CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves will attempt to make his NASCAR debut in next month's Daytona 500 with Trackhouse Racing.
Castroneves, one of the most popular drivers in IndyCar history, has been trying for two years to get a Daytona 500 seat and finally landed one Monday as part of Trackhouse's “Project 91” designed to give renowned racers from outside of NASCAR a shot in a stock car.
He will attempt to qualify for the “Great American Race” in the No. 91 Chevrolet with sponsorship from Wendy's. Darian Grubb will be his crew chief.
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would enter a NASCAR race and certainly not the Daytona 500 with a team like Trackhouse Racing,” Castroneves said. “This is an opportunity that nobody in their right mind could ever turn down. I am so thankful to Wendy’s for allowing me to wear their uniform and drive their car."
Project 91 debuted in 2022 when former Formula 1 champion Kimi Raikkonen made his Cup Series debut at Watkins Glen. Project 91 then ran three times in 2023, once with Raikkonen at Circuit of the Americas and twice with three-time Australian V8 Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen.
Van Gisbergen won in his NASCAR debut on the street course in Chicago and that led to last season's move to full-time stock car competition. The New Zealander will be a full-time Cup Series driver this year.
Castroneves, meanwhile, is at the end of his driving career. One of only four drivers to win the Indy 500 four times, the Brazilian moved into an ownership role with Meyer Shank Racing last season and only ran three races.
His 2021 win at Indianapolis was with Meyer Shank, where he landed after his long career with Team Penske came to a close. Castroneves had been inquiring for the last few years about a chance to run the Daytona 500.
Castroneves is a three-time winner of the Rolex 24 endurance sports car race held on the road course inside Daytona International Speedway. NASCAR's biggest race is held on the 2 1/2-mile oval.
“Hélio is one of the greatest drivers of all time and exactly the type of driver we want to bring to NASCAR,” Trackhouse owner Justin Marks said. “I think race fans around the world will be excited to see Hélio in NASCAR’s most prestigious race. It also exposes our sport to a global audience and allows them to see just how great of a series we have in NASCAR.”
Castroneves won 31 races in IndyCar and finished second in the championship four times. He's part of the exclusive group of four-time Indy 500 winners with A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser Sr.
Castroneves will need to qualify for the Feb. 16 race with either a fast time in time trials or race his way in via a qualifying race. There are only four open spots in the 40-car field, as 36 are earmarked for teams that hold NASCAR charters. Trackhouse has three chartered Cup cars, but the Project 91 Chevrolet is not one of them. The Trackhouse drivers with guaranteed spots in the Daytona 500 are van Gisbergen, Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez.
If Castroneves won the Daytona 500, he would join Foyt and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win both the Daytona 500 and Indianapolis 500.
“I know how much of a challenge this is going to be, but I also know the type of people and team Trackhouse Racing will bring to the effort,” Castroneves said. “I can’t wait to get to the Trackhouse race shop in North Carolina to meet everyone and prepare for Daytona. There is so much I must learn and I’m ready to get started.”
This story has been corrected to show that Trackhouse has three, not two, chartered cars for NASCAR's Cup Series.
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FILE - Helio Castroneves is introduced before the IndyCar Detroit Grand Prix auto race in Detroit, June 4, 2023. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, file)
The highly decorated soldier who exploded a Tesla Cybertruck outside the Trump hotel in Las Vegas used generative AI including ChatGPT to help plan the attack, Las Vegas police said Tuesday.
Nearly a week after 37-year-old Matthew Livelsberger fatally shot himself, officials said according to writings, he didn't intend to kill anyone else.
An investigation of Livelsberger’s searches through ChatGPT indicate he was looking for information on explosive targets, the speed at which certain rounds of ammunition would travel and whether fireworks were legal in Arizona.
Kevin McMahill, sheriff of the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department, called the use of generative AI a “game-changer” and said the department was sharing information with other law enforcement agencies.
“This is the first incident that I’m aware of on U.S. soil where ChatGPT is utilized to help an individual build a particular device," he said. “It’s a concerning moment.”
A message was left with ChatGPT developer OpenAI.
Launched in 2022, ChatGPT is part of a broader set of technologies developed by the San Francisco-based startup OpenAI. Unlike previous iterations of so-called “large language models,” the ChatGPT tool is available for free to anyone with an internet connection and designed to be more user-friendly.
During a roughly half-hour-long news conference, Las Vegas police and federal law enforcement officials unveiled new details about the New Year's Day explosion.
Among the specifics law enforcement disclosed: Livelsberger stopped during the drive to Las Vegas to pour racing-grade fuel into the Cybertruck, which then dripped the substance. The vehicle was loaded with 60 pounds (27 kilograms) of pyrotechnic material as well as 70 pounds (32 kilograms) of birdshot but officials are still uncertain exactly what detonated the explosion. They said Tuesday it could have been the flash from the firearm that Livelsberger used to fatally shoot himself.
Authorities also said they uncovered a six-page document that they have not yet released because they're working with Defense Department officials since some of the material could be classified. They added that they still have to review contents on a laptop, mobile phone and smartwatch.
Among the items released was a journal Livelsberger kept titled “surveillance” or “surveil” log. It showed that he believed he was being tracked by law enforcement, but he had no criminal record and was not on the police department's of FBI's “radar,” the sheriff said Tuesday.
The log showed that he considered carrying out his plans in Arizona at the Grand Canyon's glass skywalk, a tourist attraction on tribal land that towers high above the canyon floor. Assistant Sheriff Dori Koren said police don't know why he changed his plans. The writings also showed he worried he would be labeled a terrorist and that people would think he intended to kill others besides himself, officials said.
Once stopped outside the hotel, video showed a flash in the vehicle that they said they believed was from the muzzle of the firearm Livelsberger used to shoot himself. Soon after that flash, video showed fire engulfing the truck's cabin and even escaping the seam of the door, the result of considerable fuel vapor, officials said. An explosion followed.
Livelsberger, an Army Green Beret who deployed twice to Afghanistan and lived in Colorado Springs, Colorado, left notes saying the explosion was a stunt meant to be a “ wake up call ” for the nation's troubles, officials said last week.
He left cellphone notes saying he needed to “cleanse” his mind “of the brothers I’ve lost and relieve myself of the burden of the lives I took."
The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people but virtually no damage to the Trump International Hotel. Authorities said that Livelsberger acted alone.
Livelsberger’s letters touched on political grievances, societal problems and domestic and international issues, including the war in Ukraine. He wrote that the U.S. was “terminally ill and headed toward collapse.”
Investigators had been trying to determine if Livelsberger wanted to make a political point, given the Tesla and the hotel bearing the president-elect’s name.
Livelsberger harbored no ill will toward President-elect Donald Trump, law enforcement officials said. In one of the notes he left, he said the country needed to “rally around” him and Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows the Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
This undated photo, provided by the Las Vegas Police Department shows a weapon found inside a Tesla Cybertruck involved in an explosion outside the Trump Hotel in Las Vegas. (Las Vegas Police Department via AP)
