By David Morgan, Associate Editor
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Open wheel drivers Helio Castroneves and Katherine Legge got a taste of stock car racing at Daytona International Speedway on Saturday as both participated in the ARCA Menards Series Ride the Dente 200.
Castroneves, the four-time Indianapolis 500 champion and three-time Rolex 24 champion, was driving in the 80-lap event in preparation for his inaugural NASCAR Cup Series start in Sunday’s 67th running of the Daytona 500 and certainly had an eventful day from the drop of the green flag.
Just four laps into the race, Castroneves caught a piece of a multi-car crash off Turn 4 that would collect a total of 15 cars once it was over, but was able to continue on in the race.
“I was like ‘Man, code brown here, I’m going to be in trouble’,” Castroneves said after that first crash. “I just tried to stay away from those guys and make sure I don’t damage the car. I’m avoiding more of the crashes here than trying to learn about racing. So far, it’s been good, the car’s good, so let’s keep it rolling.”
On Lap 34, he ran into trouble again when the No. 68 of Scott Melton spun in front of him and clipped Castroneves as he tried to get past him, which caused some damage to the front end of his Chevrolet.
Nonetheless, he was able to persevere on despite the damage, eventually powering his way into the top-five and challenging for the race lead over the course of the closing laps.
However, he would find himself shuffled out of line on the final lap, falling to fifth by the time the checkered flag flew.
On the cool-down lap, Castroneves wild ride wouldn’t be over quite yet as he was turned by a fellow competitor in Turn 1 and hooked into the outside wall. Though his car was battered and bruised, he would climb from his car uninjured and was in good spirits after getting checked out in the Infield Care Center.
Castroneves noted that the experience he gained on Saturday will be key knowledge to carry into Sunday’s Daytona 500 after a rough outing in Thursday’s Duels that saw him have to fall to the Open Exemption Provisional for his 41st place start.
He will head straight from the ARCA car and jump in his Cup car for final practice as he looks to get his Trackhouse Racing machine dialed in for Sunday’s main event.
“That race for me was a great way to learn, a great way to understand,” Castroneves said. “I’m so glad I did that. It changed the perspective. I wish I would have done this before the Duel, to be honest.
“I know it’s a different car, but thank you for Pinnacle Racing, Wendy’s and everybody from Project91 that was able to give me this opportunity to at least learn how it is with these cars drafting…. excited for practice right now and tomorrow the race.”
As for Katherine Legge, her ARCA debut at Daytona went awry much earlier than she would have liked in her No. 23 Chevrolet when she was collected in the Lap 4 multi-car crash.
The veteran of open wheel and sports cars, who ran seven IndyCar Series races in 2024, explained that she was just biding her time early on and got swept up in a crash not of her own doing. She would be credited with a 39th place finish.
Big trouble! 👀 pic.twitter.com/o8mN4oRIbs
— FOX: NASCAR (@NASCARONFOX) February 15, 2025
“I’m fine. Honestly, I need to see the replay. I just got tagged in the right-rear and tried to make it down pit road and got hit again,” Legge said.
“Not much you can do. I had a really great car. Thanks to the SPS guys. The car was fast and we were just trying to survive and hang out until the last 20 laps, but that plan didn’t go according to what we were trying to do.
“I was having so much fun up until then. The team was awesome. I had a really fast car and yeah, I had a smile on my face. It’s like a renewed since of vigor coming into racing after having done it for so long. Was really looking forward to my stock car debut here and unfortunately that happened.
“I’m just gutted. I really wanted a decent shot at it.”
Be the first to comment