Helio Wins Edmonton, But Doesn't Win Edmonton...

When Helio Castroneves "blocks," or at least when the folks in the tower think Castroneves ((as the leader)) blocks...

As the leader of the race...

With three laps to go after a caution ended, Will Power tried to catch up to Castroneves and looked ready to pass for first.

Castroneves looked like he held his line past Start-Finish and then, maybe, moved off his line up to the outside to block.

Iffy at best...

"At the end of the day I was always going to do a clean move on Helio," Power said later. "I wasn't going to take a risk of taking us both out. I wouldn't do that to a teammate. I race my teammates clean."

As Castroneves moved high to block Power, Scott Dixon found a lane and passed Power for second.

With two laps to go, race officials black-flagged Castroneves. He ignored the order and raced to the checkered flag. He declined comment after the race.

You see below how Castroneves felt after getting jobbed...

((HT: Indycar/Versus))


Oh, and by the way, Milka Duno finished dead last...

Castroneves Takes Indy Pole, Danica Booed...

((HT: WXIN-TV Indianapolis))

The format is a little different, but it seems the results are the same for Indy qualifying in Indy...

Castroneves and Team Penske are littered all over the leaderboard at the Pagoda.

Helio averaged just under 228 miles-per-hour on his four lap average, and as a part of the new format, the drivers who were 2 through 8 got a chance to shuffle the deck in their own practice period.

Here's your top seven...

1. Helio Castroneves 227.970
2. Will Power 227.682
3. Dario Franchitti 226.990
4. Ryan Briscoe 226.554
5. Alex Tagliani 226.390
6. Scott Dixon 226.233
7. Graham Rahal 225.519

Danica Patrick qualified 23rd at 224.217 and will start behind two other women -- Brazil's Ana Beatriz and Switzerland's Simona de Silvestro, who were 21st and 22nd.
She called out her team on the public address after her run and got booed by the crowd...

Here's when Fox59 caught up with her...
 

IndyCar Drivers Apologize For Richmond

((HT: Richmond Times-Dispatch/Paulk))

Scott Dixon can thank Helio Castroneves for his good fortune -- and his second SunTrust Indy Challenge victory last night at Richmond International Raceway ((pictured, thanks Richmond Times-Dispatch/Alexa Welch Edlund)).

Dixon, whose 19th career Indy Racing League win ties him with Sam Hornish Jr. for the most, led the final 161 laps for his first victory at RIR since 2003. Dixon took the checkered flag nearly a half-second ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, pole-sitter Dario Franchitti.

"Richmond is a place I've wanted to win at again for quite some time," Dixon said. "To come through and get the points when we need them and have such a great day points-wise over the Penske two [Castroneves and Ryan Briscoe] was very, very big."

Still, a victorious Dixon was apologetic afterward for a race that lacked any semblance of a climatic finish. It was a battle of fuel instead of wits and speed.

"Once you got to lapped traffic it was very hard to pass," said Dixon, winning with an average speed of 124.952 mph. "It was a frustrating night, but it was a big night for us."

Franchitti, though, moved atop the IndyCar Series points standing with his second-place finish. Briscoe entered the race as the points leader, but a crash on Lap 28 sent him spiraling from the top spot.

However, it was a Castroneves crash just 52 laps from the finish that altered the fate of Dixon and Andretti Green Racing teammates, Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively.

With 55 laps to go, Patrick was feeling good about her chances of winning a second IndyCar Series race.

Patrick and Mutoh were seemingly in perfect position to battle for the checkered flag after plotting a pit and fuel strategy that would put them far ahead of their nearest pursuers during the waning laps.

Mutoh and Patrick pitted on Laps 214 and 225, respectively. And while they were shuffled to the back of the pack, Dixon and Franchitti stayed on the racetrack, flirting with a rapidly shutting fuel window.

Clearly, it was advantage Mutoh and Patrick.

Then, as Castroneves violently slammed his No. 3 Honda-Dallara into the wall on the back straightaway on Lap 248, Patrick and Mutoh were victims of bad timing and bad luck.

"We wanted to come back strong after a poor qualifying effort," said Patrick, registering her fifth top-five finish this season. "We got another top-five, but I'm itching for a win."

Castroneves appeared poised to make a run as Dixon and Franchitti gambled with their fuel. But the Indianapolis 500 winner suffered the same fate as Briscoe as he lost control halfway down the back straightaway.

"Things were going real good, but the guy in front of me slowed down very much, and I did not have anywhere to go," Castroneves said. "I avoided him, but unfortunately I ended up in the wall."

Castroneves' crash, and the subsequent caution, enabled Dixon and Franchitti to maintain their lead. They both pitted under caution for fuel on Lap 250. Dixon got ahead of the lead pack, including Franchitti and third-place Graham Rahal, and was never challenged following the Lap 260 restart.

