"I have no words": When Helio Castroneves' wife was left stunned after his record fourth Indy 500 win

Helio Castroneves is arguably the greatest driver of the last IndyCar generation to have not won a title in the American open-wheel racing series. However, the Brazilian did equal the record for the most Indy 500 wins, and his wife was beyond ecstatic about her husband's win at the 2021 Indy 500.

Castroneves moved to Team Penske for the 2000 IndyCar season and raced in his first Indy 500 in 2001. The Brazilian was an instant success at the team and won the greatest spectacle in racing on his first attempt, followed by another Indy 500 win the very next year in 2002. Josef Newgarden recently equalled Castroneves' feat of being the latest back-to-back Indy 500 winner.

Helio Castroneves' next Indy 500 win came in 2009 when he started the race in pole position and dominated to cross the chequered flag in P1. However, the Brazilian had to wait for 12 years before his next Indy 500 win.

The four-time Indy 500 winner took a sabbatical from full-time IndyCar racing after the 2017 season but participated in every Indy 500 after 2017 in the hope of equaling AJ Foyt, Al Unser, and Rick Mears’ record of four Indy 500 wins. The same was accomplished in 2021 when Castroneves won with Meyer Shank Racing. Speaking about the same after the race, Castroneves' wife said (via WTHR),

“Imagine at his age, he's four times winner. He still got it. I knew it, He still got it. And I have no words to describe how happy I am. Everybody's. I was just telling them that like nobody left, everybody was still cheering for him. So it's incredible. Everybody loves him.”

Castroneves' wife Adriana was then questioned whether she ever doubted her husband for equaling the Indy 500 win record as it was his 12th attempt, to which she replied,

“Many people ask me, is he gonna retire anytime soon? I'm like, no, no, no, he still got it. He wants to be there. And thanks to Meyer Shank and Jim that gave him the opportunity, they gave him this. I mean, he's here because they believed in him, and of course he got it.”

Helio Castroneves returned to a full-time driver role with MSR for the 2022 and 2023 IndyCar seasons but was dropped to a part-time role for 2024. Castroneves finished P2 at the Indy 500 on three different occasions and could've possibly beaten the record for most Indy 500 wins.

Helio Castroneves' NASCAR debut at the 2025 Daytona 500

Helio Castroneves made his NASCAR Cup Series debut at the year's Daytona 500. However, the debut was anything but easy for the four-time Indy 500 winner, who got a taste of what stock car racing is like. Castroneves was tagged by Ross Chastain on the Lap 71 restart. The severe damage forced Castroneves into the pits, and he finished in P39.

“It’s incredible when you have more laps into it and understand the air flow, the guys, what they're doing saving fuel. There were some sketchy moments but what a shame. I wish I was still out there because there was more to understand, more to learn, and I am starting to get a little more comfortable with the whole process,” said Castroneves during the post race interview.

Castroneves was involved in three other crashes that weekend, which included crashes in the ARCA Menards race and the crash during the Cup Series qualifying.