Castroneves' dance title could be what IndyCar needs

With partner Julianne Hough, driver Helio Castroneves arguably reached a larger audience with his televised dance title than he has in a career racing in IndyCar. Andy Lyons/Getty Images

What's next for Helio Castroneves? Hosting Saturday Night Live? Sitting in for Regis?

America discovered Castroneves this fall, supporting him and partner Julianne Hough with their votes all the way to winning Dancing With the Stars on ABC television.

Castroneves wowed the three judges, who count for half the score, too with his dancing, but it was his charisma and charm that made the difference with the viewers.

"America fell in love with Helio," Hough said Wednesday morning on Good Morning America, where they upstaged NASCAR's gridding of the top 10 Nextel Cup cars for their drive through Manhattan on the same show.

Castroneves was selected for Dancing with the Stars on the basis of his two victories in the Indianapolis 500 and a recommendation from the previous season's celebrity winner, Apolo Anton Ohno. The former Olympic speed skater met Castroneves a few hours prior to this year's Indy 500 and asked him if he'd be interested in doing the show. Castroneves said sure, and the wheels were put in motion.

The show attracts more than 20 million viewers per week, and Castroneves getting onto it was a boost for an IRL IndyCar Series reeling from the defection of Dario Franchitti and Sam Hornish to the Nextel Cup. Franchitti won Indy and the IndyCar championship this season, Hornish won both the year before and has three titles in the series.

Castroneves going the distance through the show's 10 weeks, giving people plenty of time to get to know him, and then winning has delivered more star power to IndyCar than they lost with Franchitti (and his actress wife, Ashley Judd) and Hornish.

Franchitti and Hornish are great drivers and were popular within the relatively small universe of IndyCar fans. But Castroneves was dancing before as many people each week as watched the entire IndyCar season. It figures that a decent percentage of those who watched Castroneves dance will be curious enough to want to watch him race next season. They'll discover he's a great driver, too, and, maybe, just maybe, discover that IndyCar racing can be pretty exciting, too.

By virtue of his national TV exposure, Castroneves has now joined Danica Patrick -- with her engaging personality and attractiveness -- as drivers whose recognition transcends that of diehard race fans. He's always had the personality, but winning two Indys didn't provide him as big a stage to present it to the public. Nor has a career which has included wins in nine consecutive seasons in both CART (six total) and IndyCar (12 total). And while the Spider-Man act he used in celebrating his first Indy-style victory, in CART's Champ Car Series at Detroit in '00, has been adopted by Tony Stewart, it hasn't transferred to the public at large.

Another barrier to widespread exposure was having Marlboro as a sponsor from 2001 to '06 at Penske Racing. The tobacco company was a tremendous backer from a financial standpoint, but couldn't advertise on television. Other companies that might have been interested in using Castroneves to promote their products were hesitant to be associated because of Marlboro.

With his new-found game, though, it seems probable that Castroneves will land some endorsement deals that will also benefit the IndyCar. The bottom line is the residual effect of his fame from Dancing has the possibility of enduring well into the future.

That should be good news for IndyCar, as the Brazilian Castroneves has never talked about early retirement or bolting to NASCAR. At age 32 and capable of speaking excellent English, Castroneves, who's lived in Miami for 11 years, appears to have the traits capable of selling the sport.

Racing for the powerful Penske team in 2008 and beyond will help, too, but not like his dancing title undoubtedly will.