It was an impromptu eruption of joy in 2000 on Belle Isle, and the fence climb has become Helio Castroneves’ signature victory celebration. Older but no less exuberant, Castroneves bounded to the fencing opposite team owner Roger Penske to celebrate his 29th Indy car victory June 1 in Dual 2 of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans.
Castroneves, who started third in the 70-lap race in the No. 3 Hitachi Team Penske car, completed a sweep for engine supplier Chevrolet and Team Penske in the first of three Verizon IndyCar Series doubleheader weekends this season. The victory tied four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and Team Penske consultant Rick Mears for 11th on the all-time list.
“We came out with the Hitachi car spot on,” said Castroneves, whose crew joined him on the fence climb.
A week earlier, Castroneves was crestfallen after falling .0600 of a second short of winning his fourth Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.
“It just made us hungry,” he said. “Here I am in Victory Circle — where I won my first race — and it’s just awesome. I want to win this championship.”
Castroneves, who is the fifth different winner in seven races, moved to second in the standings — 19 points behind teammate Will Power. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who amassed 143 points in winning the Indianapolis 500, dropped to third with a disappointing pair of races. It was the first victory since last June at Texas Motor Speedway, which hosts the always breathtaking Firestone 600 under the lights June 7 on the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval.
Power, who held off Graham Rahal’s No. 15 National Guard Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing car by .3308 of a second to win the opening race on the 2.36-mile, 13-turn street course, was runner-up for his fifth top-five finish in seven races.
Castroneves, who pitted for service for the final time on Lap 50, led Power by 9.4 seconds and was hoping for a clear road to the victory. But the third caution of the race, on Lap 59, created a dueled between the teammates following a Lap 64 restart. Another caution followed on Lap 65 — after the No. 83 Novo Nordisk Chip Ganassi Racing car of Charlie Kimball and the No. 27 United Fiber & Data car driven by James Hinchcliffe overtook Scott Dixon for third and fourth — that set up a three-lap sprint to the finish.
Castroneves wouldn’t let Power get closer than the final margin of 1.6836 seconds. Kimball held third place for his best finish of the season and Dixon drove from last on the starting grid to fourth. Hinchcliffe placed fifth.
“A huge credit to the Target team coming from dead last to fourth. That’s a huge accomplishment,” said Dixon, the reigning series champion. “Overall, a good day and the team did a good job on strategy.”
