Helio takes wheel in creating his own dance

Helio Castroneves patted a small toy in his jacket pocket – a good luck charm of sorts from his daughter Mikaella – as he nervously waited to hear whether he would be eliminated after Week 2 of "Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars."

Castroneves and his professional dance partner, Chelsie Hightower, joined Joey Fatone and his dance partner, Kym Johnson, in the "bottom two" on the results show Oct. 2. Castroneves, the winner of Season 5 of ballroom dance competition, and Hightower received a total score of 23 (of 30) from the three-judge panel for their Jive the night before, which put them in the middle of the 12-couple pack. But fan voting constitutes the other half of a couple's total.

"There was a little movie going on in my head, what a great time we had together and what hard work we did," said the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion. "If you asked me what would you have changed in (the dance)? Nothing. We really put a lot of work into it.

"I was surprised. It's the name of the game. Votes are extremely important."

Fatone and Johnson were the ones who heard the music for the final time and Team Helio moves on to the third round (8 p.m. ET Oct. 8 on ABC), in which couples will be recreating some of "Dancing With the Stars" most unforgettable routines. Celebrities are serving as the creative directors of the performances.

Hightower promised their dance will be "full of fun, energy, and surprises."

It's a new twist for the show. Additionally, two couples will be eliminated Oct. 9.

"It's going to work awesome," said Castroneves, who dropped a hint that the dance had been performed by a current competitor and "it's going to be a lot of black and white."

Castroneves said he was "very sad" about former N' Sync baritone Fatone going home after only two performances.

"In fact, there was mixed feelings up there (during the elimination moment) because Joey's such a great guy so we were like, 'Oh, man, it's not fair,' '' Castroneves said. "But, unfortunately, there are a lot of things outside of our control."

Here's how to vote for Team Helio (the number of votes per method corresponds to the number of contestants left … i.e. 11 for Week 3):

• By phone at 1-800-868-3404 from the start of the show until 60 minutes after the program ends
• By texting VOTE to 3404 (AT&T customers only) from start of show until 60 minutes after program ends
• At www.facebook.com/dancingwiththestars
• Online at www.abc.go.com from the start of the show until 11 a.m. (ET) the next day for U.S. and Canadian residents.