2001–2004 Castroneves debuted in the
Indy Racing League (IRL) in
2001, driving Penske's No. 68
Dallara IR-01-
Oldsmobile car, Castroneves started seventeenth but retired with engine failure after three-quarters race distance. He qualified eleventh for his first Indianapolis 500 and led the final 52 laps to win the race at his first attempt. , his second of four victories at the race. Castroneves switched to the IRL from the
2002 season since Marlboro wanted Penske to focus on the American market. Penske changed engine manufacturers from Oldsmobile to Chevrolet for its Dallara IR-02 car. Castroneves' season highlight was the
Indianapolis 500, which he won in controversial circumstances. With one-and-a-half laps remaining, CART driver
Paul Tracy overtook Castroneves for the lead, just as the
yellow caution flag light came on for a two-car accident between
Buddy Lazier and
Laurent Redon. IRL officials' rejected an appeal from Tracy's squad
Team Green, upholding Castroneves' second successive Indianapolis 500 victory. He finished no lower than ninth in the next nine races, Before the final round at
Texas Motor Speedway Castroneves was 12 points behind Hornish and needed to win the race and for Hornish to finish third or lower to claim the championship. He finished second, 0.010 seconds behind Hornish, ending the season runner-up with 511 points. at first, the two did not speak to each other often because of their differing personalities. He led most of the season-opening Toyota Indy 300 before Hornish passed him on the final lap to win. Castroneves qualified eighth for his fourth
Indianapolis 500. A lack of horsepower against the Honda-powered cars caused him to finish the rain-shortened race ninth. Two races later, Castroneves' first pole position of the season came in the SunTrust Indy Challenge at Richmond, where he finished third. He took eight more top tens, four pole positions, The relationship between Castroneves and his teammate Hornish cooled after failed overtakes causing both drivers to collide. He qualified on the pole position at
Pikes Peak International Raceway and
Watkins Glen International and took six top-tens in the final ten races, finishing with 440 points for sixth in the drivers' championship. The relationship between him and Hornish became cordial and the two shared information. He took his third career
Indianapolis 500 pole position, At the
ABC Supply Company A.J. Foyt 225 at Milwaukee a week later, he took his third pole position of 2007, but a rear wing mounting failure on lap 201 caused him to crash while leading. Castroneves took six top-nines, and three more pole positions in the final ten races for sixth overall in points with 446. He finished second in both Texas and Richmond with consecutive pole positions at Nashville and Mid-Ohio, both of which did not result in a race victory. After finishing second in Detroit for illegally blocking
Justin Wilson, he entered the season-ending
Peak Antifreeze Indy 300 30 points behind championship leader Dixon. Castroneves needed to win the race and for Dixon to finish eleventh or lower to become the champion. He began in 28th due to a track limit penalty, beating Dixon by 0.0033 seconds in the second-closest finish in series history, ending the season second in points with 629. The IRS said he owed them $2.3 million in taxes. The trial was held in March 2009 at the
U.S. District Court in Miami. A guilty verdict in the trial would have likely sent Castroneves to prison, and ended his driving career. During the trial, his indictment centered around whether he used Seven Promotions as a
tax shelter to avoid paying U.S. taxes. The defense claimed Seven Promotions was a Panamanian company created by Castroneves' father (Helio Sr.) in early 1999 to improve his son's image in Brazil and to recruit sponsors. Prosecutors called that a lie, showing jurors documents claiming Castroneves owned Seven Productions, and that it was merely a
shell corporation set up to obscure taxable income. An IRS agent testified Castroneves owed every amount of taxable income despite the driver not receiving any of it. The defense argued Castroneves focused on racing rather than his income; he was unaware of his finances and disliked Dutch and Panamanian business dealings. They said he was uninterested and could not understand his finances and signed papers without knowing their meaning. The jury deliberated until 17 April, when it acquitted Castroneves of the six counts of
criminal tax evasion but hung on the conspiracy charge. On 22 May, with Castroneves at
Indianapolis and back to driving, prosecutors dropped the remaining criminal conspiracy charge. The suit was settled before going to court for approximately 10 percent of what the IRS claimed.
