Castroneves scores Indy 500 hat-trick

INDIANAPOLIS: Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves captured his third Indy 500 on Sunday to give team owner Roger Penske a record 15th trip to Victory Lane.

The win capped a stunning return to the famed Brickyard by the charismatic Brazilian, who was driving in just his third race after being cleared of tax evasion charges which could have landed him a lengthy prison sentence.

A back-to-back winner in 2001 and 2002, Castroneves is only the sixth driver, and the first foreign-born, with a hat-trick of 500 wins. With one more victory, he can join Indy greats A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners.