After making his Daytona debut in 2018, the Brazilian immersed himself – and quickly became a force – in sportscar racing. During a stretch of his career that served as a brief hiatus from IndyCar, he helped guide Team Penske’s Acura programme to the IMSA DPi championship in 2020.
A move to Wayne Taylor Racing in 2021 earned him the famed Rolex for winning the twice-around-the-clock classic, which happened just four months prior to earning his record-tying fourth victory in the Indianapolis 500 for Meyer Shank Racing.
Even with a full-time return to the IndyCar Series the previous two years, Castroneves continued to compete in select IMSA rounds, which included a further two victories at Daytona's 3.56-mile road course in 2022 and 2023.
Entering this year, he takes on a partial ownership role at Meyer Shank Racing – which is not competing in IMSA this year – while also reducing his full-time commitment to strictly a one-off as he hunts for a record fifth Indianapolis 500 win.
Meanwhile Tom Blomqvist, who Castroneves teamed with each the past two years in IMSA, is taking on a full-time rookie campaign in the IndyCar Series with MSR alongside a co-driver role in IMSA's endurance rounds with Action Express Racing.
The three-time defending winner at Daytona was dejected to not get an opportunity to chase a fourth victory that would tie him with Pedro Rodríguez, Bob Wollek, Peter Gregg and Rolf Stommelen.
The most successful drivers in event history are Hurley Haywood and Scott Pruett with five wins apiece.
“Disappointed, to be honest,” the 48-year-old said. “I definitely would have liked to defend the race win and tried to go four in a row.
Source: Autosport