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photo: Ron McQueeney

Well, not exactly punted.  Helio landed this morning after being aquitted of federal tax evasion charges yesterday in Miami.  He retook the cockpit of the #3 Team Penske car pushing Will Power into the #12.  Penske will be running three cars this weekend. 

Will Power showed his skill on the streets of Long Beach after transfering into the new Dallara.  Sponsorship did not seem like it was an issue with the car having Verizon livery on it.  This does not come as a surprise from Roger Penske.  While some are a step ahead of things he has always proved to be several. 

Helio had a rough day after putting the car attenuator first into the turn 1 wall during qualifying.  He missed the tire barrier by a few feet causing him to hit hard.  Today was his first day in the car since October. 

Will Power started 4th in Long Beach last season and led all but two of the 83 laps to finish P1.  He stated that starting from pole is especially important since Long Beach has very few places to pass. 

You can join us on our reader interactive blog tomorrow during the race.

You can watch the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach tomorrow on VERSUS and VERSUS HD at 3:30 ET.

…jurors acquitted him on all charges except for a single charge of conspiracy. The judge declared a mistrial on the count of conspiracy after jurors were unable to return a verdict… CBS4

Helio Castroneves has been acquitted after five days of deliberations.  Helio’s sister, Katiucia was also acquitted on all charges except the conspiracy charge.  His lawyer, Alan Miller, was acquitted on all charges since he had not been charged with conspiracy.  The government has not declared if it would re-file a new trial for the count of conspiracy.

“I love this country, and I love racing. I’m glad I’ll be able to do it,” he said.

“Instead of going to Disneyland, I want to go to Long Beach and race,” he said after thanking his racing sponsors for continuing to support him.

“Let’s go race,”

According to  16th and Georgetown , Curt Cavin has reported that Team Penske would have the #12 car ready for Will Power to ride in if Helio was cleared today.

photo: AP

Although Helio Castroneves is in major trouble, he is getting help from all different sources.

Nascar driver Jimmie Johnson was the first defense witness to testify in the trial that could have Castroneves facing jail time. Johnson testified on behalf of Alan Miller’s character. Miller is Castroneves’s lawyer who is also being charged in the case.

Johnson said,  ”Alan’s reputation is about honesty. His character is second to none. He’s given me great advice.”(ESPN.com)

Miller who is a former National League Football player and a former member of the NFL players association is being charged for conspiracy and tax evasion. The main dilemma of the case is that Miller who is well known in Motorsports industry gave advice to Castroneves regarding payments to his father who promoted him for period of time in Brazil. The prosecutors claim the location of the money was switched after Castroneves signed his deal with Penske racing in 1999 . Supposedly, five million dollars ended up in a compensation account after being designated for a Panamanian shell account and that made it tax free.

Castroneves’s defense team says that the money was never taken out of the account. Therefore, he can cannot be charged tax evasion.   However, prosecutors claim that there still needs to be a tax on the money because there was nothing barring him from taking it. He also cannot be exempt from the tax because there was nothing preventing Penske Racing from paying him either. 

The defense team feels strongly that proper documentation will show that tax deductions were in fact taken out. 

Prosecutors rested their case on March 30th.

With the prosecutors presenting evidence for over four weeks. I hope  for Helio’s sake and the others being charged along with him that they have a strong argument to present to jurors.

Photo from IndyCar.com

Well not only The Power of Penske, but Power to Penske…  I know, sounded lame…sorry.  It is reported however that Will Power will be on deck at Penske Racing if Helio can’t run this season due to his pending trial.  He will be in the car during the off-season testing according to IndyCar.com  I would have honestly chosen Ryan Hunter-Reay but who am I to argue with Roger Penske.  Their is no doubt in my mind that The Captain knows what he is doing.  Everyone doubted Briscoe when Penske picked him up after his abysmal season with Target Chip Ganassi in 2005, but who can doubt the season that he had in 2008 with 3 wins.   We already know Will Power is a hell of a road course driver.  I myself am anxious to see him this year on the ovals.    After all, with a name like Will Power, how can you lose…

Wow! Who would have thought that the 2008 IndyCar season would be as eventful as memorable as it turned out to be. It will definitely go down in history as one to remember. From the last minute Champ Car merger weeks before the season opener at Homestead Miami Speedway all the way through Helio Castroneves drive from last place to first place at the season finale at Chicagoland Speedway. This year has also been a year of firsts. Graham Rahal went on to become the youngest winner in open wheel history with his first IndyCar Series start on the Streets of St. Petersburg. Danica Patrick went on to be the first female in open wheel history to win an event, doing so at Twin Ring Motegi when she passed Helio Castroneves with just a few laps left in her 50th IndyCar Series start and Ana Beatriz became the first woman in the Firestone Indy Lights to win an event at Nashville Superspeedway. It is going to be tough to top the eventful history making 2008 season.