D2
S
KLMNO
AUTO RACING
Historic opportunity has Castroneves giddy
indy 500 from D1
grinning broadly. That’s just what Castroneves has done since his initial foray into motor sports at age 14 when he drove go-karts in his native Brazil. Since then, Castroneves has won 18 times on the IndyCar circuit and twice been runner-up in the series points race. This season Castroneves sits in third place in the standings, 28 points behind Penske teammate Will Power. Those racing exploits have fa-
cilitated Castroneves’s rise to an international celebrity who plays tennis with Anna Kournikova, appears in the pages of People, Cosmopolitan and Esquire and received a personal audience with Pope John Paul II in Vatican City. Known for climbing the fence
after winning races, Castroneves tested his agility in a completely different forum when he ap- peared on “Dancing With the Stars” in 2007. As he has done time and again at the Indianapo- lis 500, Castroneves won that competition too, further elevat- ing his worldwide renown. For all the trappings that have come with his celebrity, Castro- neves is of singular focus during the weeks leading to the Indian- apolis 500. The dedication to his craft has manifested itself in yet another pole for Castroneves, who has won it four times at In- dianapolis since joining the In- dyCar circuit in 2001. Castroneves won the race in
his first start in 2001, then in 2002 won it again to become the only driver with victories in his first two Indianapolis 500s. A year later, Castroneves finished as the runner-up, becoming the only driver to run first, first and second in his first three 500 starts.
be anywhere near compared to A.J. or Al, two of my heroes, was just a great honor,” Mears said when asked to rate himself with the other four-time winners as well as with Castroneves. “I think over the years, as far as comparing all of us, I think de- sire, love of what we do, sitting in that racecar, competing, the competition, I think that love of what we do creates the desire, and the desire creates the re- sults.” To be in position to win a
fourth Indianapolis 500 — and to be the first foreign-born driver to do so — was far from Castro- neves’s thoughts roughly 14 months ago. That’s when he was embroiled in a trial stemming from charges he conspired with his sister, with whom he is ex- tremely close, and attorney to evade more than $2.3 million in taxes.
A federal jury wound up ac-
JONATHAN FERREY/GETTY IMAGES
Helio Castroneves is one win from joining a club that includes A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr.
Those achievements plus a
first-rate Penske team have con- tributed to Castroneves being all but the prohibitive favorite in this year’s race. “Well, it looks like he has a
pretty good shot at it with the op- eration he’s got and the car the way it’s running and the way he’s driving,” said Foyt, the transcen-
dent driver who won in 1961, ’64, ’67 and ’77 and helped advance the race to new heights of popu- larity. “With the operation he’s got and the way cars are running today, it wouldn’t surprise me to see him win it six or seven times.” To get there, Castroneves has enlisted assistance from Mears, another icon of the sport who
won the Indianapolis 500 in three decades. Mears will be the spotter for Castroneves on Sunday, essen- tially serving as a calming set of eyes and ears during what quick- ly can escalate into a chaotic scene at any point in the race’s 200 laps. “When I won the fourth one, to
quitting Castroneves on six counts of tax evasion in April 2009, and a little more than a month later, he went to the 500 overjoyed simply to be able to continue his career unencum- bered, much less win racing’s grandest spectacle. When Castroneves zoomed across the finish line underneath the familiar checkered flag, he recalled being overcome with a flood of emotion and the fact that instead of potentially going to prison, he was drinking from the celebratory milk bottle re- served for Indianapolis 500 champions. “It’s certainly a great feeling to be back and focus 100 percent on racing,” Castroneves said, mak- ing sure to mention he changed accountants for this year’s tax re- turn. “For me, this is my life, you know. I still believe I have so much to accomplish.”
