DETROIT (Sunday, June 1, 2014) — Helio Castroneves climbed the fence at Belle Isle again — 14 years after his signature victory celebration was born following his first Indy car win in 2000 in the Motor City.
Castroneves’ climb on June 1 was in honor of his 29th Indy car victory after winning Dual 2 of the Chevrolet Indy Dual in Detroit presented by Quicken Loans by 1.6836 seconds over teammate Will Power.
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. His victory tied Rick Mears for 11th on the all-time list.
“Indy 500. It just clicked something. It just made us hungry and here I am in Victory Circle where I won my first race. It’s great energy again. I wanted it so bad,” said Castroneves, who a week earlier came just short of joining Mears, A.J. Foyt and Al Unser as the only four-time winners of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race. “More than anything, I want this championship.”
Castroneves, the fifth different winner in seven races this season, moved to second in the standings — 19 points behind Power. Ryan Hunter-Reay, who amassed 126 points in winning the Indianapolis 500, dropped to third with a disappointing pair of races that carried full points.
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 the seven races.
Charlie Kimball advanced 17 positions to place third for his best finish of the season and Scott Dixon drove from last on the starting grid to fourth. James Hinchcliffe finished fifth.
