Racing career

Born in Ribeirão Preto, São Paulo, Brazil, South America, Castroneves started his career in karting, and later raced for the Paul Stewart Racing team, and finished third in the 1995 British Formula 3 Championship.

After being occasionally misidentified by US media as "Hélio Neves" he at first changed the spelling to Hélio Castro-Neves and then to Hélio Castroneves. He has one sister, Katiucia. Castroneves was first recognised while driving for Steve Horne's Tasman Racing team in Indy Lights, interestingly as teammate to fellow Brazilian and future IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan.

After showing potential but lacking reliability while with the Bettenhausen and Hogan teams, Castroneves was signed by Penske Racing in CART in 2000 following the deaths of Greg Moore and Gonzalo Rodríguez during the last races of the 1999 season. Moore had signed on with Penske but never had the opportunity to race with the team. Castroneves immediately became a regular front-runner winning the Indianapolis 500 in 2001, the first of three wins where he again performed the crowd pleasing act of climbing the fence at the start finish line in celebration, something he would continue to do after winning races. He switched with the team to the rival IRL for 2002, and remained with Penske, teamed with Gil de Ferran, Sam Hornish Jr., and Ryan Briscoe during his tenure through the 2008 season. During the 2002 season, Castroneves tested with Formula One team Toyota Racing at Circuit Paul Ricard. In January 2009, Team Penske temporarily replaced him with Will Power, citing the difficulties of remaining competitive while Castroneves prepared for trial on federal tax evasion charges (which stemmed in part from Greg Moore's death as Moore's contract was rewritten for Castroneves). Castroneves missed the first race of the 2009 season while the trial was ongoing, but returned to racing at the Long Beach Grand Prix.

Racing fans have given Castroneves the nickname "Spider-Man" because of his victory celebration, in which he climbs the trackside debris fence.

On 24 May 2009, Castroneves became Indy's 9th (and first foreign-born) three-time winner, by taking the checkered flag for the 93rd running of the Indianapolis 500.

Records

Castroneves currently holds IRL IndyCar Series records for most top-ten finishes (167); Poles (38); and most consecutive seasons with a race win (10; 2001-2010). In 2009 he reset the all-time record for most wins (22) and starts (209) by a driver who has not won the National Championship, taking these records from Bill Holland at Indianapolis and compatriot Raul Boesel at Richmond respectively. His 23rd career win, at Barber Motorsports Park in 2010, broke a tie with his former manager Emerson Fittipaldi for most IndyCar wins by a Brazilian driver.

Other appearances

Aside from success in racing, Castroneves won the fifth season of the American reality TV show Dancing with the Stars with partner Julianne Hough. He has also appeared on truTV's The Smoking Gun Presents: World's Dumbest... as a frequent commentator—mainly on episodes that feature the "World's Dumbest Drivers". He currently lives in Ft. Lauderdale. Castroneves returned to Dancing with the Stars for its 15th season for a chance to win another mirrorball trophy. This time he was partnered with Chelsie Hightower. They were voted off in the third week of the competition during a double elimination.

Personal life

Castroneves has one daughter with his girlfriend, Adriana Henao. The girl was born on December 28, 2009, and is named Mikaella. Castroneves lives in Fort Lauderdale.

Legal issues

On 2 October 2008, Castroneves was charged with conspiracy and six counts of tax evasion by a grand jury for purportedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income between 1999 and 2004, according to court documents. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison sentence. His business manager and sister Kati, and his lawyer Alan Miller were charged with assisting Castroneves in the supposed scheme. All three defendants surrendered to authorities in Florida on Friday, 3 October 2008. Castroneves pleaded not guilty to these charges on 3 October, and was ordered released on $10 million bail. Castroneves was replaced by Will Power during the duration of his tax evasion court case. The IRS claimed that Castroneves owes $2.3 million in taxes. A guilty verdict would have likely ended Castroneves' racing career.

