Castroneves aiming for NASCAR Cup debut in the Daytona 500
By John Sturbin, Raceday San Antonio
Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in next month’s 2025 season-opening Daytona 500.
Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion will attempt to make his NASCAR Cup Series debut in next month’s 2025 season-opening Daytona 500. Photo by Chris Jones
Castroneves has been assigned the No. 91 Chevrolet as part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 for “The Great American Race” at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, Feb. 16.
A three-time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona on the DIS “Roval,” Castroneves has assembled a lengthy and successful career in open-wheel and sports car racing. A native of Brazil living in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Castroneves is a 30-time INDYCAR race-winner _ 24 victories in the NTT IndyCar Series and six in the former Championship Auto Racing Teams series. Castroneves also has qualified on-pole at 50 INDYCAR events.
Castroneves’ INDYCAR wins total includes checkered flags on Texas Motor Speedway’s high-banked/1.5-mile oval in Fort Worth in 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2013 _ all with Team Penske. “Spiderman” has competed in INDYCAR at least once each year since 2001, his second season with the organization founded and owned by Roger S. Penske.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race and certainly not the Daytona 500 with a team like Trackhouse Racing,” Castroneves, 49, said in a team news release. “This is an opportunity that nobody in their right mind could ever turn down. I am so thankful to (primary sponsor) Wendy’s for allowing me to wear their uniform and drive their car, (Trackhouse owner) Justin Marks and everyone that made this happen. I wish the race were tomorrow.”
NASCAR’s so-called Super Bowl is comprised of 200 laps around the high-banked/2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway. Castroneves will be teamed with Trackhouse’s fulltime Cup lineup of Daniel Suárez of Mexico, Ross Chastain and Shane van Gisbergen of New Zealand. The No. 91 Chevy team will be led by crew chief Darian Grubb, whose resume included 24 wins and a Cup championship with Tony Stewart in 2011.
“I know how much of a challenge this is going to be, but I also know the type of people and team Trackhouse Racing will bring to the effort,” Castroneves said. “I can’t wait to get to the Trackhouse race shop in North Carolina to meet everyone and prepare for Daytona. There is so much I must learn and I’m ready to get started.”
American motorsports icons Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt Jr. are the only drivers to have won the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500.
Currently an ownership partner in INDYCAR with Jim Meyer and Mike Shank at Meyer Shank Racing, Castroneves is scheduled to compete in the 109th running of the Indy 500 on Sunday, May 25th.
Castroneves has excelled on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s relatively flat 2.5-mile oval, scoring victories in 2001, 2002 and 2009 for Team Penske and 2021 with Meyer Shank Racing. The latter victory allowed Helio to join Indy’s exclusive “Four-Time Club” of Foyt (1961, 1964, 1967, 1977), Al Unser (1970, 1971, 1978, 1987) and Rick Mears (1979, 1984, 1988, 1991).
In addition to his open-wheel accomplishments, Castroneves has 10 wins in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, winning multiple races in the 2020, 2022 and 2023 seasons. He also has made four starts in the Repco Australian Supercars Championship across the 2009 and 2010 seasons.
While Castroneves never has competed in a NASCAR national event, he does have limited stock car experience. Castroneves made 16 International Race of Champions starts from 2002-05, collecting a best finish of second at IMS.
Trackhouse Racing’s Marks first mentioned Castroneves as a possible entrant for the team’s Project 91 program in 2022. “Helio is one of the greatest drivers of all time and exactly the type of driver we want to bring to NASCAR,” Marks said. “I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Helio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race. It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see just how great of a series we have in NASCAR.”
Project 91 was launched in 2022, the same year NASCAR introduced its “Next Gen” chassis to the Cup Series. Its goal has been to attract successful and well-known racers outside the stock-car community into a top-level opportunity in NASCAR’s premier series.
Kimi Räikkönen, the 2007 Formula One World Driving Champion with Scuderia Ferrari, was its first driver. A native of Finland, Räikkönen made his and the program’s debut in 2022 on the famed Watkins Glen International road-course in Upstate New York. Räikkönen returned to the ride in 2023 at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas.
Project 91 posted its signature moment during NASCAR’s inaugural Chicago Street Race in 2023, when van Gisbergen _ a three-time Aussie Supercars champion _ scored a rain-marred victory in his Cup debut. SVG was back behind the wheel for Trackhouse at the IMS Road-Course, where he earned a 10th-place finish.
Van Gisbergen’s immediate success propelled him into a fulltime NASCAR Xfinity Series ride in 2024 with Kaulig Racing via a Trackhouse partnership. In 2025, van Gisbergen will compete fulltime in Cup for Trackhouse in the No. 88 Chevrolet.
Practice for the Daytona 500 is scheduled to open on Wednesday, Feb. 12.