wangg@washpost.com
Hamlin and Kyle Busch are out to challenge Johnson at Charlotte
Associated Press
concord, n.c. —Denny Ham-
lin and Kyle Busch, winners of five of the last seven Sprint Cup Series points races, believe they can continue Joe Gibbs Racing’s recent dominance and win the Coca-Cola 600. Doing so is going to require
beating four-time defending se- ries champion Jimmie Johnson, who is pretty good at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Johnson has long considered this suburban Charlotte track, located just minutes away from Hendrick Motorsports’ home base, his own personal play- ground. He has six career victo- ries here, four of them in NAS- CAR’s longest race of the season. And based on how he ran in last week’s all-star race, the en- tire field should be frightened by
the No. 48. Johnson easily led 56 of the 100 laps and probably would have won if not for a quirky format that required a four-tire pit stop before the final sprint to the finish. Lucky for everyone, Johnson
didn’t bring that same Chevrolet back for Sunday. “It’s a different car so we’re sit- ting here thinking we wish we had the other car,” Johnson said after Saturday’s two practice ses- sions. “The other car seemed to respond a little better to chang- es, while this one seems a little numb to change right now. “We’ll see. It’s okay. I don’t
know, it’s decent. I think we need to be a little better.” That’s enough to give a glim- mer of hope to everybody else, particularly Hamlin and Busch, who have hit a stride since NAS- CAR in March ditched the de- spised rear wing to return to the
more traditional spoiler. John- son won the final race with the wing, and no Hendrick Motor- sports driver has been to Victory Lane since. Hamlin has three wins since the switch, and Busch has two. Both were in contention to win last weekend’s all-star race until aggressive driving between the pair led to a wrecked car for Busch, while Hamlin faded to fourth.
“I think we have a great shot at being able to run competitively this week and try to win here at the Coca-Cola 600, a race that is on my list of races to win,” Busch said. “I feel like we had a fast car last weekend, which will trans- late into this weekend. I feel like we can really capitalize on our season and try to keep strong momentum going.” He got a good boost Saturday with a win in the Nationwide Se-
ries race, but that likely won’t translate in the 600, a race that begins in the day and ends under the lights and often turns into an event of attrition. Hamlin declared his car “un-
believable” after just a few laps, then spent much of the day watching practice. His final run of the day wasn’t as good as he hoped, but his No. 11 crew didn’t want too much track time. “We didn’t run much practice just to try to save as many laps on our engine as possible,” Ham- lin said. “Right now, we’re pretty confident that what we have right there should be good at least until halfway. Then we’ll just fine-tune it from there.” Flying under the radar are
Ryan Newman, Kurt Busch and Martin Truex Jr., the top three qualifiers for Sunday. Totally off the radar is Dale Earnhardt Jr., who saw the bottom fall out on
DIGEST
TELEVISION AND RADIO
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
1 p.m.
1:30 p.m. 2:15 p.m. 4 p.m.
8 p.m.
Baltimore at Toronto » MASN, WWXT (92.7 FM), WWXX (94.3 FM), WTEM (980 AM)
Chicago White Sox at Tampa Bay » WGN St. Louis at Chicago Cubs » TBS
Washington at San Diego » MASN2, WXTR (730 AM), WFED (820 AM, 1500 AM)
Texas at Minnesota » ESPN2, WTNT (570 AM)
COLLEGE BASEBALL
1 p.m. 2 p.m.
COLLEGE SOFTBALL
1 p.m.
3:30 p.m.
GOLF
1 p.m. 3 p.m.
3 p.m.
TENNIS
5 a.m. Noon
ACC tournament championship » Comcast SportsNet Southeastern Conference championship » ESPN2
NCAA super regional, Missouri vs. Oregon » ESPN NCAA super regional » ESPN
PGA Tour, Crowne Plaza Invitational » Golf Channel
Champions Tour, Senior PGA Championship » WRC (Channel 4),
WBAL (Channel 11)
PGA Tour, Crowne Plaza Invitational » WUSA (Channel 9),
WJZ (Channel 13)
French Open » Tennis Channel French Open » WRC (Channel 4), WBAL (Channel 11)
AUTO RACING
1 p.m. 5 p.m.
