Two time Indy 500 winner, Helio Castroneves is just days away from learning his fate. Testimonies have wrapped up in the Federal Court case against the Brazilian racing star. He was charged with tax evasion and fraud regarding approximately 2.3 million dollars alledgedly owed to the Internal Revenue Service. His defense attorneys argued that he had planned on paying the taxes when the money was actually released to him later this year.

Closing arguments are scheduled today (4/8/09) and jury deliberations would follow. Then he will either be a free man, or a prisoner. If he is cleared, Roger Penske (his IndyCar teams owner) has said he will have a seat for him. The IndyCar series next race is April 19th at the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. If this is cleared up by then, the 2007 Dancing with Stars champion would be climbing back into the cockpit for the first time this season. The IndyCar Series started on April 4th in St. Petersburg.

Will Power, the Australian driver who was hired in to replace Helio, finished 6th in the opener. Roger Penske has said he will work to find a way to keep Will Power on the Penske roster should Castroneves return to the series.

Follow me on twitter for updates on this and IndyCar related news: @ejwassonmsf

Dateline: Indianapolis, IN.

“The King”, as most NASCAR fans know him by, Richard Petty, will make history at the 2009 Indianapolis 500. For the first time in his storied career, Petty will make his first step into the IndyCar series. Even though the team owner is a rookie to “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing”, his driver is not. John Andretti will pilot the # 43 machine with the familiar Petty number and colors in the May classic. John Andretti has raced in 9 Indy 500’s with his best finish (5th) coming in 1991.

John Andretti and Richard Petty know each other pretty well, John drove for The King from 1998 to 2003 in the NASCAR Cup circuit.

As an avid IndyCar fan I have to wonder if this truly a turning of the tide. Is the popularity of NASCAR decreasing so much that IndyCars are once again where it’s at? Regardless of the reason, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway has to be pleased with an announcement that can only help ticket sales. One other though to ponder here… Petty’s the first NASCAR owner to declare an entry into this years “500″, but will he be the last? I hope not.

RACE RECAP:

The Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg concluded with a familiar name and team on top. Ryan Briscoe drove the Team Penske #6 machine to victory circle. It’s back to back wins for Briscoe dating back to the season finale in 2008. The momentum carried through the off-season showed that Ryan is going to be a force to be reckoned with. For a driver who was on the hot seat last year, I think Penske has to be comfortable with where things are in 2009.

Ryan Hunter-Reay had a second place finish for Vision Racing. Vision racing is co-owned by Tony George (the ICS founder) and TV star Patrick Dempsey. Reay has been with the vision team for less than two weeks, so the team has to be very impressed with his ability to date. I wouldn’t have expected to ever say this…but, I can see Vision Racing with a Ryan Hunter-Reay victory coming this season. I predict at Mid-Ohio, but it may come sooner.

One other note about yesterdays race: Dario Franchitti showed he is back where he belongs. Racing with Target Chip Ganassi he drove home a 4th place finish. He had left the series for a one year debacle in NASCAR, but we’re glad to have him back in the fast cars. Clearly, he will do well in 2009.

Here are the top 5 in yesterdays Grand Prix:

Ryan Briscoe

Ryan Hunter-Reay

Justin Wilson

Dario Franchitti

Tony Kanaan

The next race in the IndyCar Series is the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 19th at 3:30PM Eastern. Available on VERSUS.

TWITTER: follow me for IndyCar updates and other stuff @ejwassonmsf

Two time Indianapolis 500 winner, Helio Castroneves is facing some tough competition. Unfortunately for him, this competition isn’t in a sleek IndyCar racing into turn one. This is a battle against the big boys. The Internal Revenue Service has indicted him on 6 counts of financial wrongdoing. The Brazilian star was allegedly using off-shore bank accounts and shell corporations to hide his millions. The end of the story is long to be written, but in the short term there are many questions left unanswered. Here’s two of them:

1) Will The Captain, Roger Penske, allow a driver in his stable with a tarnished name? Roger Penske has longed for and only hired the cleanest cut drivers. I find it hard for him to continue Castroneves’ employment if he ends up a Federally Convicted criminal.

2) Is Helio Castroneves really a criminal? I have followed his career since the CART days and there has never been one minute of it where he came across as anything other than legendary; a personality big enough to match the talent. Now, I definitely believe he has made some very bad choices. I think the first bad choice is those who were giving him advice on what to do with his money. We may never truly know to what extent he was involved, but I know there are thousands of HC fans hoping this is a case of bad advice.

If he was doing something wrong, he will be punished. The system has to work that way regardless of who you are. It’s what keeps the scales of justice as even as possible. Let’s just all hope that Helio comes through this having paid his penalty, but relatively unscathed. I find it awfully difficult to believe that he was the mastermind behind this situation. I just hope I am proven right.

And for Helio’s sake…so does he.

[tags]helio castroneves, IndyCar, auto racing, IRS, tax fraud, sports[/tags]