Jalopnik: helio castroneves

Helio Castroneves Cries Victorious Tears

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 26 May 2009 13:30:00 EDT

From a rumored affair to actual tax evasion charges, things have been a little rough for Helio Castroneves. Top it off with your third Indy 500 win and things get, well, emotional.

Helio Castroneves Indicted On Tax Evasion; Charges Against More Drivers To Come?

Andrew Stoy — Fri, 03 Oct 2008 10:00:00 EDT

Brazilian race car driver and Dancing With The Stars winner Helio Castroneves is staring down charges he evaded taxes on more than $5 million in income over a four-year period. The 33-year-old two-time Indy 500 winner is expected to turn himself in to authorities today, along with his sister Kati and his lawyer, Alan Miller, both accused of helping Castroneves. Good call on the part of authorities, because although he's got fancy footwork, we kind of doubt the Team Penske driver was the tax code mastermind behind the scheme. Regardless, because of the Alan Miller connection, Castroneves' indictment could have repercussions well beyond those currently accused.

Apparently Michigan attorney Alan Miller has also represented or currently represents such racing stars as Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Casey Mears, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Jeff Gordon, Ward Burton and Clint Bowyer. There's no evidence that Miller conspired with any other drivers for tax-evasion purposes, but his indictment in connection with Helio Castroneves likely has a number of famous names checking the books with their lawyers and accountants. [Miami Herald, USA Today] Thanks to everyone who tipped us!

Penske Indy Racing Sees Spares Go Up In Race Car Flambe

Ben Wojdyla — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 17:23:00 EDT

In a terrible blow for the Penske Racing team, two of their cars and loads of equipment were lost in a freak trailer fire in transit between race venues. The trailer is believed to have caught fire as a result of a wheel bearing failure and gotten out of control after the drivers where unable to put the blaze out with extinguishers. They already had a couple of cars at Sears Point for the upcoming race, but Helio Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe will have to make sure not to put 'em into the wall during practice. [GrandPrix.com]

Helio Castroneves Considering Move To NASCAR, Pretending To Bang More Dancers

Travis Hudson — Wed, 21 May 2008 14:00:00 EDT

Helio Castroneves, IndyCar driver and man with some magic feet has told the Los Angeles Times that he is considering making the big move to NASCAR. Castroneves is a two-time Indy 500 winner and regarded as one of the more popular, and well known, IndyCar drivers. If Castroneves does make the move, he will join the likes of Sam Hornish, Dario Franchitti and Juan Pablo Montoya, all who've moved from open-wheel racing to stock car racing and tried to get people to believe they were hitting that. Wait, just the first part.

It wouldn't be too big of a jump as Castroneves' Team Penske also has three cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, but then again, Castroneves' contract with Penske is up at the end of this season. Whether its for glory or personal curiosity, Castroneves leaving IndyCar could harm open-wheel motorsport. Aside from Danica Patrick, Castroneves is one of the more popular drivers. Nothing has been set in stone, but Castroneves is definitely considering the move. [ESPN] (Image via Getty)

IRL Racer, Dancing With The Stars Champ Ditches Wife for Dance Partner

Matt Hardigree — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 10:15:00 EST

Here's just one of the reasons why we'd never make it as a professional racer: Helio Castroneves wins back-to-back Indy 500's and stays with his hottish young ~~wife~~ fiance. Helio Castroneves wins Dancing With The Stars and leaves young ~~wife~~ fiance for even younger 19-year-old dance instructor. This according to the fine folks at With Leather. There's just something unbalanced about that. It would somehow be better if he left his ~~wife~~ fiance for his pit crew chief.

All of this is still gossip, though it's been confirmed that Helio and his ~~wife~~ fiance are no longer living together. You can surf over to With Leather to see more pics of Helio's new ride. We'd show them but we've just run out of energy to talk about anything Dancing With The Stars-related any further. [With Leather]

Helio Castroneves Shimmies FTW On Dancing With The Stars, Shows Off New-Look IRL Uniform?

Ray Wert — Wed, 28 Nov 2007 07:30:00 EST

We're fairly certain the gold lamé race track suit-inspired uni Helio Castroneves was wearing in his little freestyle dance the night before last wasn't made of Proban or Nomex. And thank goodness — if it was, we feel we might have had to endure an entire IRL season of the Brazilian donning the suit for every race in honor of last night's big win over ~~the forces of evil~~ Spice Girl Melanie Brown to take home his other championship — the one for Dancing with the Stars. In case you missed Helio's little racing-inspired ballroom romping — and we don't blame you if you did — we've included the clip from the night before last. We're going to go and gouge our eyes out now. [via Freep]

Helio Castroneves Can Crash — And Dance!

Ray Wert — Mon, 01 Oct 2007 22:00:00 EDT

Wishes might not do dishes, but here on Jalopnik sometimes wishes can come true. Like this e-mail we received earlier from a longtime reader:

"You might want to look for the YouTube clip of Helio Castroneves on Dancing with the Stars. The man can mambo! He did this one move where he was on his knees and then bent back so that he was lying on the floor."

While that was tonight's episode our dear reader was talking about, the above clip's from the last week's episode — so no mambo, but yes to some serious rump-shaking by Helio's blond bombshell of a partner, Julianne Hough. Hope that satisfies the wishful need — the need for speed of feet.

Five Questions For Today's Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Race

Ray Wert — Sun, 02 Sep 2007 09:53:48 EDT

We're up and runnin' today from the Corvette chalet here in the middle of the Detroit River to finish off our Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix coverage with some hot IndyCar racing action. So whether you're coming to the race today, watching it on ABC at 3:30 or reading our live-blog here (hint-hint) here's five questions we've got for the race today that maybe you can help us to answer:

1.) Can Detroit native Roger Penske make the Detroit Grand Prix a one-two punch with a win today by Helio Castroneves after Penske Racing's Romain Dumas piloted his Porsche RS Spyder to the win in yesterday's ALMS? No pressure Helio.
2.) We've got to ask it, mostly 'cause she's sitting in seventh in overall points — can Danica Patrick win her first IndyCar race?

3.) Who'll be the first driver to take a car into a concrete barrier today?

4.) Given you've now answered the last question, here's one that's just as important — which concrete barrier will take the first hit today? Will it be in turn one? Turn two?

5.) Will Tony Kanaan take down Target Chip Ganassi racer Scott Dixon today in a fit of protective rage over Dario Franchitti?

Racing starts today at 3:45, but we'll have coverage throughout the entire day, so keep your eyes on our Detroit Grand Prix tag for the hottest in racing action.

Helio's Still The Man, Snags The Big Pole For Detroit Grand Prix IndyCar Race

Ray Wert — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 17:15:00 EDT

Yup, Helio's still the man — mostly because now he's sitting atop the pole for tomorrow's IndyCar race with a speed of 103.401 mph for Team Penske. That's almost as hot as the two lovely ladies he had with him last year at Indy. [Detroit News]