Tony George has been asked to step down as president and CEO of the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and his family’s business. And it’s not clear how closely he’ll remain tied to the day-to-day operations of the Indy Racing League. The board of directors of the speedway and Hulman & Company announced yesterday that a new management team will take over the Hulman-George companies effective today.

Scott Dixon can thank Helio Castroneves for his good fortune—and his second SunTrust Indy Challenge victory last night at Richmond International Raceway. Dixon, whose 19th career Indy Racing League win ties him with Sam Hornish Jr. for the most, led the final 161 laps for his first victory at RIR since 2003. Dixon took the checkered flag nearly a half-second ahead of his Chip Ganassi Racing teammate, pole-sitter Dario Franchitti.

Brian Barnhardt, the Indy Racing League’s president of competition and racing operations, knows his prerace speech to the drivers will include at least a small discourse about the virtues of patience. Whether that recommendation is heeded by tonight’s 20-car field could well determine whether a replay of last year’s carnage—nine caution periods and 102 of the 300 laps run under the yellow flag—is repeated.

Dire economic news coming out of the NASCAR camp doesn’t much affect the Indy Racing League—it’s already been through a period of belt-tightening. While stock car racing was flying high in the middle of the decade, the IRL still was suffering from the effects of a split in 1996 that resulted in two open-wheel series, dividing fans’ allegiances and making the teams cut their finances.

You wouldn’t want to challenge Danica Patrick in IndyCar, but can she handle a remote-controlled miniature racer?

FRIDAY 10:30 a.m.: Grandstands and ticket window open 10:45-11:45: USAC Sprint Car practice 11:45-12:45 p.m.: USAC Silver Crown practice 1-1:30: IndyCar practice (rookies and outside top 10 in points) 1:30-2:30: IndyCar practice (all cars) 2: Suites open 2:40: USAC Silver Crown qualifying 3:40: USAC Sprint Car qualifying 4:45: USAC Silver Crown last chance 5:30-7: IndyCar qualifying 7:30-8:30: IndyCar autograph session 9-9:30: IndyCar practice 9:45: USAC Sprint Car race (60 laps) SATURDAY 10 a.m.-7 p.m.: Fan Fest open 11 a.m.: Ticket windows open 2 p.m.: Grandstands and suites open 3:30-3:45: USAC Silver Crown practice 5:45: USAC Silver Crown prerace 6:15: USAC Silver Crown race (100 laps) 8: IndyCar prerace 8:30: IndyCar SunTrust Indy Challenge (300 laps, 225 miles)

5:30 p.m.: SunTrust Indy
Challenge qualifying
  9:45: USAC Sprint Car race (60 laps)
  SATURDAY
  6:15 p.m: USAC Silver Crown
feature (100 laps)
  8:30: SunTrust Indy Challenge
(300 laps)
  Complete schedule, Back Page

5:30 p.m.: SunTrust Indy
Challenge qualifying
  9:45: USAC Sprint Car race
(60 laps)
  SATURDAY
  6:15 p.m: USAC Silver Crown feature (100 laps)
  8:30: SunTrust Indy Challenge (300 laps)

The IndyCar Series plans to start its 2010 season in Brazil. Paperwork was submitted on Wednesday to Brazilian officials for one race in March in Ribeirao Preto, Brazil, a municipality and city in the state of Sao Paulo in southeastern Brazil. Terry Angstadt, the IRL’s president, commercial division, told the Times-Dispatch yesterday he’s “90 percent” certain that race will take place.

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.

Everything seems to favor Scott Dixon in his bid to win a second straight IRL IndyCar Series championship. Helio Castroneves, the 2008 runner-up who pushed Dixon to last season’s final checkered flag, will miss at least the first few races of 2009 while defending himself against federal tax-evasion charges. And 2007 series champion Dario Franchitti, Dixon’s new teammate at Target Chip Ganassi Racing and considered by many his major challenger, may take a while to shake off the rust after a failed bid to transition to NASCAR last year.

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.