IndyCar, Indianapolis 500 » WJLA (Channel 7), WMAR (Channel 2)
NASCAR Sprint Cup, Coca-Cola 600 » WTTG (Channel 5),
WBFF (Channel 45)
PROFESSIONAL LACROSSE
4 p.m.
MLL, Chesapeake at Chicago » Comcast SportsNet
WOMEN’S COLLEGE LACROSSE
5:30 p.m.
NCAA championship, Maryland vs. Northwestern » CBS College Sports
COLLEGES
Wittels extends hitting streak to 53 games
Garrett Wittels used a head-
first slide to keep his hitting streak alive. It helped extend Florida International’s season as well.
Wittels pushed his hitting streak to 53 games, five away from Robin Ventura’s NCAA Di- vision I record, with an infield single Saturday in the eighth in- ning of FIU’s game against Flori- da Atlantic in the Sun Belt Con- ference tournament in Murfrees- boro, Tenn.
FIU wound up getting four runs in the eighth, winning the game, 11-9, and clinching a spot in Sunday’s title game with a guaranteed spot in the NCAA tournament at stake. “Down two runs in the eighth
inning, I was going up to bat knowing I needed to be a base runner,” Wittels said by phone after the game. “I looked over at Coach [Turtle] Thomas, he just said, ‘Get a hit,’ and I decided right then I wasn’t going to chase anything out of the zone.” Wittels worked a 2-0 count, then hit a fastball off Florida At-
lantic pitcher Taylor Everist’s
glove. Wittels finished 1 for 5. . . Top-seeded Virginia (47-11) came back from a 6-2 deficit to beat Miami, 12-8, in the ACC baseball tournament in Greens- boro, N.C.
Eight of the Cavaliers’ nine
starters recorded at least one hit against the Hurricanes (40-17).
Virginia starter Danny Hultzen
(St. Albans) earned the win to improve to 9-1. . . . University of Kentucky
only from Comcast.
spokesman DeWayne Peevy
says former basketball star Eric Bledsoe passed an extensive re-
view process by the NCAA before joining the Wildcats. The statement comes after a
report in the New York Times that the NCAA is looking into questions about Bledsoe’s aca- demic history and recruitment. In an e-mailed statement, Pee- vy said Bledsoe participated in the normal academic review process and also an extensive prospective student athlete re- view by the NCAA Eligibility Center and was cleared academi- cally.
Bledsoe helped the Wildcats
go 35-3 last season, averaging 11.3 points, 3.1 rebounds and 2.9 assists. He declared for the NBA draft after one season and most projections have him going late in the first round or early in the second in the June draft.
ALESSANDRO GAROFALO/REUTERS
GOLF
Brian Davis and Bryce Mold-
er will share the lead entering the final round at the Colonial in Forth Worth, Tex. Davis shot his second consec- utive bogey-free 65 to get to 16- under-par 194. That got him even with Molder, who overcame an early double bogey and fin- ished with eight straight pars in a round of 67. Both are searching for their first PGA Tour victory. Zach Johnson is a stroke back
after a third-round 64, while Ben
Crane, Jeff Overton and Jason
Bohn are tied for fourth. . . .
Jay Don Blake considers him-
self a stealth golfer, lurking around the leader board while everybody else has their eyes fixed on the game’s bigger names. He’ll be hard to miss Sunday
Johann Tschopp enjoys winning the 20th stage of the Giro d’Italia. He finished the 110-mile stretch in 5 hours 26 minutes 47 seconds.
when he tees off in the last group with co-leader Tom Lehman at the 71st Senior PGA Champi- onship in Parker, Colo. Blake, of St. George, Utah, shot
a 2-under- 70 at the Colorado Golf Club to take a share of the 54-hole lead at the senior cir- cuit’s oldest and most presti- gious event. . . . Rhys Davies of Wales and
Luke Donald of England have a two-shot lead entering the final round of the European Tour’s Madrid Masters. Davies shot a 5-under 67 in the third round, while Donald had a 68. The two are 16-under 200.
