Helio Castroneves will be returning to the NTT IndyCar Series for the 2026 Indianapolis 500, per a Tuesday team announcement. Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb Agajanian will be fielding a one-off third entry for Castroneves in the 110th Indy 500.
When he steps into the No. 06 Cleveland-Cliffs Honda on May 24, Castroneves will be chasing history. Presently he’s one of four drivers ever with four Indianapolis 500 wins. If he’s successful in notching a fifth, Castroneves will leave Al Unser Sr., AJ Foyt, and Rick Mears in the rearview mirror…along with every other race winner in history.
The Drive for Five continues 👊
Meyer Shank Racing announces Helio Castroneves will return to pilot its third entry in May’s Indianapolis 500. pic.twitter.com/eKK9Z2gaku
— NTT INDYCAR SERIES (@IndyCar) March 17, 2026
Though Castroneves retired from full-time IndyCar competition after the 2023 season, he’s returned for the Indy 500 with Meyer Shank Racing each year since. His 2024 endeavor culminated in a 20th-place result, followed by a tenth-place finish in 2025.
Castroneves’s Indy 500 career started off strong in 2001 and 2002 with two wins in his first two tries. He then returned to Victory Lane in 2009 and 2021. In Castroneves’s fourth and most recent Indy 500 win, he gave Meyer Shank Racing its first and only Borg-Warner Trophy.
Should Castroneves win an unprecedented fifth Indy 500, he’d make history in more ways than one. To date Al Unser Sr. is the eldest race winner in history, having triumphed in the 1987 running at 47 years and 360 days old. Castroneves will be 51 years and 14 days old on the day of the 2026 Indy 500.
Meyer Shank Racing currently fields two full-time teams in the NTT IndyCar Series. Marcus Armstrong is ninth in points after three races, while Felix Rosenqvist is 14th. Neither driver has won the Indy 500 so far in their careers.
