A few weeks ago he was staring at a possible six-year jail sentence for tax evasion. Today he celebrated an emotional victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.Brazil’s Helio Castroneves won his third Indy 500 race today after having been victorious in 2001 and 2002. Castroneves was drowning in tears after his Indy 500 triumph where he captured the pole and lead for most of the race. The Brazilian celebrated his win with his trademark climbing of the safety fence before chugging the ceremonial bottle of milk at Victory Lane.
Castroneves was targeted by prosecutors who accused him and one of his sisters of trying to evade about $2.3 million in taxes via a shell company in Panama. The last of the charges was dropped on Friday after a jury exonerated him in April. The ordeal reportedly left him drained but not enough for him to lose control in today’s race:
"You guys don't understand," Castroneves roared from the winner's circle as a 250,000-strong crowd roared back just as loudly. "You guys kept me strong"…Image- AP
"Towards the end," Castroneves said. "I didn't touch anything on the car. When I got in the front, it was, 'Never look back.'"
He paused one more time to choke back tears.
"This race is magical. It was a tough beginning," he added, "but this is the best month of May ever."
Online Sources- AP, Reuters, Bloomberg
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