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Helio On Fast Track To Win Four At Indy In Record Time


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Renew tickets to see Castroneves’ race toward history in May 2010

INDIANAPOLIS, June 3, 2009: After driving to his third Indianapolis 500 victory May 24, Helio Castroneves is standing on the edge of motorsports history.

Castroneves could join the most elite club in auto racing – a four-time Indianapolis 500 champion – faster than any driver in history by winning the 2010 Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, May 30, 2010 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. He would stand alongside icons A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as a four-time winner of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing,” and he would achieve the feat in record time.

If Castroneves wins with Team Penske next May, he will have earned four victories in just 10 starts at Indy. Mears is the fastest to four in the “500,” earning his fourth victory in his 14th start, in 1991.

It took Foyt 20 starts to achieve four victories, Unser 22.

“We just made three and now are thinking about a fourth,” Castroneves said after winning May 24. “I feel honored to be in this category of drivers. And now being in this type of category, wow, with such incredible names. I feel blessed to be in that category. But without a team, without good people surrounding you, you cannot make that.”

Said Tim Cindric, president of Penske Performance Inc., “As we look at it now, I remember as a kid growing up here, remembering how cool it was to wait for A.J. to win his fourth and what that meant and all the hype about A.J. winning his fourth, and then again with Mears. So I kind of lived it as a kid, and it’s kind of cool to sit up here and think he has a chance to do it.”

Castroneves also would write more Indy 500 history if he wins next May, as he would become the first driver to win the race in consecutive years twice. He won his first two starts in the world’s most prestigious auto race, in 2001-02, another record-setting feat.

Besides witnessing Helio’s race toward history, existing ticket holders who renew their seats online for the 2010 Indianapolis 500 by Monday, June 8 will receive an opportunity to purchase a Victory Lap around the IMS oval for only $10.

Fans can renew their Race Day tickets and purchase their Victory Lap online in the Tickets section of www.indianapolismotorspeedway.com.

For just $10, renewal customers can take a 65-mph ride in a passenger vehicle around the same track where Castroneves sealed his IMS legend May 24 by becoming just the ninth driver to win “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” at least three times. Customers who renew their tickets and purchase a Victory Lap also will have their photo taken at the world-famous “Yard of Bricks” with a pace vehicle and receive free admission to the IMS Hall of Fame Museum.

Renewal customers can purchase one lap for each Race Day reserved seat ticket renewed, up to a maximum of four laps per account. Rides will be provided April 9-11 and June 25-27, 2010, with dates subject to change. A limited number of rides are available, so fans are urged to renew their tickets now.

Ticket applications for new customers also are being accepted. New customers are encouraged to make three stand selections in various price ranges so there is enough flexibility to process their order.