Helio Castroneves wins 4th Indy 500 in front of largest crowd the world has seen since COVID

[Anti Federalist]

Awesome.

NASCAR and the rest of woke sports mob could maybe take a lesson from the open wheel guys.

What Pandemic? Helio Castroneves Wins Indy 500 in Front of 135,000

https://www.breitbart.com/sports/20...castroneves-wins-indy-500-in-front-of-135000/

AP 30 May 2021

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Helio Castroneves joined the exclusive club of four-time Indianapolis 500 winners Sunday, and then scaled the fence at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in front of the largest crowd since the start of the pandemic.

The Brazilian joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears, his former mentor at Team Penske, as the only four-time winners of “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.”

Mears was the last driver to join the club in 1991.

Castroneves won his third 500 in 2009 and has been chasing win No. 4 ever since.

At 46 years old, in his first season no longer driving for Roger Penske, he held off Alex Palou to win the 105th running of the race in front of 135,000 fans — the most at any sports event in the world since the pandemic began 18 months ago. The number represented 40% of the speedway’s capacity and was agreed upon by health officials.

A year ago, no fans were allowed for the race that was delayed from May to August. This year, celebrities were back and fans were everywhere and they were treated to a win by one of the most popular drivers in Indy 500 history.

 

[jkr]

SPIDERMAN!

great race
a new grand champion is minted

hard to believe its took 30 years!

 

[Anti Globalist]

Congrats to him.

 

[Brian4Liberty]

Oh no, a super spreader event!

 

[Anti Federalist]

Tight racing...absolutely awesome.

235 plus average lap speeds at times.

 

[NorthCarolinaLiberty]

NASCAR and the rest of woke sports mob could maybe take a lesson from the open wheel guys.

Ya, NASCAR is alienating its base with the crap its pulled lately, but I will tip my hat to them on attendance. The place was full for Charlotte's Sunday race. Masks were hard to be found. They said most, if not all, tracks will be at capacity for the rest of 2021.

I used to live a half mile from the Indy 500 track. That city had a conservative feel when I lived there, so I'm not surprised they had a lot of fans. People can't tell me that living in a conservative area doesn't make a difference.

BTW, the Indy track holds about 1/4 million and a lot more with the infield, so the 135k was not capacity. But still great to see.

 

[oyarde]

40 percent capacity this yr . great race for the fans won by a decent guy.

 

[Anti Federalist]

Ya, NASCAR is alienating its base with the crap its pulled lately, but I will tip my hat to them on attendance. The place was full for Charlotte's Sunday race. Masks were hard to be found. They said most, if not all, tracks will be at capacity for the rest of 2021.

I used to live a half mile from the Indy 500 track. That city had a conservative feel when I lived there, so I'm not surprised they had a lot of fans. People can't tell me that living in a conservative area doesn't make a difference.

BTW, the Indy track holds about 1/4 million and a lot more with the infield, so the 135k was not capacity. But still great to see.

Yeah, I knew that wasn't close to capacity, but still the biggest crowd since Covidiacy started.

I went back and watched the 1991 race where Mears won, and they claimed over half a million people were there, between the grandstands and infield.

 

[acptulsa]

It was a very, very clean race. There were two caution flags, one because a car locked up trying to obey the pit speed limit, and the other because Ryan Hunter-Reay's wheel came off leaving the pits. No one was hurt and all but two of the cars that started finished.

Castroneves, who was laid off from a big team for being 46, found a promising small team and helped them prepare a better car than they could afford. He then whupped an insanely talented rookie in as fine a final ten laps as you could ask to see. The wiley old man knew when to hold and when to move.

And A.J. Foyt, Al Unser, Sr. and Rick Mears were all there to welcome him to the club. That was nice. By some miracle, each just happened to be among the 99% of the population who survived covid.

 

[oyarde]

'91 was the last time I was there I think . Only two guys on the last lap together . Rest of the top ten completed as few as 173 laps ( of 200) with Fitipaldi finishing 11th running 171 and the avg of 3rd through tenth places was 188.3 laps completed of 200 and only five guys running 188 laps or more . Ten blown engines , one blown gear box , one or two blown radiators, one blown tranny , three crashes , one suspension broken , one blown turbo , one oil leaker and several electrical failures . Top 5 all with the 265 Chevy . I have a Brother In Law that lives on the West side that goes every year, has been since he was in High School.