Again, Ganassi Racing, as it did last weekend in Iowa, benefited from a Castroneves mishap. Dixon, winning for the third time this season, kept a frustrated Franchitti at bay over the last 40 laps.

"My mistake was trying to use too much fuel capacity. Ultimately, that hurt us when we had to pit," Franchitti said. "When Scott got ahead we were pushing like hell to catch him, but we couldn't get it done."

"It was a track-position race. To a degree, it became a fuel race. We were hanging on all night. Everyone was pushing, but we couldn't get close enough to make any passes."

This, of course, was supposed to be a duel between the series' two dominant teams -- Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing. Their drivers -- Castroneves, Briscoe, Dixon and Franchitti -- had won seven of the first eight races.

"Anytime you can make a gain on the Penske, you have to take that run with it," Dixon said. "It's not often they make the mistakes they made tonight. We've had some bad runs at the start of the year . . . but tonight was a big gain for us, and could be a pivotal point in the season.

"I felt bad for Dario because he couldn't save enough fuel. But that's what a lot of racing has become this season. I'll complain as much as the next person as to what we have to fix. We have to remember we're here to put on a show for the fans."

Dixon, the defending IRL champion, assumed the lead after Mike Conway brought out the third caution flag by spinning out on the front straightaway. The Ganassi teammates toured the three-quarter-mile short track almost effortlessly following the Lap 155 restart.


Jamie Scavotto has the highlights and honest postgame from the Richmond race
((HT: WWBT-TV))

Castroneves Found Not Guilty In Tax Evasion Case

((HT: CBSSports))

Helio Castroneves ((pictured, thanks Newsday)) has kept his cool at speeds of more than 200 mph. There have been times he's collided with another race car and a wall -- and just walked away. He barely broke a sweat when he won the Dancing with the Stars TV contest in 2007.

But during his federal tax evasion trial, the handsome Castroneves was often emotional, openly sobbing in the courtroom and in front of the TV cameras outside.

On Friday, a federal jury acquitted the 33-year-old Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion but hung on one count of conspiracy, and Castroneves once again dissolved into tears -- of relief. He leaned against his attorneys for support and rubbed a rosary with hands that are more accustomed to gripping a steering wheel during times of stress.

The jury also acquitted his 35-year-old sister Katiucia Castroneves, who is also his business manager, on the tax evasion counts but also unable to reach a verdict on the conspiracy charge. Michigan motorsports attorney Alan Miller, 71, was acquitted on all three counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy. The jury deliberated six days after a six-week trial.

In the moments after the verdict was read, Castroneves expressed profound thanks -- to the jury, his family, his racing team, his fans and to God.

"I tell you what," he sighed. He scrunched up his face, ready to cry. "It's been a long seven weeks."

Alicia Valle, spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney's office, said prosecutors will review all of the options on the hung conspiracy charge "to determine how best to proceed." Castroneves' lawyers said it would be "illogical to proceed" with refiling the conspiracy count.

Castroneves, a two-time Indianapolis 500 winner and one of the Indy racing circuit's most popular drivers, was temporarily replaced on Team Penske by Australian Will Power pending the outcome of the case. During the entire trial, he's talked of his desire to get behind the wheel. In fact, that was part of his defense team's argument -- that Castroneves is a race car driver who had only a slight understanding of his financial affairs and relied on professionals to deal with them.

Central to the case was the ownership of a Panamanian company called Seven Promotions. Prosecutors called it a shell corporation set up primarily so Castroneves could dodge U.S. income taxes, but Castroneves' father testified he created Seven to boost his son's image in Brazil. The elder Castroneves said his son never owned it.

Prosecutors called that a lie, showing jurors numerous documents in which Castroneves claimed Seven as his own. If it was, an Internal Revenue Service agent testified, then Castroneves owed U.S. taxes on the full $5 million from Penske even though he has never actually received the money.

Instead, the Penske payments were eventually invested in a deferred compensation deal with the Dutch firm Fintage Licensing B.V. Castroneves attorney Roy Black told jurors in closing arguments that such deals are common -- and perfectly legal -- for athletes who have relatively short careers and face injury or worse at any moment.

While Castroneves' lawyers were eager to discuss the merits of the case outside the courthouse with the media refiling the conspiracy case would be "illogical," they said -- Castroneves talked about racing.

"Instead of going to Disneyland, I want to go to Long Beach to race," he said, finally smiling.

He said he was headed to California to race in this weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach for Team Penske.

"The car is ready, the helmet is ready, the suit is ready," he said. "I'm going back to racing."

Castroneves cried a bit more while doing an interview in his native Portuguese. He turned to SPEED TV, telling them that this was the biggest victory of his career. Then an attorney squeezed his shoulder.

"We've got a plane to catch," the attorney said. Castroneves climbed into the back of a black Porsche SUV. It sped away from the courthouse and to the next race.

Rosh Lowe has the coverage from WSVN-TV...