Helio Castroneves drinks in winning the 105th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar via Imagn Content Services, LLC

Helio Castroneves wins Indy 500 for record-tying fourth time

By Erin Walsh | Last updated 5/30/21

Helio Castroneves beat Alex Palou to win his record-tying fourth Indy 500 title on Sunday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The Brazilian then scaled the fence for his victory celebration in front of about 135,000 fans, the most spectators at a sporting event since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

CLIMB THAT FENCE, @H3LIO!

HELIO CASTRONEVES HAS JOINED THE FOUR-TIME #INDY500 WINNERS CLUB! pic.twitter.com/z4NjX2VmMv
— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 30, 2021

Castroneves found himself in a duel with Palou, but he passed the Spaniard for good with two laps remaining and beat him by 0.4928 seconds to join A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears for the most Indy 500 wins ever.

He also joins Al Unser, Bobby Unser and Emerson Fittipaldi as the fourth driver to win the Indy 500 after turning 46 years old.

Castroneves also won the race in 2001, 2002 and 2009. Waiting 12 years for another victory must have been tough, but still satisfying.

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