Helio Castroneves attempts to make history in 108th Indianapolis 500

SPEEDWAY, Ind. – As one of the all-time greats of the Indianapolis 500, Helio Castroneves has a chance to solidify himself Sunday as possibly the best-ever to run the legendary race.

Helio Castroneves enters the 108th running of the Indianapolis 500 with four wins in the race, tied with A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears for the most Indy 500 wins ever.

Castroneves will begin this year’s 500 looking to make a spectacle of it, starting on the seventh row in 20th.

That’s no problem, though.

Castroneves won in 2021, 2009, 2002 and 2001. Only in 2009 and 2021 has he started inside the Top-10 — pole position in ’09 and eighth in ’21. In 2001 and 2002, he started 11th and 13th, respectively.

His No. 06 car has shown speed so far this year at Indy, throwing down the second-fastest lap Friday during Carb Day

Apart from his 2021 victory, Castroneves has only finished inside the top-ten twice in this race since 2017. In 2017, he also started on the seventh row and brought home a second-place finish. In 2022, he finished seventh after starting 27th.

Earlier this year, it was announced Castroneves would now be a minority partner with Meyer Shank Racing. He’ll split time between racing the car and the pit box.

It will be an uphill battle for Helio Castroneves to unseat the Penske-painted front row for the Indianapolis 500, even as that team battles recent controversy.

The 108th Indianapolis 500 is scheduled to go green at around 12:45 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock.