Castroneves visits North American International Auto Show
"I always like coming to the auto show here in Detroit," said Castroneves, who toured the Chevrolet display with Jim Campbell, Chevrolet U.S. Vice President for Performance Vehicles and Motorsports. "The cars and the technology are really cool and I was happy to get a chance to see all of the great products GM and Chevrolet have this year and the concept cars for the future."
Twenty-seven new vehicles were introduced during press day, and more than 500 vehicles are on display at the show that runs through Jan. 22.
NBC Sports taped a segment with Castroneves that will air at 5 p.m. (ET) Jan. 22. Team Penske drivers will be available for a Q&A and sign autographs Jan. 20 (check time, location on show itinerary at Cobo Center) to promote the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix.
"It's awesome to have the Chevrolet Detroit Belle Isle Grand Prix back on the IndyCar schedule this season," said Castroneves, who won his first Indy car race on the circuit in 2000. "It's so important to have a race here in the Motor City and we're all looking forward to coming back and putting on a great show for the fans in Detroit the first weekend in June."
The three-time Indianapolis 500 winner will test the Chevrolet-powered DW12 chassis on Jan. 16-17 at Sebring International Raceway.
"I'm big-time excited to get into it and test it out," he said. "It's been a long offseason. We're starting out fresh and hope we can change our luck. Whenever you don't win a championship or a race, you want to make it happen. We had close calls (for wins), but the ones we had something happened, like flat tires, and prevented us from getting it done."