‘Ninety Percent People Recognize Me Because Of…’: When Latest NASCAR Entrant Helio Castroneves Revealed the Secret Behind His Stardom

Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves recently made the headlines by announcing that he will be attempting to race in the upcoming Daytona 500. He will be arriving in the United States as a part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91. In light of the announcement, a particular episode from his past begs to be revisited.

Castroneves is known for his dancing skills as much as he is for his driving skills. He appeared on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars in 2007 and 2015 and ended up gaining a huge fan following. Notably, he won the competition in his maiden year. While the popularity helped increase the viewership for his IndyCar races, it had an outcome that he did not expect.

He said on the Bloomberg Business of Sports podcast in 2019, “Ninety percent of the people today recognize me because of ‘Dancing With the Stars.'” He continued about how it had been Olympic speed skater Apolo Ohno who had convinced him to be a part of the show. “I accepted the challenge,” he quipped.

“I said, ‘You know what — what’s the worst that can be? I get eliminated the first week and go back home.’ It was an experience.” To be a professional race car driver and have people identify you by a side quest is not something that any serious driver wants. But Castroneves made peace with considering that it was a win on all fronts.

Castroneves gets the chance to start in NASCAR after a long wait

Currently 49 years old, Castroneves stands to fulfill a longtime dream of racing in the Daytona 500. He told the press in a statement, “Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race, 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.”

Things are still not yet in the bag though. Qualifying for the race will be tricky considering that the number of possible entries is still under question. It will all depend on the turns that the ongoing legal battle between 23XI Racing/Front Row Motorsports and NASCAR takes.

If NASCAR allows the teams to field all their chartered entries, there will be 36 chartered cars and four open entries. If NASCAR doesn’t relent to the injunction, that number could change to 30 – 34 chartered cars. Either way, Castroneves still has a way to go before getting to the Great American Race’s start/finish line.