Helio Castroneves hasn't tried to distance himself from the most heartbreaking second-place finish of his career. He keeps a clip of it on his phone.
And a few days after finishing runnerup to Ryan Hunter-Reay at last year's Indianapolis 500, Castroneves decided to watch it, to see the four lead changes in the final five laps. His reaction wasn't anger or frustration; it was reluctant acceptance. After 21/2 hours of racing, he missed his shot at history by 0.06 seconds. All he could do was shrug.
"Oh," Castroneves said. "That's the conclusion I got. Nothing that I did could overcome the result, even if I tried something different."
Castroneves gets another chance at racing immortality today in the 99th Indy 500. If his No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet tops the 33-car field, the 40-year-old Brazilian will join legends A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser as the only four-time race champions.
Castroneves didn't need much time to process last year's runnerup finish, when he raced wheel-to-wheel with Hunter-Reay heading into the final lap before losing the lead at the first turn.
He spent a few moments collecting himself, resting his helmet on the car as Hunter-Reay celebrated. When he finally emerged, Castroneves didn't bemoan being on the losing end of the second-closest finish in race history. He praised its new champion.
"I think sometimes it's how somebody handles adversity that defines him," Team Penske president Tim Cindric said. "The way he handled that race afterward, it defined him, really who he is and how he approaches his life."
That relentless optimism has always summed up Castroneves, also a three-time winner at the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.
Cindric said when he first arrived at Team Penske, he wondered if Castroneves' sunny attitude was real. It didn't take long for Cindric to figure out that Castroneves wasn't faking. Even after Castroneves faced accusations of tax fraud in 2009, he found a way to remain positive. A month after being acquitted, he was kissing the famed bricks at Indy after winning from the pole.
"Even going through his tax situation," Cindric said, "it gave him a different perspective on life and kind of what he shouldn't take for granted and what in life is important, because a lot of that almost got taken away from him."
And if Castroneves could handle that situation well, finishing second at the biggest race in the IndyCar series wasn't much of a challenge. Cindric said Castroneves has already turned last year's result around; by handling defeat with class, more people learned who he is.
"After (two) and a half hours of racing, you get to the finish line and lose a race by 0.06 seconds," Castroneves said. "This is a competitive sport. I thought, it's going to be one of the races that for sure is going to be becoming a classic."
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Explore all your optionsCastroneves has had a new set of issues to overcome this May at the famed 21/2-mile oval. He went airborne during practice at more than 200 mph but escaped uninjured. A few days later, he joked about it on CNN, telling a national audience that he wasn't planning on getting his pilot's license.
He recovered from that, too, qualifying fifth and putting himself in contention to rebound from last year's disappointing finish.
"It's a good problem to have when second (stinks)," Castroneves said. "Not that you want it all the time."
Especially not today, with another shot at history on the line.
Contact Matt Baker at mbaker@tampabay.com. Follow @MBakerTBTimes.