Helio Castroneves' critics sometimes blast him for being a phony, but there was nothing fake or scripted about his response to the controversial blocking penalty that cost him a victory in the Honda Edmonton Indy a couple of weeks ago.
The 35-year-old Brazilian driver pretty much went berserk, launching into an expletive-laden tirade while grabbing burly IndyCar Series security chief Charles Burns by the collar. Burns, a former state trooper whose body appears to have been chiseled from granite, burst into laughter when the slender Castroneves looked like he was picking a fight he surely couldn't win.
Now 10 days later and a $60,000 fine lighter, Castroneves talked about the controversial call and his very real reaction to it for the first time while in California promoting the Indy Grand Prix of Sonoma, set for Aug. 22 at Infineon Raceway.
"First of all, the rules are very subjective and there have been inconsistent calls over many years," Castroneves told reporters. "I was penalized in 2008, and since then it's been very inconsistent. That's one of the reasons that it's becoming hard and that's why I don't agree [with the Edmonton penalty] because it happened during the race, the same thing, and the calls were not made the same way.
"I know it's a tough job, but certainly I do feel this is a great opportunity to change the rules and be clear to everybody else," he continued. "That's why I don't agree, but again, I have no excuse to react the way I did. I'm an emotional person and, unfortunately, I let my emotions take over. I want to be clear: People might not understand, but I wasn't confronting any officials; I basically was asking them to call [IndyCar Series chief steward] Brian Barnhart and ask him why he made that call. It's no excuse to have acted like I acted. I apologize again and I'm ready to move on and go to mid-Ohio."
Castroneves is still convinced that he did not contravene any regulations in Edmonton, even the unwritten rule drawing an imaginary line down the center of the track to create a passing/no blocking zone that Barnhart discussed in the pre-race driver's meeting. While many IndyCar drivers applauded Barnhart's call, the vast majority of fans remain convinced that Castroneves did not change his line to intentionally block his pursuing teammate, Will Power, and that the defensive line he took into the corner was a clean racing move.
"I never intended to give [Power] an easy way, let's put it that way," Castroneves said. "I gave plenty of room for him on the inside and outside. I don't think I moved the lane, but again the call is already made, the punishment has been made, and it is what it is. I'm ready to move on. I am disappointed, but there's nothing I can do right now."
Edmonton was the second time that Castroneves lost a race due to an official's judgment that he was blocking. At the 2008 Detroit Grand Prix, on a much narrower street course, Castroneves made a much more blatant swerve that did not allow Justin Wilson's clearly faster car past.
"He came over, then he came over more until the point where I had to just back out," Wilson said of Castroneves' Detroit chop after the race. "I even braked. It was pretty severe, and I guess they figured it deserved a penalty."
The difference is, on that occasion, 16 laps remained in the race and the call went out to Castroneves to cede the position to Wilson or risk being black flagged. He did that within a couple of laps, and finished second in the race to Wilson. At Edmonton, the disputed call came with less than three laps to go, giving Castroneves and Team Penske barely 120 seconds to decide whether to respond to the black flag that the No. 3 car was duly shown.
Castroneves crossed the line first, but the checkered flag was held and waved at Scott Dixon, who appeared to the crowd and the television audience to have finished second. It was a scenario similar to the 1995 Indianapolis 500, when Scott Goodyear refused to heed the black flag after he was judged to have passed the pace car on a restart with 10 laps to go.
In that race, USAC officials simply stopped scoring Goodyear's car after he failed to pit for a drive-through penalty and he was classified 14th with 195 of 200 laps completed, even though he appeared to have won the race on the track.
In his discussion with reporters about the Edmonton incident, Castroneves claimed the penalty and the loss of the victory won't cause him to change the way he drives -- which is bad news, because Castroneves has long been known as the most blatant blocker in the IndyCar Series.
"I have to understand the probation a little bit more," he hedged. "I'm not sure if it's because of the actions off the track or because of the black flag. So, I've got to be more clear. Again, sometimes the communication doesn't come very clear to me, I guess.
"I'm going to drive the same way I was driving in Edmonton -- to win," he added. "I just hope that we have more common sense and consistent calls, to be honest. The biggest challenge and frustration is the inconsistent calls, and the rules need to be clarified. Unfortunately, the rules aren't very clear, and it makes all the drivers not know what's going to happen.
"Hopefully we have a little more understanding on that, but I'm going to continue driving like I always did."
