Helio Castroneves, four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and the NASCAR Cup Series’ newest one-off entrant, saw his first attempt at the Daytona 500 brought to an end through no fault of his own less than halfway through Sunday’s (Feb. 16) scheduled distance.
Castroneves came to Daytona to drive the No. 91 Chevrolet fielded by Trackhouse Racing under the Project91 banner alongside the team’s three full-time entries. The Brazilian is the third driver to drive the team’s part-time entry geared toward attracting international talent after Kimi Raikkonen contested one race in both 2022 and 2023 and, later, Shane van Gisbergen drove the entry to an upset win on the Chicago street circuit in July of 2023.
Unfortunately, Castroneves’ Daytona 500 experience was challenging, to phrase things generously.
When the field took the green flag for a restart on lap 71, Joey Logano and Alex Bowman paced the field from the front row. However, Logano’s No. 22 Ford suffered a power delivery issue when its driver shifted into fourth gear, resulting in a loss of momentum for the outside lane. The resulting accordion effect rippled all the way back to Castroneves’ one-off teammate van Gisbergen, who ran into the back of Ty Gibbs.
Directly behind van Gisbergen were Michael McDowell, Castroneves and Martin Truex Jr., who were likewise caught up in the crunch. While McDowell made it out of the situation cleanly, Castroneves and Truex drifted up toward the wall, leaving both of them directly in the path of Ross Chastain, who had been sent spinning off the nose of John Hunter Nemechek’s Toyota in the chaos.
Things get stacked up. Lots of trouble. #NASCAR #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/zuLmY5Mh20
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 17, 2025
“I’m disappointed, of course,” Castroneves told Frontstretch after the accident. “I was learning so much. It’s incredible when you have more laps … the airflow, the guys — what they’re doing saving fuel. There were some sketchy moments but what a shame. I wish I was still out there because there’s still more to understand, more to learn and I’m sure I would start getting a little more comfortable with the whole process.
“But it is what it is. Now, I’ve just got to thank NASCAR as well, to be able to put on this incredible show and, well, now let’s go for the Indy 500.”
Castroneves’ spot in the Daytona 500 was guaranteed after NASCAR issued a provisional based on his previous credentials, meaning he was free to race his way in as one of the open cars, but if he failed to do so in the first Duel, he would be entered as the 41st car on the grid.
In his Duel race, Castroneves lasted 14 laps before being collected in a crash involving Chandler Smith and Justin Haley.
Big damage for Chandler Smith. pic.twitter.com/4yusjbCdop
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2025
Castroneves hit the wall multiple times while trying to recover from the initial spin, leaving the No. 91 out of commission for the evening.
A closer look at the damage for Helio Castroneves in Daytona. #HotPass pic.twitter.com/dTr0utCf7q
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 14, 2025
However, Castroneves was able to salvage one silver lining from his experience in Daytona by finishing fifth in ARCA’s Ride the Denté 200, where he played a significant part in pushing teammate Brenden Queen to the lead, which later proved to be for the win.
BUTTERBEAN GETS IT DONE.@03Butterbean wins the #RideTheDente200 at @DAYTONA 🏁 pic.twitter.com/ejXBbfemTl
— ARCA Menards Series (@ARCA_Racing) February 15, 2025
Despite finding the wall multiple times and failing to see the halfway distance in either Cup Series race this week, Castroneves carried his smile throughout the entire experience and will leave Daytona in good spirits.
“Every time a driver gets in a car, you never want to get out before the checkered flag,” Castroneves said. “Unfortunately that’s the scenario, however, look, I cannot take this for granted. Justin Marks, I can’t thank him enough, Trackhouse, Project91 for putting this incredible opportunity together and hopefully it keeps going.”
Alex is the IndyCar Content Director at Frontstretch, having initially joined as an entry-level contributor in 2021. He also serves as Managing Director of The Asia Cable, a publication focused on the international affairs and politics of the Asia-Pacific region which he co-founded in 2023. With previous experience in China, Japan and Poland, Alex is particularly passionate about the international realm of motorsport and the politics that make the wheels turn - literally - behind the scenes.
Castroneves had no business being anywhere near a cup car. Just because he’s a big name in IndyCar doesn’t mean he can drive a stock car w/o coming up through the ranks and learning. His performance in the ARCA car and the Xfinity car proves that. If he wants to run stock cars, make him start in ARCA and prove himself there.