Helio Castroneves Wins the 105th Running of the Indy 500

The 105th running of the Indy 500 is complete, and Helio Castroneves came out on top. The 46-year old driver won the Indianapolis 500 for the fourth time in his career, making him the fourth driver in IndyCar history to reach that mark. Castroneves previously won “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in 2001, 2002 and 2009.

The 2021 edition of the Indianapolis 500 was seen by over 135,000 people, the largest gathering for a sporting event since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March 2020. “We feel a real responsibility to protect that legacy and to grow it and to have the race,” Mark Miles, president and CEO of Penske Entertainment Corp., said back in April. “We’re ready to take the next step in bringing back the economy and a lot of that in this city and state is driven by sports events which has been shut down for so many months. March Madness was incredibly successful, this is the next step and it just so happens this will probably be the biggest sporting event of the year.”

The “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” featured 33 drivers. Scott Dixon won the pole position, while Takuma Sato came into the race as the defending champion. The Indy 500 concluded a week and a half of events at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. And due to the sold-out crowd. Local viewers got to see the Indianapolis 500 live.

“We’ve hit our capacity for this year’s Indianapolis 500 and look forward to hosting 135,000 fans at the world’s largest sporting event since the pandemic began the IMS said in a statement. “We’re thrilled to welcome fans “Back Home Again” and appreciate our loyal customers and their continued support. With no more tickets available and 40 percent of venue capacity reached, we have decided to lift the local broadcast delay for this year’s race. Central Indiana spectators will be able to tune in on NBC beginning at 11 a.m. We look forward to an exciting and historic edition of the Indy 500 this weekend.”

The Indianapolis 500 is the sixth race in the 2021 season of the IndyCar Series. The next race will be the Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix in Detroit Michigan from June 12-13. Before the Indy 500, Dixon was in first place in the IndyCar Series standings with 176 points. He has won the IndyCar Series six times in his career.