3-time Indy champion Castroneves becomes 3-time winner at Texas after 3rd caution

Texas trio for Castroneves after 3rd caution

FORT WORTH, Texas — Helio times three.

Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis 500 for the third time last month and added a third win at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday night to become the third person to win both races in the same year. And he has done it all in his No. 3 Team Penske car.

“Right now, No. 3 seems to be a great number for me. I like the number actually,” Castroneves said. “It’s one of those things that you’ve been so long with one car and one team, the number basically becomes your identity. So I’m happy with the No. 3.”

And how about a little more winning trio effect?

It was during the third and final caution Saturday night at Texas Motor Speedway that Castroneves took the lead for good from teammate Ryan Briscoe, who had built an advantage of more than 10 seconds during a continuos green-flag run of 140 laps before two late cautions.

That dominating lead evaporated when there was a yellow flag for debris on the 150th of 228 laps, though Briscoe said he “didn’t see any” and Castroneves concurred while also defending IndyCar Series officials.

“I just trust those guys,” Castroneves said. “You’re in the lead, you don’t want to see any yellow. Been in that situation as well. But there is nothing we can do. We have to trust safety.”

Briscoe maintained his lead on that restart, but Castroneves got around Marco Andretti and had worked up to his teammate’s tail before an unquestioned caution 15 laps later when A.J. Foyt IV crashed into the inside wall on the backstretch. That set up the final stop, and Castroneves’ 16th IndyCar victory.

A 6-second stop on lap 175 got Castroneves out of the pit a half-second faster than Briscoe and Scott Dixon, and the 34-year-old Brazilian went on to win by 0.39 seconds.

“That last pit stop, I mean, those guys are incredible. They won the pit stop competition at Indianapolis because they deserve it,” Castroneves said. “It was the No. 3 group, they gave this victory to me.”

Team Penske has won four of the last six races at Texas, three by Castroneves and the other by former driver Sam Hornish Jr., the only three-time winner at the 1½-mile, high-banked oval before Castroneves.

Briscoe was the runner-up for the second consecutive week, but took over the season points lead from third-place finisher Scott Dixon, the Target Chip Ganassi Racing driver whose two victories this season sandwiched Castroneves’ victory at Indy.

“Frustrating result. Probably one of the most frustrating I’ve experienced,” Briscoe said. “When you’re so close to winning it, it feels bitter. But, you know, it’s good to be points leader.”

Briscoe, in the No. 6 car that Hornish drove before the former IndyCar champion moved to NASCAR, is the only driver to complete all 1,038 laps this season.

Andretti finished fourth and pole sitter Dario Franchitti fifth. Danica Patrick was sixth, ending the Andretti-Green driver’s series-best streak of consecutive top-five finishes at four.

“All weekend we had a strong car and then during the race, the steering became really heavy. It just wasn’t the car we started with,” Patrick said. “I wish we could have had a top-five finish, but Marco passed me at the end fair and square. Overall, I’m content.”

The other drivers to win at Indianapolis and Texas in the same season were Arie Luyendyk, in the inaugural open-wheel race at Texas in 1997, and Dixon last year.

Castroneves’ racing career was in jeopardy earlier this year because of federal tax evasion charges, and he missed the season opener at St. Petersburg because of the trial. But a jury acquitted him on most charges before the remaining count was thrown out.

“First time when I jumped in a car at Long Beach, I asked if this was a dream and (team president Tim Cindric) said it was reality,” Castroneves said. “It certainly feels like it’s a dream, but I understand that it’s not.”

(This version CORRECTS time element in second graf.)