HOMESTEAD, Fla.—Walking around Homestead-Miami Speedway yesterday, Helio Castroneves stopped to notice some new construction near the track. New to him, anyway. “They said it was there since the spring,“ Castroneves said. “You know, I had a little trial going on back then.“ He can laugh about it now—at times. It’s been almost four months since Castroneves was acquitted on charges that he evaded paying $2.3 million in federal income taxes, charges that could have put the IndyCar driver in prison for six years.

Helio Castroneves, with a dark cloud about his future lifted, nearly wept throughout a news conference soon after he was acquitted of tax evasion charges earlier this year. For the three-time Indianapolis 500 winner, the jurors’ faith in his insistence of innocence left him humbled. He, too, discovered a greater appreciation of the rare talents that have endeared him with admirers from the storied Brickyard to the stage of “Dancing With the Stars.“

Scott Dixon, the reigning IndyCar Series champion, hails from Auckland, New Zealand. Based in Indianapolis, but with its drivers spanning the globe, the IndyCar series is faced with a quandary. With the vast majority of races contested in America, are prominent American drivers—in contention for wins and in league promotion efforts—important?

Helio Castroneves has won two of the past three IndyCar Series races—including a third triumph in the Indianapolis 500. Still, the Brazilian came to Richmond International Raceway yesterday hoping to catalog engine and tire data that could give him an advantage during the ninth running of the SunTrust Indy Challenge on June 27. Castroneves, along with Penske Racing teammate Ryan Briscoe, spent much of the afternoon testing their Honda-powered cars amid the scorching heat on the three-quarter mile racetrack that is among the most challenging venues on the Indy Racing League schedule.

INDIANAPOLIS—Pumping his fist as he took the checkered flag and breaking down in tears when he was done, Helio Castroneves capped a perfect month of May with the biggest win of all yesterday at the Indianapolis 500. Castroneves became the ninth driver to win the historic race three times, and his timing couldn’t have been better.

INDIANAPOLIS (AP)—Helio Castroneves has won his third Indianapolis 500, beating 2005 winner Dan Wheldon by 1.981 seconds. Danica Patrick was third, the best finish by a woman at Indianapolis.

MIAMI—It would be terrible for Penske Racing and the sport if Helio Castroneves, the popular Indy racer and “Dancing with the Stars” champion, were convicted of tax evasion, a top Penske official testified yesterday.

MIAMI—Race car driver and TV dance celebrity Helio Castroneves never sought to break the law in his financial affairs but could have avoided all U.S. tax on about $5 million if he had relocated from south Florida to Monaco as envisioned, an accountant testified today at Castroneves’ tax evasion trial. Kevin Savoree, now an executive at Andretti Green Racing, said when he handled accounting work for Castroneves in 1999 and 2000, the plan was to set up a legitimate deal in which much of the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner’s income would be deferred. That meant his taxes owed to the IRS also would be deferred until he actually got the money.

MIAMI—To this day, race car driver and “Dancing with The Stars” winner Helio Castroneves hasn’t seen a single dime of $5 million in licensing money he was promised under a 1999 contract with Penske Racing. The money has either been parked at Penske or is still idling in a Dutch investment account. But the Internal Revenue Service says Castroneves owes U.S. income taxes on the money anyway, contending the 33-year-old driver can’t avoid tax by simply refusing cash to which he’s entitled. A complex concept known as “constructive receipt” is at the heart of the prosecution’s case against the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.

MIAMI—Race car driver and “Dancing with the Stars” winner Helio Castroneves never sought to evade U.S. income taxes and planned to pay the Internal Revenue Service when he received $5 million from a deal made a decade ago, his attorney told a federal jury Tuesday. Defense attorney Roy Black said in an opening statement that the Brazilian driver, a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500, knows nothing about U.S. tax laws and relied on experts to handle his finances. Black said there was no scheme to hide money from the IRS.

INDIANAPOLIS—Helio Castroneves is being replaced on Team Penske by Australian driver Will Power—at least until the two-time Indianapolis 500 winner’s tax evasion trail is resolved. Castroneves, who has pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy and tax evasion involving about $5.5 million in income stashed in offshore accounts, is scheduled to go to trial in Miami on March 2, just over a month before the IndyCar season begins.