Helio Castroneves will be allowed to race in the Nikon Indy 300 on October 26 at Surfer’s Paradise, Australia. Multiple outlets, including Miami’s WFOR-TV and the Associated Press, have reported that U.S. Magistrate Judge William Tarnoff agreed on Friday to modify the two-time Indy 500 champ’s bail conditions in order to allow him to drive Down Under.

The AP article notes that while no appeal has been planned by the U.S. attorney’s office, prosecutors have been given until “close of business” on Tuesday to do so.

This certainly makes for an interesting turn of events. Will Roger Penske stick with Castroneves at Surfer’s Paradise or will he go with another driver for his No. 3 machine? Of course, he could very well yank the No. 3 off the grid entirely.

Credit goes to MyNameIsIRL for making the first catch on this news.

One of the top rising stars in American open-wheel racing is set to make his big-league debut next season. Raphael Matos, the 2008 Firestone Indy Lights champion, will drive the No. 12 car for Luczo Dragon Racing as the team moves to full-time IndyCar Series competition after two years of part-time operations.

Matos utilized his natural talent on road and street courses this past season in FIL, but also picked up the ovals quickly as he engaged with Richard Antinucci and several other drivers in a championship battle that went to the final race at Chicagoland Speedway. There, Matos sealed the title with a second-place finish, while Antinucci crashed out of the event.

The Brazilian driver talked to me this afternoon about his move to IndyCars and his championship campaign.

Special thanks to Kirk Reynolds of LDR for his assistance in setting up this interview and to Matos for taking the time to chat.

How do you feel about moving up to the IndyCar Series after winning the Indy Lights title?

“It’s an honor and I’m very pleased to be a part of Luczo Dragon. [Co-owners] Jay [Penske] and Steve [Luczo] truly believe in me and I truly believe in them and the whole team. I think the team is extremely talented and such a young, promising organization – we have the same philosophy. Jay, Steve and all the sponsors, like Symantec, they’re putting a lot of hard work and effort behind the team. I’m looking forward to it and I think we’ll have a great season, so I’m extremely excited right now.”

There had been some rumors that Vitor Meira or Tomas Scheckter was going to get this drive and logic denotes that you may have had the inside line for a fifth AGR ride. How did you and LDR get in contact with each other?

“Obviously, when Tony Kanaan signed with AGR for five more years, that pushed me a little bit away from the possibility of having that [Andretti Green] ride. I’ve known Jay from a mutual friend and we started talking after I won the championship. Obviously, I was waiting to see how the championship would play out and having the championship in my hand gave me a little more leverage to talk with Jay and Steve and that’s how the relationship started.

“Then we met and you know, got along well, came to the team, and I found that this is the place to be. We’ll be extremely strong in the first year, and getting a strong, solid base will help us in the future for sure.”

Despite its part-time stature in the past two seasons, LDR has shown to be really competitive. Have Jay and Steve filled you in on what their plans for the future are?

“It’s an extremely young team. Jay is obviously working with the sponsors and the team’s growing little by little — they did six races this year and now, it’s a full-time, one-car team for next year. The main focus right now is build up a strong and solid one-car team — a team that has chances of winning races in the first year…and our ultimate goal is to win the championship. That’s why we’re doing this.”

Let’s talk a little about your Firestone Indy Lights championship. You had a great battle with Richard Antinucci and a few others as well during the season. You won the Atlantics title in 2007 by a fair margin, but how does this title feel with the fight to earn it being as tight as it was?

“I knew this would be tough with Richard. He’s quick on the road courses and drove one of the best cars with the team that had won the championship for the last two years. I knew it would be tough, but my team made a lot of progress through the year and we made the whole team better. It took a lot of hard work to win this one, especially with this being my rookie year, my first year on ovals. Richard was not a rookie, so I was battling with a guy that’s got a good team and has more experience than me…”

Do you feel like you’re a better racer because of it?

“Definitely. You always want to fight and battle with the best. That makes you better, not winning every race and not learning anything. It will be the same here. We’ll be fighting against the best drivers, the best teams, and that will make us stronger. We’ll have to learn from our mistakes and try not to repeat them and understand why they were there.”

