Helio Castroneves to Make Daytona 500 Debut with Trackhouse Racing

By David Morgan, Associate Editor

Throughout his career, Helio Castroneves has been picking up crown jewel wins across the motorsports spectrum like Thanos collecting Infinity Stones and now he’s looking to add another one to the gauntlet.

Castroneves, a four-time Indianapolis 500 winner and three-time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona, has thrown his hat into the ring of entrants for the 2025 running of the Daytona 500 in February.

The Sao Paulo, Brazil native will be teaming up with Justin Marks and Trackhouse Racing as a fourth entry for the team as a part of the Trackhouse Project 91 program.

Daytona will mark Castroneves’ first NASCAR start as he seeks to be one of just three drivers to have scored wins in both the Indianapolis 500 and Daytona 500, joining Mario Andretti and A.J. Foyt.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race and certainly not the Daytona 500 with a team like Trackhouse Racing,” said Castroneves.

“This is an opportunity that nobody in their right mind could ever turn down. I am so thankful to Wendy’s for allowing me to wear their uniform and drive their car, (Trackhouse owner) Justin Marks and everyone that made this happen. I wish the race were tomorrow!”

Alongside his teammates for Daytona in Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez, and Shane van Gisbergen, Castroneves has a tall task in front of him to not only race his way into the 40-car field, but also get his bearings on racing a stock car on the high banks of the 2.5-mile oval and the intricacies of NASCAR superspeedway racing.

Nonetheless, the always optimistic driver is ready to get to work and see how he fares in the Great American Race.

“I know how much of a challenge this is going to be, but I also know the type of people and team Trackhouse Racing will bring to the effort,” said Castroneves. “I can’t wait to get to the Trackhouse race shop in North Carolina to meet everyone and prepare for Daytona. There is so much I must learn and I’m ready to get started.”

PROJECT 91 was the brainchild of Trackhouse team owner Justin Marks to bring exceptional drivers from outside of NASCAR into the Cup Series, beginning in 2022 with Formula 1 star Kimi Raikkonen and in 2023 with V8 SuperCars ace Shane van Gisbergen.

Van Gisbergen delivered the team its first win in his debut start at the Chicago Street Race in 2023 and after a year off in 2024, the No. 91 team will be hoping for some of that same magic for Castroneves at Daytona.

“Hélio is one of the greatest drivers of all time and exactly the type of driver we want to bring to NASCAR,” said Marks.

“I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Hélio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race. It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see just how great of a series we have in NASCAR.”

The preliminaries for the Daytona 500 begin on Wednesday, February 12 with a 50-minute practice session that morning, followed by pole qualifying later that evening. Qualifying races will take place on Thursday night to set the remainder of the 40-car field.

As a non-chartered entry, Castroneves will have to either put up a fast enough speed in qualifying or be one of the top-finishers in his respective Duel race to make it into the starting lineup.