It has been a long time since IndyCar driver Helio Castroneves could call his life normal. As little as two years ago, Castroneves’ name was little known outside of racing circles, and ironically it was two events away from the track that truly changed his life.

  In November of 2007, Castroneves tangoed his way to fame that far surpassed that of any other two-time Indy 500 champion by claiming the mirror-ball trophy in Dancing With the Stars. As a result, when Castroneves stepped away from the dance floor and back into the cockpit, life was simply not the same. Suddenly the prime-time broadcast of his fun-loving personality made him into one of the most popular drivers on the IndyCar circuit and a virtual figurehead for the sport. People who had never before watched an IRL race were suddenly tuning in just to watch Castroneves compete. Furthermore, at least some portion of IndyCar’s resurgence could be directly contributed to his smile.

  But over the course of this past year far more disconcerting events left Castroneves in a spin, not from fancy footwork or loosing traction on the track but from the accusations of tax evasion. The wide smile was no longer on Castroneves’ face as he was accused on six different counts and faced a possible six-year federal sentence. Suddenly Castroneves’ concentration moved from turning lap times to avoiding hard time. Instead of climbing the fences of local tracks in celebration, Castroneves sought to avoid being surrounded by those topped with razor-wire.

  However, on April 17, following a draining seven week trial, Castroneves was acquitted on all charges along with his sister Katiucia and lawyer Alan Miller.

  Two days later he was driving in the Streets of Long Beach event, looking to leave the distressing memories in his dust. In his first race back in the circuit, Castroneves turned an eighth place start into a seventh place finish. The following week at Kansas Speedway, he came in second.

  Then at the Indianapolis May 24, Castroneves boldly announced to the world that he was back by claiming the pole and backing it up with his third Indy 500 win. A tearful Castroneves climbed the fences of Indy, drank from the milk jug and appeared to have left the trying year in his wake.

  The following week, Castroneves did not finish in the money but he took a 20th place starting position and turned it into an 11th place finish. Then at the beginning of June, Castroneves claimed his second trophy of the year by winning in Texas.

  Ironically, despite the rocky beginning to the year, Castroneves is on pace to set a milestone he has yet to achieve. Castroneves has finished among the top seven points leaders in each of the past seven seasons with second place finishes in ’02 and ’08 and third in points in ’06. But despite all of his wins, he has yet to claim the IndyCar championship and remains the only Indy 500 champion to not win the crown.

  But by surpassing the burdening drama off the track, perhaps this is the year Castroneves also does so on the motorway. Going into the race this weekend in Iowa, Castroneves only trailed leader Ryan Briscoe by 13 points in the driver standings and would most likely be leading if he had not sat out the first race of the season in St. Petersburg due to the tax evasion trial.

  This past week, Castroneves came to the Richmond International Raceway to perform testing in preparation for the SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 27 and Castroneves is no stranger to good finishes at RIR. Last year, he matched the mark for the greatest improvement by an IndyCar driver on the track by taking an 18th place starting position and working his way up through the pack to finish second. In seven IRL races at RIR, Castroneves has finished in the top-10 five times. He finished second in 2003, took the pole and came in third in ’04 then picked up his first win in Richmond in 2005. The following year Castroneves finished 10th then picked up an eleventh place finish in ’07.

  Known as Spiderman for his propensity to climb fences following wins, the witty Castroneves gave a quick evaluation of the track at RIR.  “The fence here is very nice actually,” he joked but added that in some ways, he feels somewhat the part of a hometown favorite in Richmond because of local sponsorship. “Not only because the fence here is great, but it’s the backyard of Philip Morris,” he said. “So, it’s good to be in a place kind of like you have a lot of people cheering for the team.”

  And with Castroneves’ acquittal and redemption on the track, the fans have found plenty to cheer about. But more importantly, the all familiar smile has not left Catroneves’ face through the adversity that he faced. Yet, there is a new sense of worldly understand that seems to surround the driver.

  Though Castroneves did not opening speak about his trail while in Richmond, it was obviously still lingering in the background of his thoughts. “The interesting thing is, when you’re out there, not in the race area or in the motorsport community, people, a lot of them from Dancing With the Stars, end up watching the race as well,” he said. “They say congrats for a lot of things. So, it’s been (an) amazing experience I would say. A roller coaster of emotion, no question about it. But it’s so nice to be back again and so nice to be in a race car. This is my life, so for now it’s been just incredible.”

  With all that he has been through lately, Castroneves points out that things have yet to return to a sense of normalcy. “They’re not back to normal,” he said. “They’re better than normal. It used to be normal before. So, now obviously I appreciate much more a lot of things that did not come together. I just enjoy what I do. I love what I do. It’s great to be back. Seeing the faces of friends, it’s so great. So right now it’s being very, very good.”

  The lightheartedness of Castroneves’ personality has not been changed by his accounting ordeal which was obvious from the fact that he was not above poking fun at himself to end his press conference in Richmond. “We’re excited to be back again in…two weeks?” he questioned. “Is that right?”

  Castroneves was quickly informed that the race at RIR was slightly further away. “Two and a half,” he replied. “Sorry, I lost a little count. As you can see, I’m not very good with numbers.”

  But what Castroneves is good at is being a winner.