Should three-time Indianapolis 500 winner Hélio Castroneves leave the Verizon IndyCar Series at the end of this season to drive a full-time IMSA Sports Car effort for Team Penske, IndyCar CEO Mark Miles believes the popular driver will leave quite a legacy.

The prospect of the 42-year-old Castroneves leaving a full-time IndyCar ride to join a yet-to-be-announced sports car team fielded by Team Penske was reported by Autoweek on July 8. Castroneves would also be able to compete in the Indianapolis 500 in a deal the team has discussed -- but not finalized -- with the popular Brazilian driver.

Miles admits Castroneves is a “ticket seller” for every Verizon IndyCar Series race, but in the natural evolution of any professional sport, older athletes move on and are replaced by younger stars. It’s similar to three-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver and four Verizon IndyCar Series champion Dario Franchitti retiring in 2013.

“Hélio is always going to be a fan favorite,” Miles told Autoweek. “He has just had a fabulous career and has always been a magnet for fans and works hard at that. He has a very attractive personality. I was involved in men’s tennis for a while and saw John McEnroe and Jimmy Connors and Boris Becker and Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi and those guys cycle through.

“In professional sports, it happens and what happens is young stars come up and eventually take their place. We’ll see what happens with Hélio. We want to see him race as long as possible.”

Team Penske president Tim Cindric discussed Castroneves’ future with Autoweek on Saturday.

“As I sit there and look at the driver schedule, No. 1 we haven’t even announced a sports car program yet,” Cindric told Autoweek. “We are going to do a sports car program; it’s just a matter of sorting out the details. In short order, we should be able to get that sorted out and then we will decide who will actually drive those cars.

“We are a long way from figuring that one out.”

Cindric admitted the team has talked to the driver from Brazil about the future, including teaming with two-time Indianapolis 500 winning driver Juan Pablo Montoya of Colombia on the sports car team.

Miles believes there are some top, young drivers waiting to advance into the Verizon IndyCar Series and young drivers already competing, such as Josef Newgarden of Team Penske.

“I love the paddock from a fan engagement perspective,” Miles said. “They are great people and obviously great racers. They want to grow the sport and we have a great mix of young Americans, veteran Americans and international drivers.

“I think we are in a really good place.”

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