After the Atlantics title, you jumped from Champ Car to the IRL despite earning a $2 million bounty to go towards earning a Champ Car ride. Why did you feel like another season in a feeder series was necessary?

“First of all, I had no option. When I signed with Andretti Green, I had another option with a team that was not competitive in Champ Car. I had the opportunity with AGR and I kinda knew that Champ Car was definitely going down and the IRL was doing much better.

“I thought it would be a better plan for me to do a sidestep and learn the ovals in a competitive Indy Lights team and I may have the chance to step up for [2009]. It didn’t work. I didn’t get in IndyCar with AGR, but we won a championship together, and I think I got an opportunity with Luczo Dragon, which is good, if not better. They’re a team with a lot of potential to grow…I’m extremely excited.”

Firestone Indy Lights champions haven’t had a lot of success over the years. What makes you the guy that can reverse that trend?

“I think you have to look at how Indy Lights was competitive in the past years. This year was the most competitive year so far. I think [2007 FIL champ Alex] Lloyd and [2006 FIL champ] Jay Howard, deserve IndyCar rides, so it’s sad not to see those guys in a full-time IndyCar.

“But it now comes up to opportunity…This championship was extremely tough and people certainly saw how different it was and how competitive it was and if you can win in this level with that much competition, you’re earning your way to IndyCar.”

You’ll also get a chance to race in your first Indy 500. Your thoughts on that?

“I was there as a spectator last year, and I raced the day or two before in Indy Lights, but the day of the race, I was there on the grid with the AGR guys. It was an incredible energy and it was unbelieveable how much history that place has behind it. I’m looking forward to it. It will be an unbelievable experience…”

Any other tracks you’re looking forward to visiting?

“The only place I don’t know is Texas, but every other racetrack, I’ve been to. I’m looking especially to the street course and the road courses…I’ve won races [on those courses] in Atlantics and Indy Lights, so I feel pretty good there.”

Do you plan on asking for some advice from your fellow competitors in your first IndyCar season?

“Not at all. (Laughs) And I don’t think they would tell me anything either! (Laughs again)”

Ha, ha, fair enough! Let’s touch on your sports car work this season. We saw how much Ryan Briscoe’s time in the American Le Mans Series helped him when he moved to Team Penske. How do you think your sports car work will help you in your first IndyCar season?

“It’s always good to get seat time, no matter if it’s Daytona Prototypes, GT, or LMP cars…the more different cars you drive, the more better you are at understanding the dynamics of the car. It’s always good to go to the track no matter what…I have this sort of theory about myself: whatever is in front of me, I’m driving it. LMP, Prototypes, IndyCars, Indy Lights, even go-karting. I just drive to keep myself in charge and in shape.”

To close, what are your ultimate goals for 2009 and do you feel like you and Luczo Dragon can mess with the dominance of the Big Three (Penske, AGR, Ganassi)?

“..Our goal is to be up there every race. I truly believe that we’re capable of growing together and winning races and championships…We have good people and that’s what makes the difference in the team. I truly believe that we can fight with the big guys.”

He goes about comparing the Indy 500 champion’s alleged crimes of tax evasion with disgraced ex-NFL quarterback Michael Vick and his dogfighting days — a much more ballyhooed turn of events. The unique point is that he first talks about the possibility of race playing a factor in why the Helio saga has been lost in the shuffle:

“So where’s the righteous rage this time? Part of the disparity in the way America has reacted to these stories has a racial tint. I would like to think, though, that most of this is a reflection of the way we view the crimes in question.”

If Helio had actually killed a living creature, whether it be man or dog, I’d think about this argument a lot more. Is it true that jailed blacks — famous jailed blacks — are going to be put under a nastier microscope from the media, regardless of the crime involved? I’m inclined to say yes.

But as Kravitz later mentions in the article, the famous driver’s run-in with the law has no blood involved — in his words, as “pasty as white-collar crime gets.” He basically punches a hole in whatever argument he may have pushed involving race; it’s as if he realized this in mid-writing and just kept going on his train of thought.

