![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/04CJ6526A.jpg?resize=300%2C200\")
Helio Castroneves. Photo by Chris Jones<\/p><\/div>\n
The three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil will start from a career-worst 19th on Sunday. He noted after qualifying that he did not have a good explanation to why the car was down on pace.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wish I could tell you,\u201d said the driver of the No. 3 Shell Rewards Chevrolet. \u201cGreat balance, actually. We are doing everything we can to go as fast as we can. Unfortunately, this place is difficult. It is hard to find the small details, and we always pay attention to the small details, but maybe it is something outside of our control.\u201d<\/p>\n
Starting that deep in the field presents a challenge of racing in traffic, which has not been the norm for Castroneves. He has qualified ninth or better in the last five races.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/AC5I1548_A.jpg?resize=300%2C200\")
Helio Castroneves gets ready for track activity prior to practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500. Photo by David Yowe<\/p><\/div>\n
In spite of that, the 42-year-old Brazilian does not feel down about his starting spot. He does hope that his competitors around him exercise the right amount of patience.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m anxious, but I\u2019m not concerned because things can happen outside my control. I hope everybody understands that if you want to finish first, you have to first finish. Hopefully, everybody has the same mindset and pays extra attention. Don\u2019t rely on your spotter and we can get through it without a problem.\u201d<\/p>\n
Having won the Indianapolis 500 three times, Castroneves can enter racing immortality by joining the ranks of four-time winners Rick Mears, Al Unser and AJ Foyt.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/17MH20170522_3172.jpg?resize=300%2C214\")
Helio Castroneves. Photo by Mike Harding<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cI dream every day, man. Every time I look at this screen here I think \u2018It would be great to be in the group with Mr. Mears and AJ Foyt and Al Unser.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mears himself will play a crucial role in Castroneves\u2019 quest. Now a consultant to Team Penske, the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner serves as Castroneves\u2019 spotter. While a spotter is an important role in the team, Mears notes that Castroneves is not necessarily dependent on him.<\/p>\n
\u201cHelio\u2019s a little bit more old school in that respect, he\u2019s very good about knowing what is taking place around him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m just kind of a backup in case he misses something,\u201d said Mears. \u201cHe\u2019s not going to need a lot of help. The normal game plan starting at that point, you just have to shop some patience. If something presents an opportunity, take it but don\u2019t force it.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/JGS_7480-1.jpg?resize=300%2C200\")
Helio Castroneves signs a few autographs along pit lane prior to practice for the 101st Indianapolis 500. Photo by David Yowe<\/p><\/div>\n
While starting deep in the field is not ideal, Mears noted with time and patience, moving forward is not a problem. Mears was in a similar spot in 1981 when he qualified 22nd<\/sup>. He moved his way forward and had taken the lead on lap 57 before a pit fire a lap later took him out of the race.<\/p>\n \u201cYou can win from any seat in the house at this track,\u201d he added. \u201cQualifying up front is good because it is the safest place to be at the start. If you are in the front row, if something happens on the first turn you\u2019re going to miss it unless you caused it.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you can\u2019t and start in the back, you have to watch through traffic, look way ahead. Take your time, avoid trouble and let time chip away while moving forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Helio Castroneves. Photo by Chris Jones<\/p><\/div>\n Each of Castroneves\u2019 wins have unique themes. His maiden win in 2001 was a stellar performance in a rookie debut. In 2002 he fended off a late charge from Paul Tracy and 2009 was an incredible comeback after legal problems nearly derailed his career. If he was to pull off his fourth win on Sunday, he noted that it would be special because of what he had to overcome to get there.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we are going to fight as hard as we can,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have a lot of challenge ahead of us, but we have a lot of heart too. This team extracts the best when they are in a pressure situation.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Josh Farmer INDIANAPOLIS – Helio Castroneves is determined to climb his way through the field on Sunday. The three-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 presented by PennGrade Motor Oil will start from a career-worst 19th on Sunday. He noted after qualifying that he did not have a good explanation to why the car was […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":675,"featured_media":9449,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[12],"tags":[230,421,125,22,83],"class_list":["post-9444","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indycar","tag-indianapolis-500","tag-indianapolis-motor-speedway","tag-indy-500","tag-indycar","tag-verizon-indycar-series"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/17MH20170522_3172.jpg?fit=4464%2C3180","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7hzTZ-2sk","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9444","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9444"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9444\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9458,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9444\/revisions\/9458"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/9449"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9444"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9444"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/racedaysa.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9444"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/racedaysa.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/04CJ6531.jpg?resize=300%2C200\")