EVENTS
 Sportsman of the Year
 Heisman Trophy
 Swimsuit 2001

CNNSI.com GROUP
 Sports Illustrated
 Life of Reilly
 SI Women
 SI for Kids
 Press Room
 TBS/TNT Sports
 CNN Languages

COMMERCE
 SI Customer Service
 SI Media Kits
 Get into College
 Sports Memorabilia
 TeamStore

Inside Motor Sports

Click here for more on this story

Conquistador  

Brazilian rookie Helio Castroneves made Roger Penske's return to Indy a sweet one

By Mark Bechtel

Roger Penske was on the schneid in late May. He had gone six years without one of his cars appearing in the Indy 500 -- a nightmare year in 1995, when his two cars failed to qualify, followed by a five-year absence because most CART car owners boycotted the race in a dispute with the rival IRL. However, Chip Ganassi's return to Indy last year and his win with rookie driver Juan Montoya enticed other CART owners, including Penske, to race at the Brickyard this year. "Roger pushed the whole month [before the race]," says Gil de Ferran, who drives for Penske. "To get cars built, to get engines built, pushing, pushing, pushing." When Brazil's Helio Castroneves won the race on Sunday, finishing 1.7 seconds ahead of de Ferran to give Penske a one-two showing, the pushing paid off.

After leading a one-two sweep, Castroneves, a.k.a. Spiderman, celebrated with his usual flair.  Robert Laberge/Allsport

Penske wasn't the only big name to return to Indy. CART driver Michael Andretti finished third in his first race at the Brickyard since 1995. The CART boycott had been especially tough on the 38-year-old Andretti, who has one of the longest lists of near misses in Indy history. "Five really good years in the prime of my career to win this thing, and they were taken from me," he said on Saturday. "Last year was the worst. I was watching the race, and I thought, What's going on? If Juan can be there, why can't we? I was upset because I really pushed hard to make it happen with [owner] Carl Haas, but he didn't want to know about it."

After last season Andretti and Haas split up, and Andretti joined Barry Green, who was amenable to a Brickyard effort. Andretti led for 16 laps on Sunday, giving him 398 laps led in his Brickyard career, the most of any driver without a win. Still, it was Castroneves who led at the end, marking the first time since 1926 and '27 that rookie drivers had won at Indy in successive years.

Castroneves, 26, is known as Spiderman because he has a penchant for climbing trackside fences following his victory. At Indy he invited his crew to join him in his Peter Parker impersonation. They all did, except Penske, who was in a more reflective mood. "It's the best day of my life, redeeming myself like this," Penske said.

The win might have officially belonged to the guy scaling the fence, but looking at Penske, you couldn't help but feel that this one was his.

Issue date: June 4, 2001

For more Inside Motor Sports see this week's issue of Sports Illustrated, on newsstands Wednesday, May 30. Click here to subscribe to SI.

 

Related information
Stories
Inside Baseball Inside Track and Field SI Online: Current Issue and Archives
Multimedia
Visit Multimedia Central for the latest audio and video
Search our site	Watch CNN/SI 24 hours a day
	Sports Illustrated and CNN have combined to form a 24 hour sports news and information channel. To receive CNN/SI at your home call your cable operator or DirecTV.

Copyright © 2001 CNN/Sports Illustrated An AOL Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved. Terms under which this service is provided to you. Read our privacy guidelines.