shows lots of promise in cooking,” Pyles said. “Just like his dancing, this is just one more thing for him to conquer.”

Source: Indycar.com
Picture: Getty Images

Read the complete story at Indycar.com

MOVIE ADDED

Video Source: IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com

On Friday (May 8th) we released a Major update to Helio’s Website.

Here are the most important changes besides some bugs and fixes.

Personal area of website launched.
- Pages Added: The Athlete, Family, In the News

New “Follow HELIO” bar added to the right hand side.
- Links to Helio’s Official profiles:
Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and RSS feed.

Latest Comments added to the front page.
- Name of the latest commenters on the homepage
featuring a link directly to their comment.
- Post comments and SEE YOUR NAME ON THE FRONT PAGE!!!

Blogs and News are now united!
- It was confusing to find where the blog and news where posted.
- Now they are all one thing. BLOG.
- Posted by Helio directly, and by Castroneves Racing PR.

Next changes are going to be:
- Multimedia section (Photos and Videos)
- The long waited PORTUGUESE version of the website

Please let us know what you think of the new content, and also suggestions/tips.
Thank you!

Ok, Ok…… i will shave before Indy…..hehehe…..it was just for the weekend off !!

But now everyone i am ready!

Cant wait to be there for the entire month, it will be super, plus the weather may be a factor….hihihi….this is what I love, not knowing what is going to happen!!

So fasten your seat belt and lets have fun around 230 plus miles per hour!! Wohoo!!

Hey Everyone,
This is the new haircut…. looks better for a good aerodynamic….who knows, maybe good for Kansas Speedway !!
I am on my way to Kansas and I cant wait to start running there so “fasten your seat belt” and lets have fun!!!
Have a good weekend everybody!
Helio