2009–2013 , his third victory at the race. Castroneves signed a multi-year contract with Penske from the
2009 season;
Will Power replaced him for the season-opening St. Petersburg race before Castroneves returned for the
Grand Prix of Long Beach. In the
Bombardier Learjet 550 at Texas two races later, Castroneves achieved his second victory of 2009. He took six more top-tens, including a second place in the
Edmonton Indy, Castroneves was eliminated from championship contention at Chicago, and finished fourth overall with 433 points. He won the inaugural
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama to extend his record of winning a race to ten straight seasons. After qualifying on pole position for the
Indianapolis 500, a
stall in a pit stop relegated him to ninth. Five races later, at the
Honda Indy Edmonton, Castroneves was the first to finish, but was demoted to tenth after he was deemed to have blocked his teammate Power. He won two consecutive races, at
Kentucky Speedway and Motegi, before ending the season with a fifth at Homestead-Miami. With 531 points, Castroneves was fourth in the drivers' standings. Castroneves qualified sixteenth for the race; The rest of Castroneves' season included two-second places at Edmonton and Sonoma, and three top-nines. He was 11th overall with 312 points, his lowest finish since he was sixth in both 2005 and 2007. The 2011 season was the first since 1999 in which Castroneves did not achieve a race win. At the season-opening
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, Castroneves passed
J. R. Hildebrand with 26 laps to go to win. He took pole position for the following
Indy Grand Prix of Alabama and finished third. He then took three sixth places at Milwaukee, Iowa and Toronto. and won the
Edmonton Indy to draw within 23 points of championship leader
Ryan Hunter-Reay. Castroneves ended the season with three more top-tens for fourth overall with 431 points. the team modified his car in the off-season. Two podiums in the season-opening
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg and the following
Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama gave him the points lead. Castroneves fell to third after finishing thirteenth in the
São Paulo Indy 300, He qualified eighth for the
Indianapolis 500; In the
Firestone 550 at Texas, Castroneves led the final 132 laps to win, breaking a tie with
Marco Andretti for the points lead. Castroneves took two more second places at Milwaukee and the second Toronto race and finished no lower than ninth in the next eight races. To win the championship in the season-ending
MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships, Castroneves needed to finish nine positions higher than Dixon. A sixth place for Castroneves and a fifth for Dixon gave Castroneves second overall with 550 points.
2014–2017 car Castroneves drove in the
2014 season Castroneves remained with Penske for the
2014 season. He qualified fourth for the
Indianapolis 500, He took pole position for the first
Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix race and won the second. After three straight sub-par results, which took after finishing eighth in the
Iowa Corn Indy 300. He relinquished the points lead after a throttle problem left him nineteenth in the
Honda Indy 200 at Mid-Ohio. Entering the final race, the
MAVTV 500 IndyCar World Championships, Castroneves was 51 points behind Power. Castroneves placed 14th for second overall with 609 points. He achieved consecutive second places in the
Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana and the
Grand Prix of Long Beach and two pole positions. He started fifth and ran consistently within the top five but finished seventh. The rest of the season saw Castroneves achieve consecutive third places in the
Firestone 600 and the
Honda Indy Toronto and was second in the
ABC Supply Wisconsin 250 along with two more pole positions for fourth overall with 453 points. Castroneves took another podium finish two races later, a second place at the
Grand Prix of Indianapolis. After qualifying ninth for the
Indianapolis 500, he led 24 laps, finishing eleventh after a lap-160 collision with Hildebrand dislodged Castroneves' left-rear bumper pod. Castroneves achieved two more podium finishes, a second in the
Honda Indy Toronto, and a third in the
IndyCar Grand Prix at the Glen. With 504 points, Castroneves was fourth in the drivers' championship. He led the first 73 laps of the
Desert Diamond West Valley Phoenix Grand Prix for fourth after winning pole. Castroneves began from a career-low 19th in the
Indianapolis 500, moving through the field to finish second after a late race duel for the win with
Takuma Sato. He earned his 50th pole position in the
Kohler Grand Prix at
Road America, and went on to lead 214 laps in his first victory in 54 races in the
Iowa Corn 300. Castroneves finished no lower than eighth in the next five races, He finished in fifth place to be fourth overall with 598 points.
2018–2025 , his record-tying fourth victory in the race. Post-season, Castroneves stepped down from IndyCar full-time to move to Penske's
IMSA SportsCar Championship program. He was entered into both the
IndyCar Grand Prix and the
Indianapolis 500 as part of his
2018 campaign; he prepared for the races by sharing notes with his teammates and familiarizing himself with the car. Castroneves' team employed a strategy allowing him to finish sixth in the IndyCar Grand Prix. In the
2019 season, he again entered both the
IndyCar Grand Prix and the
Indianapolis 500. Castroneves finished the IndyCar Grand Prix two laps behind the leaders in 21st. He started twelfth in the Indianapolis 500, He began the
2020 Indianapolis 500 from 27th and finished the race in eleventh. Castroneves signed to race for
Arrow McLaren SP in place of the unfit
Oliver Askew at the Harvest Grand Prix in his first IndyCar start for a team other than Penske since 1999. He finished twentieth in the first race and 21st in the second. feeling the growing team would give him the opportunity to win a fourth Indianapolis 500. At the
Indianapolis 500, Castroneves achieved his record-tying fourth career victory in the event after a late-race pass on
Álex Palou. He struggled with his form after his victory, and he went on to score one more top ten finish at
Nashville in his final five races of 2021 to finish 22nd overall with 158 points. Castroneves achieved a season-best result of seventh at the
Indianapolis 500 and scored two other top-ten finishes at
Long Beach and
Mid-Ohio in placing 18th overall with 263 points accumulated, In August 2022, he signed a one-year contract extension to remain at MSR for the
2023 championship. During the season, Castroneves finished in the top ten once at Texas, the season's second round, and scored 217 points for eighteenth in the championship standings. Castroneves qualified and finished the
Indianapolis 500 in 20th. Castroneves finished 25th in Detroit and nineteenth at Road America. ==Sports car career==