Emotional Castroneves scores 500 hat-trick

INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) - Pole-sitter Helio Castroneves captured his third Indy 500 Sunday to give team owner Roger Penske a record 15th trip to Victory Lane.

The win capped a stunning return to the famed Brickyard by the charismatic Brazilian, who was driving in just his third race after being cleared of tax evasion charges which could have landed him a lengthy prison sentence.

A back-to-back winner in 2001 and 2002, Castroneves is only the sixth driver, and the first foreign-born, with a hat-trick of 500 wins. With one more victory, he can join Indy greats A.J. Foyt, Al Unser and Rick Mears as the only four-time winners.

Retaking the lead on lap 142 from defending champion Scott Dixon, Castroneves pulled away from the field for an unchallenged victory and punched the air with his right fist as he shot across the finish line.

Castroneves climbed out of the car and broke down in tears as the massive crowd of 300,000 stood and cheered, and was initially unable to drink from the winner's traditional quart of milk in Victory Lane.

"It's incredible, I think my tears speak for everything," Castroneves sobbed to reporters. "I have to thank Roger ... everybody, because they gave me my life back.

"You guys (race fans) don't understand, you guys kept me strong. I'm honored to have fans like you.

"What a day, this place is magical. Let's celebrate Indy."

JOYOUS SCENES

The joyous scenes were in sharp contrast to those just a few months ago when the 34-year-old Brazilian was taken to court in handcuffs and charged with six counts of tax evasion and one count of conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government.

Cleared of all charges, Castroneves returned to the circuit at the Long Beach grand prix and was quickly back up to speed, dominating the build-up to the 93rd Indy 500, claiming pole and posting the fastest time in final practice.

The inspired Brazilian carried that momentum into Sunday's race, leading the first three laps before slipping back and biding his time before powering his Penske Dallara Honda back to the front to stay with 58 laps to run.

"Toward the end we were just feeling the car," said Castroneves, who will pocket over $2 million. "We were just taking it easy.

"But once I got in front, it was never looking back.

Briton Dan Wheldon, the 2005 Indy champion, battled hard but could not keep pace with Castroneves, crossing 1.98 seconds behind the Brazilian.

Danica Patrick came third to record the best ever finish by a woman in an Indy 500, bettering her fourth as a rookie in 2005.

"With all that's gone on with Helio, I'm very happy for him," said Patrick. "The kind of hug you get from him, after what he's gone through, it was a different kind of hug.

The two biggest hopes for an American win made early exits, producing groans from the packed grandstands around the sprawling 2.5 mile oval.

Marco Andretti, grandson of 1969 Indy winner and former-F1 champion Mario Andretti, failed to make it through the second turn of the opening lap when he was clipped by Brazilian Mario Moraes sending both cars into the wall.

Graham Rahal, son of 1986 winner Bobby Rahal and the youngest driver in the 33-car field, joined them in the garage when he found the wall at turn four.

The most serious incident of the day involved Brazilian Vitor Meira, who was taken to hospital after being injured in a crash with rookie Raphael Matos.

(Editing by Ed Osmond and Ian Ransom)