When one thinks of Helio Castroneves, one thinks of emotion.
It only takes a few minutes of watching the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion to realize that he's a man that wears his heart on his sleeve. And most of the time, there's also a smile on his face.
But at the end of the Honda Indy Edmonton, Castroneves was livid after having a victory taken away from him in the closing laps. After being penalized for blocking his teammate Will Power on the final restart of the race and failing to recognize the black flag by serving a drive-through penalty on pit road, he was dumped to 10th place despite seeing the checkers first — giving the win to Scott Dixon.
The decision sent him over the edge and toward Indy Racing League official Kevin Blanch. With his hands on Blanch, Castroneves loudly protested the call. But after he was done, he continued his tirade by attempting to shake IndyCar security chief Charles Burns by the shirt before Penske Racing president Tim Cindric finally led him away.
"I never moved my line," said Castroneves after he finally calmed down a bit. "I actually gave (Power) room outside. When you go side by side like that with your teammate and they just take it away from you, it's just absurd."
To Castroneves' credit, absurd is a pretty good word to describe the call made by league President of Competition/Chief Steward Brian Barnhart.
Barnhart spelled out what blocking would be seen as during the prerace drivers' meeting, saying that from the braking point to the entrance of the turn, the track would be divided in half and that drivers could only be on the inside line if they were passing somebody. Anybody on the inside while being overtaken would be called for blocking.
It's one thing to uphold that rule in the opening laps. It's another to use it with less than three laps remaining and in the midst of an exciting battle for the win. What's more, Castroneves' momentary move to the left coming out of Turn 2 (which squeezed Power wide and opened the door for Dixon to get by him for second place) appeared necessary in order to make the looming right-hander at Turn 3.
But even though the move was absolutely nothing compared to past blocking incidents (Danica Patrick's chop on Tony Kanaan back in June at Texas comes to mind), Barnhart still dropped the hammer. Unfortunately, it was the wrong time and the wrong move to use it on.
However, the dubious call doesn't excuse Castroneves from grabbing two league officials in his outrage. It doesn't matter that he's one of the sport's biggest stars. He must receive a tough penalty for his actions. In any other sports league, what Castroneves did is met with a lengthy suspension and a lighter wallet.
This is where emotion got the better of him, and he even said as much on Monday, when he released a letter of apology on his Web site.
"Although we do not agree to the penalty, there is no excuse for my actions after the checkered flag," he said in the statement. "I apologize to my team, our sponsors, the fans and the entire IZOD IndyCar Series community for my behavior.
"My actions were totally wrong and I acted inappropriately to some people who are my friends and people I respect very much. Obviously, I am a very emotional person and today, I let my emotions get the better of me and I'm very sorry for that."
It's a nice gesture. But just as Brian Barnhart shouldn't be shielded from the heat he's getting for his lapse in judgment, Castroneves shouldn't be shielded from at least a big fine or losing championship points.
The ball's in the League's court now.
