A Miami jury acquitted Helio Castroneves of his tax evasion charges and he’ll head to Long Beach tonight to get ready to race in Sunday’s Long Beach Grand Prix.
“We’re ecstatic with the outcome, it’s been a very difficult time for all of us,” Penske Racing President Tim Cindric said. “We’re very, very excited he can go on with his life, business as usual. As hard as that is to say with Helio, his business as usual is certainly very different.”
Penske Racing will run three entries in both Long Beach and the Indy 500. Will Power, who took over for Castroneves during the trial, will drive the No. 12 in both of those races.
The team has no plans to run three cars in Kansas.
A plane was dispatched from Detroit to collect Castroneves in Miami and take him to Long Beach. Cindric said Roger Penske will go to Long Beach after Friday night’s NASCAR Nationwide race in Phoenix. He also said he has no concerns about Castroneves’ preparation to return to racing.
“If I hadn’t known him as well as I do, I would question is this the right move or not the right move,” Cindric said. “The guy is, it’s kind of funny to say when you know him as well as everybody does and his enthusiasm, his focus and his concentration are among the best. The trust that I have in him at a place like Indianapolis… I put him up against the best of them when it comes to being mentally prepared. I’ve got 100 percent confidence it will be like riding a bike for him.”