MISC.
Johann Tschopp won the 20th
and penultimate stage of the Gi- ro d’Italia, while Ivan Basso ex- tended his overall lead in Ponte Di Legno-Tonale, Italy. Tschopp finished the 110 miles from Bormio to Ponte di Legno- Tonale in 5 hours 26 minutes 47 seconds. . . .
Red Bull maintained its per-
fect qualifying record when
Mark Webber edged Lewis
Hamilton of McLaren to start the Turkish Grand Prix in Istanbul from pole position. It marked Webber’s third
straight pole as the overall For- mula One leader goes for a third consecutive race victory. Red Bull has taken pole in all seven races this season.
— From news services
his season at this track last year, when he ran 40th in the last race before crew chief Tony Eury Jr.’s firing. A full year later, he re- turned to Charlotte in a mon- thlong slump and qualified 24th. But Earnhardt insisted his spirits are up and he’s not dis- couraged about the direction of his No. 88 team. “I feel pretty good. We’re working hard,” he said. “We’ve got a pretty good at- titude considering what we’ve been through. It’s not progress- ing as fast as I want it to, but things are going good enough to want to keep getting after it.”
NATIONWIDE SERIES: Kyle
Busch won at Charlotte Motor Speedway, his second straight victory in NASCAR’s second-tier series. Busch, the defending se- ries champion, battled back from two laps down Saturday for his fifth win of the season and fourth in his last eight events.
SUNDAY, MAY 30, 2010
SOCCER
WORLD CUP NOTES
Ticket sales are gaining momentum
FIFA says 100,000 World Cup
tickets have been sold in less than two days as local fans in South Af- rica make a late push to attend the World Cup. FIFA said Saturday that 14
matches were sold out, including the final, semifinals and South Africa’s group games. An extra 90,000 tickets, mainly
returns from FIFA’s sponsors, were added to the pool on Friday, leaving organizers with 160,000 to sell just two weeks ahead of the June 11 kickoff. The release was hampered Fri-
day by computer glitches. But fans have flocked to the centers for seats to big games like the July 11 final, which were previ- ously unavailable. FIFA Secretary General Jerome
Valcke said the tournament was approaching the 97 percent sales mark of the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
Marchena can’t lose
Spain defender Carlos Marche-
na set a record of 50 straight games without defeat as his team beat Saudi Arabia, 3-2, in Inns- bruck, Austria. Marchena overtook Brazil
great Garrincha, whose streak ran from 1955 to 1966. Marchena is not a regular starter for the Eu- ropean champions and came on as a substitute for Sergio Ramos in the 61st minute Saturday. Spain won the match on an in-
jury time goal by substitute Fer- nando Llorente.
Eto’o sits out a draw
Midfielder Eyong Enoh scored in the 83rd minute to give Cam- eroon a 1-1 draw with Slovakia in Klagenfurt, Austria, in a World Cup warmup for both teams. Cameroon was without key
striker Samuel Eto’o. He has threatened to walk out of the World Cup after criticism by for- mer player Roger Milla. Milla, who thrilled fans by helping Cameroon reach the 1990 World Cup quarterfinals, claimed Friday
that Eto’o “still hasn’t
brought anything to our national team.” Eto’o is Cameroon’s all-time leading scorer and has been on three Champions League win- ners. “Is it worth me going to the
World Cup? I still have a few days left to think, but I will see if it’s important for me to participate because I don’t need this [criti- cism] in my career,” Eto’o said on Canal Plus television late Friday.
— From news services
on
washingtonpost.com
For daily World Cup updates visit our Soccer Insider blog.
washingtonpost.com/soccerinsider
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