Helio Castroneves, the reigning champion of the Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, delivered a strong message to his fellow Meyer Shank Racing members during a dinner Wednesday night.

“We’re still the defending champions,” the Brazilian said Thursday at “500” Media Day at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. “We’ve got to execute like that.”

Castroneves will drive the same No. 06 AutoNation/SiriusXM Radio Honda in which he won last year’s race, but there are many differences, beginning with where he and the machine will start this year. The position will be from 27th rather than eighth, which requires a different pursuit.

Castroneves spent most of last year’s race running in the top five of the 33-car field, a luxury that allowed his car to have better aerodynamic conditions than he will encounter in the second half of the pack. That changes things, he said, and he must be more in tune with the competitors ahead of him to gain spots as they slip up.

The other year-over-year difference is where Castroneves is pitting. For the first time in his 22 years at IMS, his box will be at the entrance to pit road – the second stall from the entry, to be accurate. He knows that could be an issue as he will slow down and turn sooner than most.

“(Trailing drivers) aren’t used to me pitting there, so we have to be careful,” he said.

Not All Onboard Videos Alike

Several drives admitted having studied Castroneves’ onboard footage from last year to see how he manipulated traffic, particularly in the closing laps when he outdueled Alex Palou (No. 10 NTT DATA Honda of Chip Ganassi Racing). Alexander Rossi (No. 27 NAPA AUTO PARTS/AutoNation Honda of Andretti Autosport) was not one of them.

Rossi said it can be difficult to know what a driver is thinking about a move, hence the misleading information that can be derived from watching someone else’s drive. Also, there are surprises, such as in the closing laps of the 2019 race when race leader Simon Pagenaud snaked his way down the straightaway as the train of challengers mirrored.

“I didn’t know what to do with that,” Rossi said. “He got that from watching cycling.”

Pagenaud, a Frenchman who is a big Tour de France follower, held on for his first “500” victory.

Media Day also featured its share of conversation about the shenanigans happening in the driver motorhome lot at IMS. Already, an assortment of creative pranks have been played.

Romain Grosjean (No. 28 DHL Honda of Andretti Autosport) was surprised by a phone call from IMS Security saying his scooter was on the roof of the Pagoda.

“Yeah, that’s mine,” he told the caller. “I guess she had a good view (of the track).”

Rookie David Malukas (No. 18 HMD Honda of Dale Coyne Racing with HMD) said he heard “a ruckus” outside of his motorhome the night Alexander Rossi’s golf cart got placed on top of four garbage cans, but he stayed quiet and remains vigilant in case he is the next to be pranked.

“I keep my stuff locked up, triple checked,” he said.

Conor Daly (No. 20 BitNile Chevrolet of Ed Carpenter Racing), who had his portable pool pranked last week with water-absorbing balls, said there is more the public doesn’t hear about (until now). Including: Josef Newgarden forgetting to lock his motorhome only to find noise-making (and fake) crickets chirping inside.

“I got a text at 1:47 in the morning asking where the crickets are,” Daly said, laughing.

Arrow McLaren SP teammates Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist took questions Thursday about the comfort of starting next to each other on Row 3.

Rosenqvist said anxiety comes with it.

“The last guy you want to take out of a race is your teammate,” he said. “I don’t want to get a call from Mr. Brown.”

Zak Brown is the team principal of Arrow McLaren SP.

Boles: Sunday’s Race Nearly Sold Out

IMS President J. Douglas Boles said approximately 10,000 reserved seats remain on sale for Sunday’s “500,” and he expects less than half that many to be available when the race begins.

No tickets remain on the front straightaway and very few are left in the track’s corners. The North Vista has the most tickets available. Boles said total attendance on Race Day figures to be about 325,000.

Boles said he expects a crowd of between 18,000 and 20,000 for Sunday’s Indy 500 Snake Pit Concert presented by Coors Light, an event held in the infield.

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