Nearing his fiftieth birthday this Might with an American racing profession that spans near 30 years, is eyeing rookie standing as soon as once more. The will try and make his debut in subsequent month’s Daytona 500, aiming to hitch Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt as simply the third driver to win the Best Spectacle in Racing and the Nice American Race.
Two years after plans fell by way of close to the end line of a deal to make his Daytona 500 debut — a possibility he explored with Floyd Mayweather’s The Cash Crew — Castroneves has landed a seat in experience. It is a part-time NASCAR Cup sequence entry launched in 2022 that staff proprietor Justin Marks has used to carry a few of the world’s greatest worldwide abilities to compete within the prime degree of inventory automobile racing. Castroneves’ No. 91 Chevy will sport sponsorship from Wendys, and the staff has named Darian Grubb, the 2011 Cup title-winner with Tony Stewart, because the NASCAR rookie’s crew chief.
His teammates for his Cup debut will embrace Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen.
“By no means in my wildest goals did I believe I’d enter a NASCAR race and positively not the Daytona 500 with a staff like Trackhouse Racing,” Castroneves mentioned in a launch. “This is a chance that no one of their proper thoughts might ever flip down.
“I’m so grateful to Wendy’s for permitting me to put on their uniform and drive their automobile, (Trackhouse proprietor) Justin Marks and everybody that made this occur. I want the race have been tomorrow!”
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Ex-Method 1 driver and 2007 drivers champion Kimi Raikkonen has run twice for Venture 91 at Watkins Glen (2022) and Circuit of the Americas (2023), and the experience additionally welcomed Supercars champ van Gisbergen to NASCAR’s Chicago Stree Race — which he received in his debut — in 2023, together with an look on the IMS highway course.
This system took a hiatus in 2024, however Marks and firm have relaunched the experience in a significant method.
““Helio is without doubt one of the best drivers of all time and precisely the kind of driver we need to carry to NASCAR,” Marks mentioned in a launch. “I believe race followers world wide will probably be excited to see Helio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race.
“It additionally exposes our sport to a worldwide viewers and permits them to see simply how nice of a sequence we now have in NASCAR.”
Castroneves’ NASCAR race debut, although, is much from assured. Among the many 500 area, varied NASCAR Cup groups personal a mixed 36 charters that assure them entry into each race — together with the Daytona 500. The race’s beginning grid is capped at 40 automobiles, permitting for 4 non-chartered, or open, entries to race.
Most years, although, 5 or extra open entries try and qualify for the race, . Just lately, NASCAR has awarded computerized beginning spots to the 2 single quickest open entrires throughout single-car qualifying, and the ultimate two spots have gone to the highest-finishing open entries in every of the 2 qualifying Duels — if these highest-finishing automobiles have already certified on pace, then the next-highest-finishing entries are locked in.
As the sphere at present sits, Castroneves would mark the potential Daytona 500 area’s fortieth entry, together with Mike Wallace (MBM Motorsports), J.J. Yeley (NY Racing) and B.J. McLeod (Reside Quick Motorsports). Entries are nonetheless anticipated for Legacy Motor Membership co-owner Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR veteran Martin Truex Jr., amongst different groups and drivers, which means Castroneves’ look within the Feb. 16 kickoff to NASCAR’s 2025 points-paying calendar.
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Ought to he make the 40-car area, Castroneves’ look within the Nice American Race might function a stable advertising software for IndyCar because the sequence enters a brand new unique media rights cope with FOX Sports activities, who additionally broadcasts the primary chunk of the NASCAR Cup sequence calendar on FOX and FS1 — together with the Daytona 500.
Of Castroneves’ 31 profession IndyCar wins, 18 have come on ovals. The 49-year-old Brazilian racing legend has additionally received 3 times at Daytona Worldwide Speedway in his historic three-peat in 2021-23 within the 24 Hours of Daytona, a course for which incorporates a part of the two.5-mile oval.
