First of two parts with the IZOD IndyCar Series championship contenders
Helio Castroneves took outright possession of first place in the standings after his victory in the Firestone 550 on June 8 at Texas Motor Speedway and held it until Oct. 6 following Race 2 of the Shell and Pennzoil Grand Prix of Houston. Castroneves enters the MAVTV 500 on Oct. 19 at Auto Club Speedway 25 points behind Scott Dixon.
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It is the eighth consecutive season in which the series title will be decided in the season finale. For the second consecutive year, the 2-mile Auto Club Speedway oval will host the 250-lap twilight race.
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Q: Is he pressure is on you being second in the points or do you think it's on the 9 team and Scott Dixon?
CASTRONEVES: I'm not sure to be honest. At this point, I feel that I have nothing to lose so there is no pressure to be honest. You just go for it. We're going to look for our best result, and in the ovals, try to replicate what we did in Texas and hopefully we'll be successful.
Q: The MAVTV 500 is a 500‑mile race on a superspeedway. You have five wins on superspeedways, including three at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Based on what you saw at the Sept. 24 manufacturer test, what do you expect?
CASTRONEVES: Well, always 500 miles is a long race, almost three hours of racing. Anything can happen, and at this point we had a fantastic test, were really super fast, extremely happy with the performance of the car in Fontana. We just hope we continue with that and that will bring us a successful result.
Q: Some drivers say they don't pay any attention to the points, and some will. Do you watch the points all that much?
CASTRONEVES: Well, I wasn't watching to be honest during the whole season. I was doing exactly what we're supposed to do. When we have a good car, we go for it. When we don't have a car we just play with what the car is able to give us. And it worked. Everything worked really well. But now the only thing we have in mind is a lot of points, is a win. We're determined, we're ready, we're prepared, and that's why we're going for it. There is no other opposition that we need to be thinking about, and right now that's our main focus.
Q: Auto Club Speedway is a unique track in that it's basically flat but it still takes a lot of work and takes a lot of strategy. What's it like?
CASTRONEVES: Last year we had a very good car, as well. And as the night comes in, it changes a little bit of the setup and it for sure is going to be competitive. We have no question about that. But, according to the last two tests that we had, it was just awesome to see how fast the car was, and I was extremely excited. In fact, I told them don't clean it, just leave as it is. I know we have to swap (the livery) to go to the AAA. Brought us great luck in Texas, so we're counting on that again.
Q: Kind of compare it to maybe a little bit of a similar situation to when Tony Stewart a couple years back, there was no way he could possibly win the championship unless he won, and that's exactly what he did. Later he explained, I had nothing to lose.
CASTRONEVES: That's the mentality. That's our mentality. We have nothing to lose. We are going for it. Whatever it takes, we are going for it. Taking risks, taking every risk, to be honest, to put ourselves in that position. We feel as a team we have the equipment and we have the power, so we've just got to believe it.
Q: We know that AJ Allmendinger will join you and Will Power for Penske Racing this weekend. We saw a great stint from him at Indianapolis. Do you think he can help you win this title this weekend?
CASTRONEVES: Yes. At this particular point, (Penske Racing president Tim) Cindric and I discussed it, (team owner) Roger (Penske) as well, and I believe it's the best strategy that we can have. The thing about strategy, they've got to be up there. We've got to have all the cars up there. We've got to have as many cars as possible up there. So Chevy is also looking for the title, so there is a lot of things involved. I feel Will (Power) and AJ are definitely going to be there with the speed, and that's a big help for us. But again, at the end of the day, it doesn't matter about those guys. We've still got to win this race. The No. 3 car, the AAA car, it's ready to do that.
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