He also wonders why the IRL hasn’t gotten a major push as a result of this coverage. I think he subscribes to the “no publicity is bad publicity” crowd, which is his call to make. But while the league could certainly use a lot more presence, this isn’t the way to get it!

However, Kravitz makes a great point toward the end. Perhaps the main reason why people haven’t thrown the book at Castroneves — besides the fact that he’s innocent until proven guilty, which goes without saying — is that they don’t want their image of Castroneves to change.

To many IndyCar Series faithful, they see him as a super-happy ray of sunshine that just happens to kick butt in a race car. They see him as a person who deals with anger and frustration in a way that allows him to see the good in his trials. He certainly seems like a noble role model.

But that’s just it — he seems to be. As Kravitz states, we don’t know these athletes at all. He mentions how he deals with queries about what Colts quarterback Peyton Manning is like:

“I hear over and over, ‘So you know Peyton, huh?’ And I answer, ‘I talk to Peyton, but I don’t really know him. I don’t know what’s in his heart. I don’t know what he does when he’s not answering dumb questions in a locker room, or how he likes to spend his free time when he’s not watching film. And I don’t care to, for that matter.’”

Do we wish Castroneves the best? Of course. You’d want somebody to think of you if you were in trouble. But at the same time, all we have of Castroneves — and quite frankly, every professional athlete in existence — is an image.

Most of us don’t know what kind of people they’re like when the cameras are off and they’re away from the arenas, stadiums and racetracks of the world. As fans, we should keep that in the back of our minds — if only to try and mute disappointment should our heroes fall from grace.

Luczo Dragon Racing has finally made it official.

After two years of part-time operation, the squad will go to full-time duty for the 2009 IndyCar Series campaign. Behind the wheel of their No. 12 machine will be Raphael Matos, who has certainly earned this opportunity after winning the Atlantics championship in 2007 and this year’s Firestone Indy Lights title for AFS/Andretti Green Racing.

Matos will replace Tomas Scheckter, who drove competitively in the LDR car’s six events, but kept finding trouble to ruin his outings (his best finish was 21st at Detroit). He sounds pretty enthused about joining a team that has been considered to be a major dark horse despite its former part-time stature:

“I couldn’t be more excited about everything, it’s an unbelievable opportunity. We have a very good team. All the pieces are in place. We just need to build a solid base through preseason testing, put everything together, and go for it. I can’t wait to get started.”

While this turn of events once again puts one of the league’s more interesting personalities out on the unemployment line, Matos has definitely been messing around in the minor leagues for too long.

He has shown to be a great driver in his Atlantics and Indy Lights campaigns and if LDR can get in a good offseason’s work of testing, he can easily be a contender in a good chunk of the ‘09 events — and not just on road and street courses either. At any rate, he’s at least getting a better shake than ‘07 Indy Lights king Alex Lloyd did when he attempted to move up (one lone start in 2008 at the Indy 500).

In my opinion, LDR has the potential to become a legitimate interloper in the affairs of the Big Three. Anytime you have the potential for something like that, that’s always good for the competition and for the fans as well.

Just don’t expect him to fill the role of “happy-go-lucky Brazilian” if necessary. He seems more Vitor Meira-like in personality, really.

—–

The ratings are in…

…And the IndyCar Series can feel pretty decent about their performance on television this year. The 2008 campaign bagged a 21.4 percent increase in audience over last season on the Mouse networks (ABC, ESPN, ESPN2) with an average rating of 1.7 over the 17 events.

It’ll be very interesting to see if Versus can help keep the trend going up next year with a reach that falls quite short of ESPN and ESPN2’s. As I mentioned on my latest piece for FoxSports.com, better coverage is fine and dandy but that gap of 23 million homes between the Comcast-owned channel and the Worldwide Leader is going to be a pain in the butt to deal with.

Of course, the peanut gallery is already out in force bandying the slogan of “ReVersus” in predictions for a major ratings drop. I’ll give ‘em this, they’re persistent little buggers…

Per TSN.ca:

“In the complaint, Tracy’s attorney claims the racer’s contract called for a $1-million buyout to be paid in the event the team ceased operation in Champ Car. Terms of Tracy’s contract also show that he was to have been paid $2.25-million for the 2008 Champ Car season, plus any bonuses.

