Castroneves, of Brazil, Takes Indy 500

I N D I A N A P O L I S, May 27 -- Helio Castroneves proved the Indianapolis 500 still belongs to Roger Penske.

The Indy rookie led teammate and fellow Brazilian Gil de Ferranin a 1-2 Penske finish, giving The Captain a triumphant returntoday to the 500-mile race. "It's the best of my life, redeeming myself like this," saidPenske, following a record 11th victory at Indy after failing toput any drivers in the race in 1995 and a five-year boycott byChampionship Auto Racing Teams.

‘Spiderman’ Celebrates

The 26-year-old Castroneves celebrated by demonstrating for fanswhy he is known as "Spiderman" on the CART circuit. He stoppedhis red and white car near the finish line after a cool-down lap,jumped up the steel-mesh fence, pumped his fist and signaled forhis team to join him. They did. Marlboro Team Penske raced across the track, climbedthe short concrete wall and scaled the fence, to the delight of theIndy crowd. De Ferran, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser and rookie BrunoJunqueira took the top five positions, making it a tough day forthe rival Indy Racing League, which considers Indy its centerpiece.

Tony Stewart, attempting to race in the 500 and NASCAR's Coca-Cola 600 in Concord, N.C., on the same day for the second time in three years, led for a while and wound up sixth — the last car on the lead lap.

Despite seven cautions and a 16-minute red flag for rain, he finished with enough time to get to the other race.

Crashes Early

Indy got off to a shaky start when pole-winner Scott Sharp lost control on cold, slick tires and crashed on the first turn of the first of 200 laps.

The green flag came out again on lap seven. But one lap later, Sarah Fisher, the only woman in the 33-car field, crashed in the second turn under circumstances similar to Sharp's. She hit the wall and took out Scott Goodyear's car.

Goodyear, a two-time runner-up, was in good condition at Methodist Hospital with a fractured lower back, the only injury of the race.

It was the second year in a row an Indianapolis 500 rookie has won the race. Juan Montoya, another CART driver at the time who is now in Formula One, won last year's race. He was the eighth rookie to win the Indy 500.