This issue was related to the initial contract signed by Castroneves with Penske Racing after Greg Moore's death at the California Speedway during the Marlboro 500 on 31 October 1999. In the trial, it was reported that Castroneves' first contract with Penske (2000-04) was signed with Moore's contract with the names changed in ink to reflect the replacement driver. The deal was signed by Moore's agent, Alan Miller, who signed Castroneves' deal days after Moore's funeral as pressure from Penske sponsors forced a quick resolution to finding a replacement.

Central to the case was the ownership of a Panamanian company called Seven Promotions. Prosecutors called it a shell corporation set up primarily so Castroneves could dodge US income taxes, but Castroneves' father testified he created Seven to boost his son's image in Brazil. The elder Castroneves said his son never owned it. Prosecutors called that a lie, showing jurors numerous documents in which Castroneves claimed Seven as his own. If it was, an Internal Revenue Service agent testified that Castroneves owed US taxes on the full $5 million from Penske even though he had never actually received the money. Instead, the Penske payments were eventually invested in a deferred compensation deal with the Dutch firm Fintage Licensing B.V. Castroneves' attorney Roy Black told jurors in closing arguments that such deals are common—and perfectly legal—for athletes who have relatively short careers and face injury or worse at any moment.

The trial ended on 10 April 2009, with closing arguments and the jury deliberated until 17 April, when it acquitted Castroneves of all six counts of tax evasion but hung on a count of conspiracy. On 22 May 2009, prosecutors dropped the remaining conspiracy charge.

Motorsports career results

American open-wheel racing results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Indy Lights

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Rank	Points
1996	Tasman Motorsports	MIA	LBH	NAZ	MIS	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	TRO	VAN	LS		7th	84
1997	Tasman Motorsports	MIA	LBH	NAZ	SAV	STL	MIL	DET	POR	TOR	TRO	VAN	LS	FON	2nd	152

CART results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1998	Bettenhausen Racing	MIA	MOT	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	HOU	SRF	FON		17th	36
1999	Hogan Racing	MIA	MOT	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	POR	CLE	ROA	TOR	MCH	DET	MDO	CHI	VAN	LAG	HOU	SRF	FON	15th	48
2000	Team Penske	MIA	LBH	RIO	MOT	NAZ	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	GAT	HOU	SRF	FON	7th	129
2001	Team Penske	MTY	LBH	NAZ	MOT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MCH	CHI	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAU	ROC	HOU	LAG	SRF	FON	4th	141

IndyCar Series

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	Rank	Points
2001	Team Penske	Dallara	Oldsmobile	PHX	HMS	ATL	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS							24th	64
2002			Chevrolet	HMS	PHX	FON	NAZ	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	KTY	GAT	CHI	TXS					2nd	511
2003			Toyota	HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	PPIR	RIR	KAN	NSH	MCH	GAT	KTY	NAZ	CHI	FON	TXS				3rd	484
2004				HMS	PHX	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MCH	KTY	PPIR	NAZ	CHI	FON	TXS				4th	446
2005				HMS	PHX	STP	MOT	INDY	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MCH	KTY	PPIR	SNM	CHI	WGL	FON			6th	440
2006			Honda	HMS	STP	MOT	INDY	WGL	TXS	RIR	KAN	NSH	MIL	MCH	KTY	SNM	CHI						3rd	473
2007				HMS	STP	MOT	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	MCH	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI			6th	446
2008				HMS	STP	MOT1	LBH1	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	NSH	MDO	EDM	KTY	SNM	DET	CHI	SRF2	2nd	629
2009				STP	LBH	KAN	INDY	MIL	TXS	IOW	RIR	WGL	TOR	EDM	KTY	MDO	SNM	CHI	MOT	HMS			4th	433
2010				SAO	STP	ALA	LBH	KAN	INDY	TXS	IOW	WGL	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	CHI	KTY	MOT	HMS			4th	531
2011				STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	TXS	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	NHM	SNM	BAL	MOT	KTY	LVS3		11th	312
2012		Dallara DW12	Chevrolet	STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	TOR	EDM	MDO	SNM	BAL	FON					4th	431
2013				STP	ALA	LBH	SAO	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	MIL	IOW	POC	TOR	TOR	MDO	SNM	BAL	HOU	HOU	FON	2nd	550
2014				STP	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	HOU	HOU	POC	IOW	TOR	TOR	MDO	MIL	SNM	FON		2nd	609
2015				STP	NLA	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	TOR	FON	MIL	IOW	MDO	POC	SNM				5th	453
2016				STP	PHX	LBH	ALA	IMS	INDY	DET	DET	TXS	RDA	IOW	TOR	MDO	POC	WGL	SNM				4th*	159*

* Season still in progress.