“However, Tracy says he’s been paid for February, March and April and nothing since.”

I’m expecting this case to be a rather drawn-out affair. With Forsythe involved, I’d be shocked if it were nothing less than that.

The Indy Racing League may not be the only racing series affected by the fallout of Helio Castroneves’ indictment on tax evasion charges.

In addition to the two-time Indy 500 champion, those charges were also filed against his sister Kati and his attorney, Alan Miller.  In addition to Helio, Miller also represents drivers in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series — including two-time series champion Jimmie Johnson and his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Casey Mears.

While Helio was pleading not guilty to the seven counts against him (and getting released on $10 million bail), Johnson was expressing his shock at the accusations leveled against his lawyer and friend. He certainly sounds impassioned judging from his comments today to NASCAR news site SceneDaily.com about the matter:

“Everything I’ve done with Alan, he has respected my thoughts and me as a driver as if he was a parent of some sort. He’s really done a phenomenal job for me…I’ve never seen anything out of character from him.

“I’m shocked. I know he’s shocked, and as time goes on, we’ll all learn and understand more.”

Back in a Miami federal courtroom, Castroneves was reported to have appeared at his hearing in handcuffs and leg chains.

After his release, he proclaimed his innocence by telling reporters:

“I am not guilty. I know right from wrong and I did nothing wrong.”

But something tells me this whole thing is going to get a lot worse in short order.

Unfortunately, you’ll need a subscription to go on any further. But it looks like the Canadian driver (under the PTR banner) and his former Champ Car boss are finally ready to have it out.

Things just got interesting over the last few days, haven’t they?

UPDATE (12:40 p.m. ET) — A file of the court document is available here, but I ask that you go along with the original poster’s requests and simply look at it for private use. In other words, do not redistribute.

Some race fans have daydreams about living the life of their favorite driver.

A life of having the thrill of going 200+ miles an hour, being the object of adoration for millions of fans, and winning the Indianapolis 500 — to these devotees, having all of these honors and privileges would be, in their minds, priceless.

Shoot, even just suiting up to drive an IndyCar that may have no chance in Hell of winning would be priceless.

Helio Castroneves has had that life for many years now. He has the ability to make hearts beat faster, either with his stellar driving and wheel-to-wheel antics in the No. 3 Team Penske Dallara or his handsome looks that have been seen in every form of magazine since his victory one year ago in TV’s “Dancing With The Stars.”

Even bigger than all of that, he’s won the Indianapolis 500. Twice. Back-to-back.

Priceless, huh? Well, maybe not. After the IndyCar Series superstar’s indictment for tax evasion yesterday, the value of his career may have a price after all.

Zero.

According to this document (Warning: PDF file), Castroneves, his sister Kati, and his attorney Alan Miller, created a plot involving a shell company, false testimony, and a Swiss bank account to help the Brazilian driver get out of reporting $5.5 million worth of income he received from Coimex, a Brazilian trading company, and Penske Racing, to the IRS.

The indictment also alleges a kick-back scheme between Castroneves and Coimex, who struck three one-year deals from 1999-2001 to gain the driver’s services in promoting the company.

Each of those deals were set to pay Castroneves $2 million, but through Seven Promotions (the shell company controlled by him, his sister and another member of the family), he gave back $1.8 million to Coimex on every deal in order to have a visible yearly salary of $200,000.

As some of Coimex’s money went into the family’s Swiss bank account, a decision was allegedly made along the way to divert the $5.5 million from Seven Promotions (the shell company) to Fintage Licensing, B.V., under a “deferred royalty plan” — which, according to the AP, can delay U.S. tax payments legally but only if Castroneves had no control over Seven.

Paragraph 13 of the indictment (under the “Manner and Means of the Conspiracy” section) says that Castroneves and Miller falsely testified that neither the former or anyone in his family had any control over Seven.

