FORT WORTH, Texas (May 27, 2009) – Reigning Indianapolis 500 champion Helio Castroneves made a grand entrance into downtown Fort Worth on Wednesday, but it was with a lot less horsepower than he utilized this past weekend en route to his historic victory.

Castroneves, visiting as part of the Indy 500 champion’s tour and to promote the June 6 Bombardier Learjet 550k at Texas Motor Speedway, arrived in a white horse-drawn carriage wearing the Indianapolis 500 Borg-Warner winner’s wreath and carrying his empty bottle of milk from the Victory Lane celebration.

The charismatic Castroneves soon shifted from his Indianapolis 500 champion’s look to one of a Texas champ as he was presented a Charlie 1 Horse cowboy hat by Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage.

“With the horse and now the hat, I guess you could say I’m a cowboy now,” Castroneves said, flashing that trademark smile. “The only difference is I have 650 horses, not one!”

Castroneves’ Indianapolis 500 win culminated a successful month at the Brickyard as he earlier earned the pole position and his Team Penske crew won the Indy 500 Pit Stop Challenge. His accomplishments this month could not have come at a better time considering his recent six-month tax trial that forced him to miss the opening race of the IndyCar Series season.

“I have to say the fans kept me really strong, kept my faith strong and helped me out through all those rough times,” Castroneves said. “I said it before and I’ll say it again. I dedicate this race for them because they made me be strong. I did question it many times, like ‘Why is this happening to me?’ I said many times ‘Why,’ but crossing the finish line and going to the fans I had my moment and so the question that I was asking was answered and it was amazing.

“I also have to thank my team and (owner) Roger Penske. Before I always knew him as a boss and now knowing him as a friend, through this whole ordeal he was always backing me up. It makes it better to know that when this thing is over, I was going to have the race car. And that for me was big.”

In mid-April, Castroneves was acquitted of all charges and resumed racing at Long Beach, where he finished seventh and followed with a runner-up finish at Kansas.

“When everything was over, going to Long Beach was the best feeling and the best medicine I would say was to be back in the race car,” Castroneves said. “It was a rollercoaster of emotion. I have never liked rollercoasters, and now I know even more!”

Despite missing the season-opening race at St. Petersburg, Castroneves currently sits second in IndyCar Series championship standings, just five points behind leader Dario Franchitti, as the series heads to Milwaukee this weekend. His Indy 500 victory moved him from 10th to second in the standings.

Next week, Castroneves will make his 11th career start at Texas Motor Speedway in the Bombardier Learjet 550k. He is one of four multiple IndyCar Series winners at TMS and the only one that is active in the series. He won the fall race in 2004 – the Chevy 500k – and then captured the Bombardier Learjet 500k in 2006. He has six top-five finishes, including second in last year’s Bombardier Learjet 550k.

“It’s always good to come back to a place where you succeed, and not only once, but twice,” Castroneves said of “The Great American Speedway!” “This track is very challenging --challenging because you have big banking and sometimes if your car does not perform the way you want it, it’s a little bit tough for you to try to overcome. But it’s always nice to come back to a place where you’re welcome and (TMS President) Eddie (Gossage) does a great job of promoting it. You can ask everybody about that and they enjoy it. Yes, sometimes you have the challenge, because this place gives you a lot of competition, but when you have competition it’s always good because it makes you better.”

Castroneves will look to become just the third driver in history to win the IndyCar Series’ two marquee events – the Indy 500 and Bombardier Learjet 550k – in the same season. Arie Luyendyk accomplished the feat in 1997 – TMS’ inaugural season – and Scott Dixon matched it last year with a sweep of the two races.

At the conclusion of the event, Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage announced a new ticket promotion, the “Triple Play,” in celebration of Castroneves’ third Indianapolis 500 victory in the No. 3 Team Penske car. Beginning 9 a.m. CT Thursday, 550 frontstretch tickets for the June 6 Bombardier Learjet 550k will go on sale at $3 each, with the price representing his third Indy 500 win as well as his Team Penske car number. The “Triple Play” tickets are limited to four per customer and are only available by visiting or calling the Texas Motor Speedway ticket office at (817) 215-8500.

“Number three seems to be the number,” Castroneves said. “I would love to be a three-time winner here in the Bombardier Learjet 550k and certainly it’s going to be a challenge because it looks like the competition is really, really tight. It’s always been decided in the last corner. I’ve lost some and I’ve won some there and hopefully I can win another.”

The Bombardier Learjet 550k race week kicks off Thursday, June 4 with practice and qualifying for the WinStar World Casino 400 NASCAR Camping World Truck Series event as well as opening IndyCar Series practice for the Bombardier Learjet 550k. IndyCar Series qualifying will be held Friday, June 5 at 5:30 p.m. CT and will be followed by the WinStar World Casino 400 race at 8 p.m. CT. The weekend culminates Saturday, June 6 with the running of the Bombardier Learjet 550k at 8:30 p.m. CT. Tickets are available for each day by calling the TMS ticket office at (817) 215-8500 or by visiting www.texasmotorspeedway.com.