• 1 Run on same day
• 2 Non-points paying, exhibition race
• 3 The Las Vegas Indy 300 was abandoned after Dan Wheldon died from injuries sustained in a 15-car crash on lap 11.

Years	Teams	Races	Poles	Wins	Top 5s	Top 10s	Indianapolis 500 Wins	Championships
16	1	234	39	23	110	168	3 (2001, 2002, 2009)	0

Indianapolis 500

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2001	Dallara	Oldsmobile	11	1	Team Penske
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	13	1	Team Penske
2003	Dallara	Toyota	1	2	Team Penske
2004	Dallara	Toyota	8	9	Team Penske
2005	Dallara	Toyota	5	9	Team Penske
2006	Dallara	Honda	2	25	Team Penske
2007	Dallara	Honda	1	3	Team Penske
2008	Dallara	Honda	4	4	Team Penske
2009	Dallara	Honda	1	1	Team Penske
2010	Dallara	Honda	1	9	Team Penske
2011	Dallara	Honda	16	17	Team Penske
2012	Dallara	Chevrolet	6	10	Team Penske
2013	Dallara	Chevrolet	8	6	Team Penske
2014	Dallara	Chevrolet	4	2	Team Penske
2015	Dallara	Chevrolet	5	7	Team Penske
2016	Dallara	Chevrolet	9		Team Penske

Castroneves' finishes for 2001 to 2003 is currently the best 3 race finishing streak in Indianapolis history. It is equal to the streak posted by Al Unser from 1970 through 1972.

Touring/Sports Cars

Complete American Le Mans Series results

Year	Entrant	Class	Chassis	Engine	Tyres	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2007	DHL Team Penske	LMP2	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4L V8	M	SEB	STP	LNB	TEX	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET	MON	23rd	19
2008	DHL Team Penske	LMP2	Porsche RS Spyder Evo	Porsche MR6 3.4L V8	M	SEB	STP	LNB	UTA	LIM	MID	AME	MOS	DET	PET	MON		19th	45

V8 Supercar results

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	Final Pos	Points
2010	Wilson Security Racing	YMC R1	YMC R2	BHR R3	BHR R4	ADE R5	ADE R6	HAM R7	HAM R8	QLD R9	QLD R10	WIN R11	WIN R12	HDV R13	HDV R14	TOW R15	TOW R16	PHI R17	BAT R18	SUR R19	SUR R20	SYM R21	SYM R22	SAN R23	SAN R24	SYD R25	SYD R26			NC	0 +
2011	Lucky 7 Racing	YMC R1	YMC R2	ADE R3	ADE R4	HAM R5	HAM R6	PER R7	PER R8	PER R9	WIN R10	WIN R11	HDV R12	HDV R13	TOW R14	TOW R15	QLD R16	QLD R17	QLD R18	PHI R19	BAT R20	SUR R21	SUR R22	SYM R23	SYM R24	SAN R25	SAN R26	SYD R27	SYD R28	63rd	147

+ Not Eligible for points

Complete Stock Car Brasil results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Rank	Points
2012	Shell Racing	Peugeot 408	Peugeot 5.7 L V8	INT	CTB	VEL	RBP	LON	RIO	SAL	CAS	TAR	CTB	BSB	INT	NC†	0†
2013	Shell Racing	Peugeot 408	Peugeot 5.7 L V8	INT	CUR	TAR	SAL	BRA	CAS	RBP	BRA	VEL	CUR	GOI	INT	NC†	0†

† Ineligible for championship points.

[ Source: Wikipedia ]