New job, new colors, new car: Helio Castroneves unveils 2024 Indy 500 livery
For Helio Castroneves, "new" feels fitting for 2024.
New job. New colors. New sponsor. And so, the four-time Indianapolis 500-winner reasoned, why not ask for a new car?
After two months of getting settled into his new minority owner role with Meyer Shank Racing, where he plans to float between the pit stands of MSR's new full-time driver lineup of Tom Blomqvist and Felix Rosenqvist for the St. Pete, Thermal Club, Long Beach, Barber and IMS road course race weekends, Castroneves will hop into a fresh-off-the-assembly-line Dallara DW12 for Indy 500 practice mid-May, made special for the 48-year-old 500-only driver.
Following two years of holding onto the chassis he drove to his record-tying fourth 500 win in 2021 in his first race with MSR, Castroneves opted for a new pristine one for 2024 to kickoff a new multi-year racing deal with his fellow co-owners Mike Shank and Jim Meyer.
"Let's start fresh," Castroneves told IndyStar on Monday at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where MSR unveiled the driver's livery for this May, featuring brand-new primary sponsorship from Cleveland-Cliffs, a fast-growing steel company with more than 9,000 employees spread across three facilities in Indiana.
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Not only does the multi-year deal for the sponsor and driver dash any thoughts about the four-time 500-winner possibly hanging up his helmet after his 24th start in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing this year, but it'll mean Castroneves will still be racing into his 50s in May 2025.
"(Racing at 50) was always my goal, but I don't want to just 'do it'," he said. "I feel like we're still very competitive, and not only just to win, but to make people go crazy here, and that's what I want to do.
"Right now, I want to keep it going, because that's what I know best. I'm sure this will change, but I don't think it's going to be in the near-future."
How he'll spend the time on race weekends when he's not in the car now, he says, is less-certain. Days ahead of Castroneves' first IndyCar race weekend spent atop a pit stand instead of in the cockpit, the new MSR co-owner said Monday he plans to float between both MSR entries this weekend and see where his decades of expertise can be best utilized -- whether that's with the rookie Blomqvist or partnered with Rosenqvist and the crew he worked closely with as a full-time driver the last two years.
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"I'm going to follow the words of my former competitor Dario Franchitti, who told me recently, 'At the beginning, it sucks,' and after testing (at Sebring last week), I agree with him," Castroneves said. "But Mike, Jim and all of MSR are making this thing feel so comfortable.
"It's going to be a little weird for me to understand everything, but I know when I'm talking to the drivers will be the best part. That's when I'm going to feel the most comfortable and understand the lingo. Everything has a beginning, and this is a new chapter for me, and I want to be as involved as possible."
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy 500: Helio Castroneves ready to drive into his 50s with Meyer Shank Racing
