Castroneves wins his third Indy 500

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Helio Castroneves capped a perfect month of May with the biggest win of all, pulling away to capture his third Indianapolis 500 just 5 1/2 weeks after being acquitted of tax evasion charges.

Castroneves, who hopped back in his Team Penske race car as soon as he was cleared of charges that could have sent him to prison for six years, became just the ninth driver to win the historic race three times — and he’s only one win away from joining the most elite group of all: four-time winners A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears.

The 34-year-old Brazilian pulled away over the final laps to beat Dan Wheldon and Danica Patrick, who eclipsed her historic fourth-place finish as a rookie in 2005 by crossing the strip of bricks in third.

Story appears in Monday’s edition.