Helio Castroneves Car Quotations

I saw his engine and car in half and I tried to keep looking away.

I was just trying to follow Dan but my car kept moving up. Then I saw Sam coming and that put me side by side. If this was like NASCAR and we had bumpers, I would have won. I'm kind of sad to be second but then again I'm kind of happy to be second. I have mixed feelings.

Wow, I don't even know what to say. Those final ten laps were the hardest in my life. The race reminded me a lot of 2002 when I won my second Indianapolis 500 -- to be able to win the first time in a touring car is just an amazing feeling. I'm so fortunate to have had this opportunity and to have been able to compete with three wonderful drivers. We had a great team and a fantastic car. I just consider myself lucky to have been in the right place at the right time.

Unfortunately, I think we made the wrong choice on our race setup, and the Marlboro Team Penske car had a tremendous push in Turns 3 and 4. Those corners were my biggest problem. I could barely touch the throttle going through there. The team made front wing adjustments on both of our pits stops, but it didn't really help. All considering, I'm pretty happy with a fourth-place finish.

You aren't going to be able to pass by going past the guy and keep going so it will take quite a while to set up a pass. I will follow him closely and wait for him to make a mistake before I can make the pass. I have a very good car for that. I will also be saving fuel and pick up positions in the pits so I have so many things on my side.

It's great to finally win here in Japan. We had a very strong car. Ever since we got off the plane, the car has been responding well.

I don't think we ever touched. At the beginning, I think he was trying to know what I was doing and tried to see what my car was capable of doing. I respect him a lot after this race, not that I didn't respect him before. He definitely drove like a champion.

Being patient, and backing off. A race is not won on the first lap. A car changes during a race.