Helio Castroneves got his first win of the 2008 Indy Car season on Sunday, August 24 on the road course at Infineon Raceway.  Castroneves started from the pole on Sunday and took the lead for the final time on lap 59 of the 80 lap contest.  Helio crossed the finish line 5.2926 seconds before his Penske teammate, Ryan Briscoe.  Infineon did not have a fence for Castroneves to climb, so he settled for climbing into the main grandstand to celebrate with fans.

"People kept telling me that the door (to Victory Lane) would finally open, and today we broke through it," said Castroneves, "The door was really stuck, but what an incredible effort by Team Penske. I can't thank them enough. I'm really excited about today, because the car was extremely fast. For me, it was really fun pushing and pushing every lap for the entire race. That's what it's all about, and that's what made us win. We didn't save any fuel. We just kept going and going and it paid off in the end."

Helio's win came after a rough week when Team Penske's transporter caught fire in Wyoming on Wednesday, destroying both primary road racing cars.  The team pieced together two cars from two back up cars that were already in Sonoma, CA. 

The win was Castroneves' 10th from the pole in his career and moved him 35 points closer to the Indy Car Series Points lead.