IndyCar.com http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=13624 Penske Racing Press Conference Saturday, April 18, 2009 April 18, 2009 Go To Media Center An interview Roger Penske, Tim Cindric and Helio Castroneves THE MODERATOR: On behalf of Penske Racing, I'd like to welcome everybody. I'd like to introduce everybody on the podium, beginning with Roger Penske. And, Roger, your thoughts on the last 24 hours here. ROGER PENSKE: Well, I think we won one of the biggest races that we've ever had to get Helio back in this car. As you know, we've stayed together as a team for many months. And we talked about this when it started and obviously stayed in contact as he went through the ordeal. And I just have to say that I'm proud to see him be able to walk out and be able to get in the No. 3 car. It's amazing what happens in your life, and certainly Helio has gone through a chapter I'm sure he wants to close this book, this chapter in the book. Sweepstakes winner enjoys weekend But to me it's over. He's back where he wants to be. He's a great race car driver. He's been a great ambassador for our team. I've said to many people, he doesn't have a bad bone in his body. And to see It was an all-access weekend for James Mueller of Indianapolis, who him back here is just tremendous. And I appreciate everyone that's written to us, his fans, my friends, was the winner of the INDY the press that has supported us during this very, very tough time. DownForce sweepstakes prize to the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. And it's behind us now. And hopefully we can move on. And certainly today Will Power jumped out of a pretty good car, but it was great to see him jump in the 12 car and put up a good lap time. Join INDY DownForce to enter the sweepstakes that are available So we've got three good bullets for tomorrow. throughout the year and you could be at a race of your choice, too. Click HERE to join. More THE MODERATOR: Helio, welcome back. HELIO CASTRONEVES: Thank you, everybody. It's been a very interesting situation and a mix of 4/23 :: Victory keepsake feelings, obviously. It feels like I just woke up from a nightmare. (Crying) I'm sorry, everybody. 4/23 :: Scene at the track 4/23 :: In Shape Everybody knows that I'm a pretty emotional guy. And to go through this with my family, it was very 4/22 :: An interview with Sara... 4/22 :: New sponsor for Andret... difficult. But the family, not only the family but the fans, they were amazing. As Roger said, so many 4/22 :: Positive signs people sent messages. So many people sent prayers through Facebook, through the Internet, through 4/21 :: Get on the bus to Milw... my website. 4/21 :: 'I'm living again' 4/21 :: Oval equalizer And I tell you one thing: I never lost faith. Sometimes I questioned it a little bit, but those prayers that people were sending me, it kept me really strong. It kept me really focused. And without RSS Feed everybody, without those prayers, it would have been very difficult to go through what I did. But, again, my message is believe the guy upstairs, believe in the Lord, because he will not let you down. And today just proved that he did not let me down. So now, it's turn the page. Probably going to be ‑‑ I'm going to write a book now. (Laughter) And put that in the book. Not me, somebody write a book. And, again, I just want to ‑‑ I'm just so happy to be back to hearing words like I did coming in, take the slap, and things like that. And enough of "objection" and "sustained" and "overruled" for me. It was a little bit difficult to understand. But after seven weeks I want to forget about that; and, again, my life definitely is starting all over. I cannot thank enough ‑‑ I can only thank my team for being incredible. Roger and Cindric, you guys have been amazing friends. Besides being my boss, but you guys have been incredibly supportive. And I don't think I have words to describe through this whole six, seven weeks how much your small words, small notes, it means so much to me. And when you guys told me about Monday or Tuesday that you guys were taking the car over here to Long Beach, it was just ‑‑ it made me believe even more that I can be here or I could be here. And here I am. It was incredible to be running today. 1 of 5 4/23/2009 11:51 AM IndyCar.com http://www.indycar.com/news/?story_id=13624 It was difficult to just understand everything. Seems a little bit like a rush, but I tell you it feels like riding a bicycle, and I could never ask for a better way to forget everything. Of course, the scar is going to be there but this is the best way to go back and continue with my life. THE MODERATOR: Tim, we had you in here yesterday after the decision had come down and Helio was making his way here out from the east coast. Your thoughts on seeing Helio again and seeing him getting in the car this morning, if you could share some of your thoughts on that, please. Username TIM CINDRIC: I know yesterday when I was here, the question was asked whether or not we felt he was ready to go since he hadn't been in a car since October. And I told you I was 100 percent confident he was ready to go. As you can see from this morning, he was. He asked me, as we started up the engine and all the rest Password of it, he said, "Is this a dream?" I said, "No, it's reality. There's a lot of people watching so don't stall it." (Laughter). I forgot my Password HELIO CASTRONEVES: I did not. I was focused on that. TIM CINDRIC: So after that it was just like business™ & © 2009 as Indyusual. Racing It League, was LLC like and old Brickyard times. Trademarks, So we're Inc. All Rightsglad Reserved. to Used Under Authorization see him back, and let's just go on to the next page. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q Helio, through all this ordeal and to come back so strong today, did you have any time at all to work on your fitness throughout that to be ready for today? HELIO CASTRONEVES: For probably until January, actually, until March before the case started, even going through meetings with attorneys and things like that, I always was focusing on the race, on getting myself strong, because I knew the storm would come and I would not have enough time to get myself ready. And, yes, it was about seven to eight weeks of a few runs here and there, but it was very hard to focus on my job. It was only a matter of hoping for everything to come through, and it did. But I'm not worried about that. I tell you. If I'm running out of air tomorrow or today, whatever, trust me, I will go to the end of my air and for sure I'm not worried about that. Q Helio, can you tell us what was going through your mind the seconds leading up to the reading of the verdicts? HELIO CASTRONEVES: Hard to describe. You know, in the mornings were the toughest one, because you wake up in the morning. Today's going to be the day. And as the day goes by, I think the hope and everything was getting a little bit better, or I was being more optimistic, because no news is good news, you know? So I was ‑‑ about in the afternoon I was like: Okay, one more day. But every morning was the hardest thing. And just getting up to the Thursday when they announced they found a verdict for Alan Miller and they did not find a verdict for myself and my sister, it was very difficult. It was like they're telling you but not going to tell you. And Friday it was just nerve‑racking. It was very difficult to think about it. Just sitting in the courtroom and hoping for the best. And I'm very happy that they came out. Q Helio, Roger said it's like winning the biggest race. You've qualified for the Indy 500. Got in a car. Were you nervous getting in the car today? What went through your mind? HELIO CASTRONEVES: I'll tell you one thing, I never felt so much comfortable being here my entire life. Just sitting in the car ‑‑ actually, I was early to be in the car. I normally go, I always wait for the last minute, but this time I just wanted to be in the car. And oh, man, it was just awesome, the first few laps. I was smiling through my helmet, looking for every detail. I feel like I want to hug everybody today. And it's been a great day. And right now I just want to go back to my race, go back to my normal life, talk to my engineers, set up my car, and continue moving forward.