Trackhouse Racing’s PROJECT91has brought several international stars to NASCAR’s Cup Series. Likely the most exceptional racer to join the team formed by Justin Marks, a driver himself, is three-time Australian Supercar Series champion Shane Van Gisbergen, who used his first attempt racing in NASCAR to win the series’ inaugural street race in Chicago a year and a half ago, becoming the first racer to win a NASCAR Cup Series race on debut since 1963.
Formula One World Champion Kimi Raikkonen has also driven for the team, albeit without the success engendered by Van Gisbergen, who is now firmly entrenched in NASCAR’s Cup and Xfinity Series. Now four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves, the Brazilian currently working with Meyer Shank Racing as both their Indy-only entry as well as an executive with the team, has agreed to race in next month’s Daytona 500.
The No. 91 has financial backing from the Wendy’s hamburger chain and Castroneves will have to earn his way into the race on Daytona International Speedway’s oval. This shouldn’t be an issue for Castroneves, who has vast experience at Daytona, albeit in sports cars on the long infield/oval circuit used by IMSA for its Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Castroneves, who has more than 30 major open wheel race wins to his credit, first came to the United States in 1995 to audition for an Indy Lights (now INDY NXT) ride with Steve and Christine Horne’s Tasman Motorsports. He got the ride, alongside countryman Tony Kanaan, and joined the CART series in 1998, racing for Tony Bettenhausen. He later went to Team Penske, where he notched three of his four Indy 500 wins, joining A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Team Penske advisor Rick Mears as the sole drivers to earn Baby BorgWarner trophies as winners of The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.
The ebullient Castroneves is, of course, excited by the prospect of racing in the Daytona 500 on February 16. “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race,” Castroneves crowed, “and certainly not the Daytona 500 with a team like Trackhouse Racing. This is an opportunity that nobody in their right mind could ever turn down.
“I am so thankful to Wendy’s for allowing me to wear their uniform and drive their car, Justin Marks and everyone that made this happen,” he said. “I wish the race were tomorrow!” Marks created PROJECT91 in 2022 with an eye to expand his organization’s global reach. This will be the fifth race for PROECT91. Castroneves will have the expertise of full-time Trackhouse Racing competitors Daniel Suarez, Ross Chastain and Van Gisbergen to lean on and learn from.
While Castroneves has the equipment to succeed in contesting The Great American Race in the No. 91 Wendy’s Chevrolet, he knows victory in his debut is pretty unrealistic. “I know how much of a challenge this is going to be, but I also know the type of people and team Trackhouse Racing will bing to the effort,” the Sao Paulo, Brazil native sad. “I can’t wait to get to the Trackhouse race shop in North Carolina to meet everyone and prepare for Daytona. There is so much I must learn and I’m ready to get started.”
To assist in his NASCAR Cup Series debut, Castroneves has been entered by Trackhouse Racing in the ARCA 200 at Daytona on February 15, in association with Pinnacle Racing. He will partake in this Thursday’s ARCA pre-season test at Daytona International Speedway to aid his preparation.
With his Team Penske history, Helio Castroneves is fully aware of the “unfair advantage” that squad is known for. He’s going to have a special advantage in working with Darian Grubb, a 24-time winning crew chief who earned the NASCAR Cup Series title with Tony Stewart in 2011.
Marks, who created Trackhouse Entertainment Group in 2020 after his own sports car and NASCAR driving career ended, figured that adding Castroneves to his stellar driving squad was a “no-brainer. Helio is one of the greatest drivers of all time,” he said, “and exactly the type of driver we want to bring to NASCAR. I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Helio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race. It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see just how great of a series we have in NASCAR,” Marks explained.
In addition to his four Indy 500 triumphs – and resultant fence climbing that’s his hallmark and earned him the nickname “Spiderman” – Castoneves has been a runner-up four times in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES’ driver’s championships. Driving cars that have roofs, he is a three-time consecutive winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona (once with Wayne Taylor Racing and twice with Meyer Shank Racing) and he is the 2020 IMSA champion with Team Penske. Outside his racing endeavors, he won ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars” mirror ball trophy with Julianne Hough in 2007.
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