Castroneves faces tax evasion charges
By Castroneves faces tax evasion charges
BRASELTON, Ga. -- Two-time Indy 500 champion Helio Castroneves wasn't at
Road Atlanta on Friday for qualifying. Instead he was in federal court in Miami
facing charges of tax evasion and tax fraud.
The Associated Press reports that the Indy Racing League star from Sao Paulo,
Brazil, who is expected to participate in today's Petit Le Mans, is accused of
using offshore accounts to avoid paying taxes to the Internal Revenue
Service.
The AP reports that Castroneves, 33, pleaded not guilty to six counts of tax
evasion for allegedly failing to report to the IRS about $5.5 million in income
between 1999 and 2004. Each count carries a maximum five-year prison
sentence.
Penske Racing vice president Bud Denker said Castroneves was scheduled to
return to Georgia on Friday night and prepare to co-drive the team's No. 5
Porsche with Australian Ryan Briscoe. Briscoe qualified the car first in the
LMP2 class and fourth overall for today's race.
Denker declined to speculate on what effect the court proceedings would have on
Castroneves' relationship with the team.
"It's premature to speculate on what will happen," he said. "He's still our
driver, and we're going ahead as planned."
However, Castroneves likely will miss a scheduled appearance in an exhibition
race in Australia on Oct. 24-26 because he will be surrendering his passport,
according to team officials.
The same lineup
The Braselton-based American Le Mans Series, of which the Petit Le Mans is the
marquee event, took a page from an old NASCAR playbook when it announced that
the circuit's 2009 schedule will be virtually identical to the lineup from this
year and previous years.
That allows the circuit to build on established race dates and venues just as
NASCAR has done over the years with major events such as the Daytona 500 and
Coca-Cola 600.
The 2009 schedule begins with the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 21
and ends Oct. 10 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Because of the way the 2009
calendar falls, some events move up or back a week. The Petit Le Mans will run
on Sept. 26.
"We have established a strong, consistent schedule to which fans are getting
accustomed," said the circuit's chief operating officer Tim Mayer. "That
certainly helps establish our fan base as well as foster growth and
tradition."
Fellows likes a sports car
Corvette driver Ron Fellows is familiar to NASCAR fans because of his
appearances in NASCAR races on the road courses at Watkins Glen, Infineon
Raceway and in Montreal, where he won a Nationwide Series race this year. He
said that driving the nimble sports cars requires a completely different
approach than the more powerful NASCAR racers.
He tested a Dale Earnhardt Inc. car at Road Atlanta in July and ran 10 seconds
a lap slower than in his Corvette.
"The NASCAR car was faster on the straightaways, but it's 1,000 pounds heavier
and has half the downforce and doesn't have carbon-fiber brakes," he said. "The
biggest difference is the speed in the corners."
He said both cars put on a good show for the fans, but he'd rather drive the
sports car.
"You can be ultra-aggressive and get away with it," he said.
Rick Minter writes for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. E-mail: rminter AT
ajc.com
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