PORTLAND, Ore. – It’s been 20 years since Helio Castroneves last raced at Portland Int’l Raceway.
That was in 2001 when Team Penske was in its final season as a full-time CART team before joining what is now known as the NTT IndyCar Series.
Now Castroneves is back at Portland with a new team. The 45-year-old driver from Brazil is in the No. 06 AutoNation/Sirius XM Honda for Meyer-Shank Racing. He will start 18th in the 27-car field during Sunday’s race that is set to begin at 3 p.m. Eastern Time.
When Castroneves drove to victory in the 105th Indianapolis 500 on May 30, he became just the fourth driver in Indy history to win the famed race four times.
His celebration with the fans was monumental and emotional and will likely go down in Indianapolis 500 history as one of the most dramatic and impactful races ever.
Castroneves brings that joy and exuberance to Portland Int’l Raceway this weekend. It will be Castroneves’ first race at Portland since June 24, 2001, when he started third and finished 17th in a Reynard/Honda for Team Penske.
Portland returned to the current NTT IndyCar Series schedule in 2018. At that time, Castroneves was part of Acura Team Penske in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and was not competing regularly in IndyCar.
In the two Portland contests held since returning to IndyCar, both winners are former Indianapolis 500 champions. Takuma Sato drove to victory in 2018 at Portland in the No. 30 Mi-Jack/Panasonic Honda for Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. Sato won the first of his two Indianapolis 500s in 2017 for Andretti Autosport.
In 2019, Will Power of Team Penske won at Portland, just one year after he won his only Indy 500 in 2018.
Castroneves is hoping to keep the Indy 500 streak alive at Portland. The popular driver from Brazil realizes that isn’t going to be easy, however.
“Portland is one of the six races I had this year, and these guys are at the end of their championship season and I’m beginning mine,” Castroneves said. “I’m a little bit behind, but I’m going to do anything I can to win any race, including Portland.
“We are always competitive there. I’m going to make sure I’m competitive. That track is really, really fun. Really fast. I just have to make sure I adapt well to keep that streak going.
“It tells me I’m on the right track; that I have hope to make things happen.”
Castroneves has competed in four previous races at Portland, but all were 20 or more years ago. He started 19th and finished 13th as a rookie for Tony Bettenhausen in 1998. The next year, he started second but finished 26th after leading 30 laps before an electrical issue put him out of the race when he drove for team owner Carl Hogan.
“I remember trying to take the lead at the beginning of the race,” Castroneves recalled. “That was a great moment for Carl Hogan and me on a small team to get on the front row. Hopefully, that suits me again.”
He joined Team Penske after the 1999 season. He won the pole and finished seventh for team owner Roger Penske in 2000 after leading 85 laps in the race.
“It was tough,” Castroneves said of not winning the race that year. “I pushed as hard as I could and led so many laps and not be able to win the race was frustrating. Hopefully, we can have things go our way this time and win it together.
Castroneves started third and finished 17th for the team in 2001.
“I’ve always loved Portland, not only as a city, but as a race,” Castroneves said. “It’s great weather when we went there years ago. I love it. The track was nice with fast corners and some slow corners. It’s an iconic place from the 1990s. It’s really cool. Now, I’ll be able to turn back time and go back again.
“You have to save fuel, that’s what I remember. One of the races I started on the pole and was pushing as hard as I could, and I still ran out of fuel. Tim Cindric and I were still figuring it out. Let’s see how it goes. If we have to save fuel, we will do that, too, but we have to make sure we start well.
The 12-turn, 1.964-mile Portland Int’l Raceway is also demanding from a strategy standpoint.
Does a team gamble for a two-stop strategy, or try to run as fast as possible with three pit stops?
“That’s always a crappy bet,” team owner Michael Shank admitted. “It’s a terrible bet. I hate it. I want to go all out, all the time. But you fuel conserve when you can, any time you can. That’s just the way it works now. The cars are so equal. That is leaking over to the Acura DPI program, too. It’s a lot of fuel conservation.
“The series is a lot different now. It’s really difficult. The cars are equal and it’s a fine line to drive them on. We’ll learn from the test.
“I think the race course is really good. It’s good for passing and it’s good for racing. I think it’s great. Jack Harvey qualified third the last time we were there and got taken out by Ryan Hunter-Reay.”
A trip to Portland is generally one of the highlights of the IndyCar Series schedule. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic canceled last year’s race.
After an unexpected year off, the drivers, teams and fans are excited to return to Portland and watch some of the greatest drivers in racing battle it out on the challenging race course.
“The folks that are really fans of IndyCar and racing, they have an incredible opportunity to see old talent, young talent and an incredible series,” Castroneves said. “Portland is iconic and I’m glad to be back and look forward to racing here again.”