Michael Conroy/Associated Press
Helio Castroneves joined one of the most elite groups in all of motorsports on Sunday.
The 46-year-old became the fourth driver to win four times at the Indianapolis 500.
Castroneves took over the lead late in the race after Felix Rosenqvist and Takuma Sato opted to pit after their respective strategies did not work.
In the final five laps, Castroneves held off a push from Alex Palou and avoided some lapped traffic to cross the finish line in first place. Palou was one of two young drivers aiming to win their first Indy 500. Pato O’Ward was also in the mix toward the end, but neither got a great run on Castroneves in the final few laps.
After he secured the victory, the crowd at Indianapolis Motor Speedway erupted with chants of “Helio!” to celebrate the accomplishment. The Athletic’s Jeff Gluck gave us a look at what the environment looked like.
With the win, Castroneves joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners of the most historic open-wheel race in North America.
The importance of the moment was appreciated by everyone in the field, as Castroneves went through a long line of congratulatory wishes.
Will Power was one of the many competitors that went up to Castroneves, and even Mario Andretti came up to him and gave up him a kiss on the head, as Jenna Fryer of the Associated Press noted:
Even some of the competitors and analysts from the NASCAR Cup Series chimed in with well wishes for Castroneves, including Brad Keselowski and Jeff Gordon:
Castroneves’ victory was his first with Meyer Shank Racing, who he drove for following his departure from Penske Racing. It was also the first-ever IndyCar Series victory for the team. Meyer Shank Racing had two drivers in the race, with the other one being Jack Harvey.
Roger Penske, who is the owner of Indianapolis Motor Speedway, shared a moment with Castroneves as the champion made his way from the finish line to Victory Lane, as Gluck captured. Castroneves won the Indy 500 in 2001, 2002 and 2009 with Team Penske.
Castroneves followed the trend of older legendary athletes capturing titles over the last 12 months. Tom Brady won the Super Bowl at 43 and Phil Mickelson captured the PGA Championship at 50.
Castroneves had three drivers finish within one second of him. Palou took second, Simon Pagenaud ended up in third and Pato O’Ward landed fourth.
Ed Carpenter, Santino Ferrucci, Sage Karam, Rinus VeeKay, Juan Pablo Montoya and Tony Kanaan completed the top 10. Polesitter and pre-race favorite Scott Dixon ended up in 17th.
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