With just two laps to go in the 105th Indianapolis 500 on Sunday, veteran superstar Hélio Castroneves passed Alex Palou for the lead in thrilling fashion and held on to win his fourth Indy 500.
The 46-year-old Meyer Shank Racing driver joined A.J. Foyt, Al Unser Sr. and Rick Mears as the only four-time Indy 500 champs in history.
And Castroneves celebrated his stunning victory the only way he could: Climbing the fence on the frontstretch of Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.5-mile track to celebrate with the fans in the grandstands.
It’s how the Brazilian driver celebrated previous Indy 500 wins, so of course, the tradition continued Sunday.
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
With 10 laps remaining in the 200-lap, 500-mile race, Castroneves was running among the top-5 drivers, and it was likely that a couple cars ahead of him would have to pit before the race ended. Sure enough, those cars did, putting Castroneves in the lead with just six laps remaining.
But Palou in the No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing car was chasing him. With five laps remaining, Palou passed Castroneves for the lead, but with two to go, the now-four-time Indy 500 champ made his winning move.
Castroneves passed Palou for the lead along the frontstretch of the track and pulled away for the checkered flag.
RETWEET TO CONGRATULATE @H3LIO CASTRONEVES ON HIS FOURTH #INDY500 WIN!
Relive the final two laps at @IMS. pic.twitter.com/0aYT4grWPe
— IndyCar on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 30, 2021
Here’s a look at the other times Castroneves climbed the fence around Indianapolis Motor Speedway:
