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21 Million See Helio Dance to Victory

HAMMOND, IN: Helio Castroneves won the Indianapolis
500 the first time he tried it. Now, six years later,
the charismatic Brazilian has scored another “rookie”
victory in a completely new arena: ABC’s “Dancing With
the Stars”.

At a time when the Indy 500 and, for that matter, all
of American open wheel racing, is struggling to
maintain it’s fan base in light of NASCAR’s
popularity, Helio’s dancing success on live network TV
shouldn’t be ignored. An estimated 21-plus million
viewers watched the two time Indy 500 Champ, and his
amazing professional partner, Julianne Hough, defeat a
group of show biz pros, including Spice Girl Melanie
Brown, Vegas legend Wayne Newton and veteran
entertainer Marie Osmond during the ten week contest.

Obviously, more people worldwide have now seen Helio
dance than have seen him drive!

“I was so worried but Julianne kept telling me
everything would be fine,” Castroneves said a few
minutes after the stage lights were dimmed. “When our
names were announced, I had to look at Julianne to
make sure I heard it correctly. Honestly, that feeling
when they called our name was totally different than
winning a race. Obviously, Indianapolis is my biggest
win, but this is great. (The dancing trophy) will go
right between (the Baby Borg trophies) because this
has mirrors and can reflect them.”

Following a red-eye flight from Hollywood following
the contest, Castroneves and partner Julianne appeared
on ABC’s, “Good Morning America”, where they were
congratulated by, among others, NASCAR’s top two
drivers, 2007 Champion Jimmie Johnson and runner up
Jeff Gordon. Apparently, all of motor racing has
embraced Helio’s accomplishment…and rightly so.

Obviously, the world is a different place now than it
was back in the day when Indy winners were thought of
a “tough guys”, who wouldn’t be caught dead dancing in
front of an audience. Today, however, we welcome Helio
Castroneves’s efforts to bring worldwide attention to
the Indinanpolis 500.

Still, I can’t help wondering: what would Bill
Vukovich Sr. think?

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