Hello everyone,

I’m back in Miami, after this wonderful weekend. It all started with running strong at the practices with the awesome car Team Penske gave me. Then on Saturday came the pole! 

But the greatest part of the weekend was Sunday, with the victory! Awww, finally!!! Has been soooo long!

I got so excited that I ran to the crowd, never done that before, but it was great!

Now we have to keep the momentum for next weekend (Detroit), and fight for the championship. 

I want to Thank all the fans, for everything!! The cheers and the words of expiration, it is great to see/hear/read all the good things everyone has to say, that cheers me up! Thanks guys!

The website is coming along well, Thanks to your comments and suggestions! Keep them coming, please.
Much more to come!

Valeu,
Helio

After a hard working week for Team Penske, Helio Castroneves wins the PEAK Antifreeze Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma County, in California.

The team lost both primary race cars, equipment and more in a transporter fire that occurred early Wednesday morning as the team was en route to Infineon Raceway, Castroneves, teammate Ryan Briscoe and the entire Team Penske crew rolled up their sleeves, determined not to let the fire deter them. The team worked together to rebuild and place two backup machines at the front of the starting grid - with Castroneves on the pole and Briscoe second. 

Then, once the green flag flew on Sunday afternoon, the team’s hard work really paid off - both Castroneves and Briscoe led the race but in the end, it was Castroneves who captured the checkered flag 5.29 seconds ahead of his teammate.

“People kept telling me the door would finally open, and today we broke through it,” said Castroneves, who not only broke his string of seven second-place finishes in 2008, but recorded his 10th win in 35 starts from the pole position, a staggering 29 percent winning average when starting first. “The door was really stuck for awhile, but it was an incredible effort by Team Penske. I can’t thank them enough. You’re talking about two days’ work in 12 hours. When you see guys doing that, you just want to do your best for them.”

The victory, the first for Castroneves and Team Penske at the challenging 2.245-mile permanent road coarse in California wine country, was more than a remarkable story about the dedication and effort of Team Penske’s crew; it also put Castroneves back in the thick of the IndyCar Series championship with two races remaining in the 2008 season. Castroneves is now just 43 points behind series leader Scott Dixon with just two championship points races - Detroit and Chicago - remaining in the 2008 season.

Helio also received the 3 point bonus for leading the most laps, earning a total of 53 points.

On the way to Sonoma, Helio said:

“Infineon Raceway is one of the most technical tracks we run on all year. It has big hills, big turns and high speed, so it makes running well there very difficult. Fortunately, we’ve been quick in Sonoma in each visit, but we haven’t been able to bring home a win. We’ve finished in the top-five the past two years, and I really want to take it to the next level this season in order to keep the Championship battle going. We’re not out of it, but we’re going to need a strong run to be able to stay in the fight.”

Let’s cheer for Helio this Sunday (Aug 24) at 5:30pm(EST) on ESPN2.

On a side note:
He is extremelly happy with the amount of visitors the website is getting, as well as the comments on posts. More to come
Thanks to everyone of you!

Two-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves was back in Hollywood this past weekend to attend the 2008 ALMA Awards.

Castroneves joined fellow “Dancing with the Stars” celebrity Cristian de la Fuente to present the “Outstanding Actor in a TV Comedy” award. The show is scheduled to air on September 12th on ABC.

The ALMA Awards was created by National Council of La Raza (NCLR), the largest national Hispanic civil rights and advocacy organization in the U.S., in 1995 as part of its strategy to promote the diverse, accurate, and balanced portrayals of Latinos in the media and the enhancement of the Latino image in the entertainment industry. The show is an example of how inclusion strengthens the entertainment industry.

The evening also included performances by the Black Eyed Peas, John Secada and Brian McKnight, Lisa Lisa and Sergio Mendes.

Other celebrity participants included Paula Abdul, Jessica Alba, Cheryl Burke, Oscar De La Hoya, Placido Domingo, Zac Efron, Ryan Seacrest, America Ferrera, Daisy Fuentes, Selena Gomez, MARIO, Joey Medina, Carlos Mencia, Edward James Olmos, Adam Rodriguez, Rosalyn Sanchez, and Charlie Sheen.

“Wow, what a fantastic event,” said Castroneves. “It was an incredible honor to be invited to present an award at this year’s ceremony. I think the ALMA Awards are a very important evening for the Latin community in the United States, and I am certainly proud to have been affiliated with it. The NCLR has done a great job with this event, and I definitely hope to be a part of it for years to come.”

Source: PENSKE PR
on August 18th, 2008

Hello Everyone,
I’m writing the first Blog entry for the new website. Sorry it took so long, but we wanted to make it fun for you.

The site is launching on August 18th (Monday), and it’s currently in “TEST DRIVE MODE”. Only a few pages are active already, pretty much the RACING area is online at the moment. But don’t worry, every day we are going to add more and more stuff! Tons of pictures, videos, news, blog entries by myself and the crew at Castroneves Racing.

Expect changes every day!

Please test the website, let us know what you think. In the mean time I’ll be writing more over the week before heading to Sonoma.

Valeu,
Helio

DETROIT (AP) - IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves tosses out the ceremonial first pitch before the Detroit Tigers baseball game against the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday, Aug. 14, 2008 in Detroit.