‘I’ve never seen Roger more nervous’: Penske’s triumphant Indy return in 2001

(Editor’s note: As Helio Castroneves attempts to make history May 29 as the first five-time Indy 500 winner, NBC Sports will review his four previous victories at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and examine how each race was a significant and unique milestone for both the driver, series or track — and sometimes for all three. The series begins on May 27, 2001 with Roger Penske’s triumphant return to IMS and Castroneves bursting into the national consciousness for the first time.)

INDIANAPOLIS – Helio Castroneves’ first Indy 500 victory was nearly two years in the making, and it started with a “no” to Roger Penske.

Tim Cindric was hired in the fall of 1999 to become the president of Team Penske, and the first directive from the new boss was to get his team back to his treasured Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After a dominant victory by Al Unser Jr. in the 1994 Indianapolis 500, Roger Penske’s cars failed to qualify in ’95 and had skipped the race from 1996-99 while racing in the rival Championship Auto Racing Teams series (which had split from the Indy Racing League).

Penske bought a Riley and Scott chassis with the full intention of returning to the Indy 500 in 2000 – until Cindric hit the brakes on the plan.

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“They hadn’t won an IndyCar race in two and a half years,” Cindric told NBC Sports. “Roger wanted to create a wind tunnel model to go to Indy, and I talked him out of going in 2000. In my first month of working for him, I’m fighting him to not go to Indy 500. I said, ‘Roger, I’m the last guy who wants to tell you this, but we can not properly go to the Indy 500 next year. You missed the race in ’95. We can’t go back not ready.’

“We got