If you’ve made it through that array of numbers and jargon, good. If you didn’t and skipped those paragraphs, I’ll sum it up for you in one sentence.

Helio Castroneves is in deep trouble.

With one count of fraud and six counts of tax evasion against him, he’s looking at a maximum sentence of 35 years for the combined offenses. The Castroneves siblings and Miller are expected to appear Friday afternoon in a Miami federal district court, according to the Indianapolis Star.

This setback may very well destroy his career and it’s also probably going to deliver a major blow to the IndyCar Series as well.

After several years of being known as a league with one singular star in Danica Patrick, the circuit saw Castroneves become its second mainstream star thanks to his ‘Dancing’ victory and in part to the increased profile that came with the unification of open-wheel racing.

Die-hards had long known Castroneves as an affable and fun-loving character, but finally, the American public at large knew it when they saw the Indy champion cut a rug with Julianne Hough last year.

He also seemed to figure into the league’s long-term marketing plans, going alongside Patrick and a solid nucleus of young and talented American drivers that featured the names of legends such as Foyt, Andretti, and Rahal.

A big question now emerges for the IRL in the wake of Castroneves’ indictment. Should ‘Spider-Man’ go to prison, who can step in as the face of the series AND do it as a regular winner?

But perhaps the most important question is about the well-being of Castroneves’ fans, who are now dealing with the possibility that their hero may become a convicted criminal over what allegedly is, simply, a very stupid decision on his part.

I will withhold my judgement of him. After all, he is innocent until proven guilty.

But should these charges be true, then the fact that Helio Castroneves actually figured he could get away with something like this…well, that would be — you guessed it — priceless.

—–

The indictment document is courtesy of WTHR-TV in Indianapolis, Ind.

Losing a major open-wheel championship again is now the least of Helio Castroneves’ worries.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 champion has been indicted for tax evasion and authorities believe that his sister and his attorney are also in on the plot. All three are expected to turn themselves in tomorrow.

MyNameIsIRL has garnered a solid list of updates and all of them just keep getting uglier and uglier for the Brazilian star. This may very well be the end of his career. If I’m Roger Penske, I’m getting some free agents on the phone. Now.

Unfortunately, earlier obligations will have to keep me away from the blog for now. I’ll have more later on tonight when I’m free.

Man, I wish this wasn’t a joke.

Off-season action has begun to pick up in the IndyCar Series, as multiple teams and drivers have fanned out recently to various tracks for Firestone tire testing.

After a season that featured both triumphs and tragedies, Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing appears set to take on a heavy load of testing in order to close the oval gap between them and the IndyCar regulars.

Their man Graham Rahal was part of testing last week at Richmond International Raceway, along with KV Racing Technology’s Oriol Servia and Andretti Green Racing’s Tony Kanaan. You can read N/H/L’s press release on the test here.

Last week also saw Franck Montagny test for Andretti Green Racing at Kentucky Speedway. This was not for Firestone, however; it may have been an audition for the Frenchman over a possible fifth car for AGR in 2009. Judging from his top speeds, he seemed to be a quick study on the 1.5-mile oval.

Fast-forwarding to earlier this week, Dan Wheldon took the first laps of his second stint with Panther Racing during a two-day Firestone test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The 2005 IndyCar champion — and soon-to-be first-time father — was joined by Kanaan, reigning Indy 500 king Scott Dixon, Ryan Briscoe, Buddy Rice and Ryan Hunter-Reay for the test, which apparently was meant to go toward the creation of a brand-new tire for next year’s “500.” Briscoe told IndianapolisMotorSpeedway.com:

“The priority is for Firestone and trying to find a new tire for the Indy 500 in 2009. We’re looking for consistency from the tire and for performance. Also, it’s a great chance for us to be running here and just getting a few miles. You can never run too much around this place.”

More testing is on the way with N/H/L heading to Texas Motor Speedway for a test session next week that will feature Rahal and teammate Justin Wilson.

So far, I’m seeing good initiative out of N/H/L. In my opinion, a steady dose of oval work is necessary for them this off-season. The same goes for KVRT and the rest of the former Champ Car squads, although all of these teams certainly improved as the season wore on.