Team Penske takes its future away from the hands of the court

Helio Castroneves said the Penske team owners are standing by him. AP

IndyCar racing's most extroverted driver is turning his car over to the series' biggest introvert while he goes to trial over tax evasion charges.

Helio Castroneves, one of the most colorful drivers in IndyCar Series history, left his No. 3 Team Penske Dallara/Honda on Tuesday to Will Power, a driver who shuns the spotlight and is so quiet off the track, he is barely noticed.

With Castroneves set to go to trial on March 2, one month before the IndyCar Series begins its season in the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, the most successful team in IndyCar history had to make a decision that is best for the team.

"Obviously, this is under difficult circumstances," Team Penske president Tim Cindric said on Tuesday. "It's a difficult thing for me to sit up here and talk about it, but under these circumstances our job in racing is to be prepared as you can possibly be. We need to be sure in 2009 we are ready to go and win as many races as we can, not only for our sponsors and organization, but all of those that work for us.

"This tells all of you how we are going to approach 2009. Time will determine a lot of those things and we won't know a lot of those answers until the time comes. The way I'm looking at it, we have three drivers for 2009."

When pressed on whether the team would run three cars in the Indianapolis 500 or this season, Cindric remained non-committal.

"We aren't making any commitments other than we are standing behind Helio." Cindric said. "If Helio is ready by St. Pete, then the 3 car is his. And then we will determine what to do with Will beyond that. Helio has been with us for nine years and he is still our guy. But if he is unable to go, then Will Power will be in the car. Will is committed to us. We are committed to him. And if Helio is back in the car, we'll talk about it at that point in time."

Typically, Power was lost in the shuffle when he was announced as the driver Tuesday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

"I feel very privileged they have chosen me," Power said. "To drive for Penske is a real honor and when you come to the United States to race open wheel, it's a team you want to sign up for. I didn't have anything solid at the time after last year so I can learn a lot from the team, and no matter what happens, I'll come out of it a better driver."

While this was Power's unveiling to the most storied team in Indianapolis 500 history, Castroneves still garnered most of the attention, mainly for an issue he can't discuss.

"It's a little bit strange to be in this situation, but Roger Penske and Tim Cindric have backed me up all the way," Castroneves said. "It's good to have friends like that, first of all. I like to talk a lot and I would love to talk more about my case, but I am not [allowed too].

"My life is about racing, and the way I ended up with Team Penske was in a difficult spot. I can't wait for these things to be over and be back in the race car. I am innocent of those charges and the only thing on my mind is to get back in the race car."

There is a tremendous amount of uncertainty regarding Castroneves' future. If he is convicted of the charges, he is facing a prison term and/or deportation. Understandably, these are the highest stakes he has ever faced. He didn't have this much pressure winning the Indy 500 in 2001 and 2002 and didn't feel the heat like this when he won Dancing with the Stars in 2007.

"It's difficult to see a guy on such a high as Helio, especially after wining Dancing with the Stars, but if anybody can, it's Helio," Cindric said. "We didn't feel like we had to make a decision at any point in time, but it comes down to preparation. The longer you go, the more you know; and the more you know, the better decision you will make. We thought we could go into 2009 as planned, but when it became obvious there was nothing different than the March 2 date... at this point in time, Helio needs to focus on what he needs to do and the race he needs to win is the one in March.

"So for us to focus in the right way is to choose the guy that we have here (Power). We are fortunate to bring someone on board who can compete at the high level that we can expect from Will."

The 27-year-old Power is a native of Toowoomba, Australia, giving Team Penske an "All-Aussie" team for 2009 with Ryan Briscoe of Australia remaining the driver of the No. 6 entry at Team Penske.

Power began his rise up the open-wheel ranks by emerging as one of Australia's top young talents. He also excelled in European competition. He produced strong performances in the British F3 and World Series by Renault championships before moving to the United States in 2005 to compete in the Champ Car World Series. He captured the series Rookie-of-the-Year honors in 2006 and claimed three wins and six pole positions in two plus seasons in Champ Car. In 2008, Power won on the streets of Long Beach in Champ Car's final race, and after joining the IndyCar Series, he earned his first series pole in front of his home crowd at Surfers Paradise, Australia.