The IndyCar Series may not be as popular in the United States as NASCAR, but at least heading into Saturday's Firestone 550 at Texas Motor Speedway the series has something going for it.
Danica Patrick and Dale Earnhardt Jr. are huge racing names, but neither of them sits atop the Sprint Cup standings.
Helio Castroneves does in the IndyCar Series.
The affable Brazilian, who may be just as well known for his exploits on "Dancing With the Stars" as he is for driving for Team Penske, heads to Texas tied for first place in the standings with Marco Andretti.
It's a great place for Castroneves to be and a great spot for one of the sport's best ambassadors to sit as the series looks to find its footing.
"We've got to be able to capitalize," Castroneves said of the series. "We have some names. The Andretti name is still there. The Rahal name too. Dario (Franchitti) is powerful. You have some names but it always helps when you have in my case, because of 'Dancing With the Stars' especially, running up front. Some people don't understand but that helps a lot."
Castroneves made himself a household name outside of racing by winning season five of the show. He also competed last year on the all-star version of the show. One of the main draws for him doing the show was to bring attention to the racing series.
"I did it again in 2012 the 'Dancing With the Stars', particularly to make people remember," he said. "It didn't work out in 2012 but people still link the driver that dances every time you go out there Monday and Tuesday with 25 million people watching. It's great when you go to the race that people understand what you do."
It would help the sport even more if Castroneves could find a way to win the elusive first IndyCar title. In his first full season in the series in 2002, he finished second. That's as close as he's been to the mountaintop though.
Castroneves, who drives the No. 3 Chevrolet for Team Penske, has won the Indianapolis 500 three times and has 27 victories in the series. But a championship has escaped him.
"It would mean the world for me," he said. "That's my goal. When you set a goal, you set two goals — win the Indy 500 and win the championship. We didn't accomplish one. But we want to win the other one."
His road to the top of the standings this year has been an interesting one. Castroneves hasn't won a race and hasn't had a podium finish since the second start of the season. But he also has strung together six top-10 finishes in seven starts this year, moving him to the lead along with Andretti.
"It's been a very weird season but I guess we've been less weird in terms of points," he said. "A lot of guys have wins but not maybe much consistency. We may not have wins but we have more consistency. I'm happy that we're tied for the championship lead but I want to win. That's what I'm looking for and hopefully it comes in Texas."
TMS has been a good track for Castroneves too. He's won three times at the 1 ½-mile quadoval, with the last of those victories coming in 2009.
The track also kicks off a part of the season in which Castroneves expects to excel. Following TMS, the series heads to Milwaukee, Iowa and Pocono before returning to road courses. This would be a perfect time for him to show off some of the Penske power.
"Now we're going to a phase with the ovals where we've got to capitalize there," said Castroneves, who is looking to become the first four-time winner in the series at TMS. "We've got a great group of guys this year. We shuffled some of the guys from a year ago. We've got to take advantage of the ovals."
Just like the series hopes to take advantage of Castroneves.
