![]() ![]() “I know you can’t possibly stand there and not smile,” says the photographer. “Is this too much like Captain Morgan?” he quips. Helio obliges, striking a pose, flashing the smile. “But I can talk to you like that,” pipes up the photographer. Then, Helio suddenly releases a laugh like he’s coming up for air. A moment of confused tension sweeps across the room. “You can’t talk to me like that,” Helio responds. “That’s why things break,” the man says, opting to hand the helmet safely to Helio. He wants the media-relations assistant to toss it to him. And in the grind of tedious media work, standing in the floodlights of a photo studio dressed in his red Penske fire suit, all he asks for is his helmet. Then he moves on, leaving his smile stretched across their faces.Īfter two hours at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway offices being led from video shoot to photo shoot to audio recording session, creating promotional materials for the 500 and the rest of the upcoming 2008 season, Helio is still cracking wise. And for an instant they share a laugh as friends, part of Helio’s perfect world. He engages each face, stranger or friend, calling the men by name or “chief” or “my man.” To those he even casually knows, he’ll hold his fist up, pinky out, thumb to his ear, and say “Call me,” and “We partying tonight?” He’ll show the women some dance moves, take their hands, bring them to his chest, twirl them and dip. Then the man comes into view, smile at the ready. Whether he’s approaching reporters poised at a media event, fans ambushing for autographs, or a pit crew ready to talk strategy, the throaty chuckle signals Helio’s arrival. But when the cameras have shut off, when the spotlights are cold and motionless, Helio seems to create a light of his own.įirst comes the laugh. Helio loves being the star-craves it, even. People seeing him from afar might think the smile, the unwavering joy, is just an act, the mere deflection of all the attention. And in this private moment, with so many tokens of a fruitful life in orbit around him, Helio beams. The unborn child’s future godfather wraps an arm around his sister. “Last night I felt the baby,” she says, running her hand over her pregnant belly. And this is the off-season.īut at least he’s eating in his own kitchen, where he can spend a few fleeting moments with his older sister and business manager, Kati, who has just come upstairs to greet her brother with more exciting news. ![]() He estimates he has spent maybe 20 of the last 60 days sleeping in his own bed. Today, he has three interviews and the ESPN shoot before he has to jump back on the turnpike to Homestead for another night of testing. When Dancing wrapped in late November, Helio appeared in nearly every major media outlet, and even signed up for several stops on the Dancing live tour in January. Before the 2007 Ind圜ar season even ended last September, Helio was practically living in Hollywood, working up to eight hours a day in preparation for Dancing and filling his spare moments granting interviews to TV Guide, Access Hollywood, and Entertainment Tonight. In the background, he can literally hear the clamor of his celebrity, the clanks and thuds of an ESPN television production crew setting up for a shoot on his back terrace. Especially blinding is the light breaking upon the Mirror Ball Trophy, his spoils as champion of Dancing with the Stars, the wildly popular TV show that, starting last October, thrust the 32-year-old Brazilian into the national spotlight. From where he stands, he can see the Florida sunshine blasting through broad windows into his living room, bouncing over the marble floor, and glaring off a vast collection of crystal, gold, and silver racing trophies-most from his years in the Ind圜ar Racing Series, two from a pair of Indy 500 wins. Of course, it might not just be the muffin. Even as he chews, the corners of his mouth creep upward into a satisfied grin. It’s just an ordinary grocery-store muffin, but to watch Helio eat, one would think it was a piece of lightly buttered heaven. ![]() He struts back into the shady nook of the kitchen, where he takes breakfast standing up-orange juice and a corn muffin halved on a paper napkin. It’s 10 a.m., and Helio seems rested after a late night testing his racecar beneath the lights at Miami-Homestead Speedway, 30 minutes south of here. No discernible tune, just a happy array of notes punctuated by a bright “Good morning” as he hits the sunlit landing. Helio Castroneves whistles as he taps down the winding marble staircase in his Coral Gables mansion. (See photos of him at work and at play here.) Here, our cover feature on him from May 2008. Editor’s Note: Brazilian Ind圜ar legend Helio Castroneves returns this month to the scene of his three Indianapolis 500 victories. ![]()
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