Joliet, Illinois. The year is 2008 and the Verizon IndyCar Series championship is on the line. That seventh day of September, however, would be forever remembered in the history books not only because Scott Dixon would end the day as the champion, but also because of the performance of his rival that season.
Starting from 28th, Helio Castroneves went on to set the biggest comeback in the series' long history, steamrolling the competition all the way to the lead, where he would stay for a race-high 79 laps, including the most important one: the last.
Moving from last on the grid to victory lane is the biggest leap of all-time, a rare feat and unmatched to date.
And he almost did it again last Sunday, at the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250.
What started as an awful day for the driver of the No. 3 Team Penske Chevrolet car ended up as one of his most successful afternoons so far this season.
Sharing the last row with Pippa Mann, Helio slowly and steadily found his way up the field, passing the Dale Coyne Racing pilot, CFH Racing’s Ed Carpenter, and A.J. Foyt Enterprises’ Jack Hawksworth to establish himself in the top-20 in the early laps of the 250-mile event.
He then soon got by Stefano Coletti and Tristan Vautier, rising to 19th. But despite moving past slower cars rather easily and improving his position almost every lap, Castroneves struggled to match the frontrunners’ pace.
On Lap 55, still far off Josef Newgarden, Ryan Briscoe and Graham Rahal who led the pack at the time, the Brazilian started to gamble with his strategy - a decision that would pay its dividends roughly 200 laps later. Becoming the first man to hit pit road in the race, Helio was looking forward to gain ground on the competition with newer tires.
This decision to pit early, however, did not put him wheel-to-wheel with the leaders right away. On Lap 85 he was only 14th. Twelve laps later, he pitted for the second time, and from that moment on, luck, strategy and timing started playing a bigger role in the race.
As a series of cautions followed – first, caused by the blown engine of James Jakes and soon after the restart, by the big crash involving fellow Aussie’s Ryan Briscoe and Will Power – strategies diverted. And at a track where overtakes are rare and pace is similar, Castroneves had nothing to gain by following the majority; instead, given the circumstances – both in-race and in the points table – he had nowhere to go but up by trying something different.
That’s exactly where he went.
As Sebastien Bourdais disappeared out front, showing an incredibly pace in his No. 11 KV Racing Technology entry, the three-time Indy 500 champion stayed out for as long as he could, eventually entering the top-10 and the top-five as laps piled up and the competition stopped for a fresh new set of rubber and ethanol.
When Justin Wilson parked his No. 27 Andretti Autosport Honda in the main straight of the oldest active oval track in the world with an engine failure, Castroneves had driven all the way up to second place.
Helio won the race off pit road as much of the field came in during the yellow. Despite not being able to chase down Bourdais and steal the win, he did manage to keep Rahal behind him to earn his third runner-up finish of 2015.
He may have fallen just short of replicating that legendary comeback from a Chicago afternoon seven years ago, but as the checkers flew, the second place crowned a Sunday of adversity where one of the most experienced drivers of the series was pushed to the brink of failure – and yet rebounded to prove that he is still a contender after all these years.
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Pete Liguori is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteUSSports.