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Four-time Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves will attempt the Daytona 500 on Feb. 16, driving Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91 car, the team announced Monday.
Castroneves will be a teammate of Trackhouse Racing drivers Ross Chastain, Daniel Suarez and Shane van Gisbergen.
Darian Grubb will be Castroneves’ crew chief. Wendy’s will be the car’s sponsor.
Castroneves will have to qualify for the 40-car field because the Project 91 does not have a NASCAR charter and is not guaranteed a spot in the race. Mario Andretti and AJ Foyt are the only two drivers to win the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500.
The Team Penske driver will be making his sixth Rolex 24 start.
“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,” Castroneves said in a statement from the team.
Castroneves, 49, has never made a Cup start, but he has experience at Daytona.
He is the first driver to win three consecutive Rolex 24 races at Daytona. He was on the winning team in 2021, ’22 and ’23. Castroneves competed in the International Race of Champion (IROC) series from 2002-05, running at Daytona each of those years. His best finish in that series at Daytona was sixth in 2004.
“I know how much of a challenge it will be, but I also know the type of people and team that Trackhouse Racing will bring to the effort,” Castroneves said in a statement from the team. “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 have to learn and I’m ready to get started.”
Joey Logano wants to defend his Cup title in 2024.
Castroneves’ run also marks the return of the Project 91 car, which did not compete last season.
Trackhouse Racing owner Justin Marks created the concept as a way to give well-known international racers a chance to compete in a NASCAR race, while also broadening Trackhouse Racing’s reach.
“I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Hélio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race,” Marks said in a statement from the team. “It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see what a great lineup we have in NASCAR.”
Trackhouse Racing debuted the Project 91 effort in 2022 with former world champion Kimi Raikkonen at Watkins Glen.
Raikkonen returned to race at Circuit of the Americas in 2023. Van Gisbergen won the first Chicago Street Race in 2023 while making his Cup debut with Project 91. He ran one more race that season.
