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Racing news- Helio Slowing Down With IRS problems

October 15, 2008

By David Mirsky

HOLLYWOOD, CA (RushPRnews/HollywoodToday) 10/15/08 — The IRS came after Indy Car driver, and former 2 time Indy 500 winner, and Dancing with the Stars winner, Helio Castroneves for allegedly failing to report more than $5 million in income. Castroneves was released after posting a whopping 10 million dollar bail, which is reportedly excessive due to the initial amount in question. Castroneves’ sister, Katiucia, who looks after Helios’s day to day business, and his attorney, Alan Miller, were also named in the IRS action, and released on bail as well.

Miller said that the money was deposited in an offshore pension account in a Panamanian Shell Corporation, which as far as he knows, is not illegal. Miller thinks that because of the notoriety of Castroneves, the IRS is pursuing this particular case, and he feels that it should never have been taken this far by the IRS. During his day in court, the teary-eyed Castroneves was visibly upset at the allegations and charges by the IRS for something he had no knowledge of. Nonetheless, whether or not his attorneys or accountants had done this without his knowledge, Castroneves is ultimately responsible to the IRS.

The FIA didn’t waste anytime creating controversy when they published the 2009 Formula 1 racing schedule this week on the FIA web site. Missing from the 2009 schedule was the Canadian Grand Prix. This race is the only North America Formula 1 Grand Prix since F1 boss, Bernie Ecclestone couldn’t come to terms with the people at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway this past year. This action basically came out of no where, surprising race fans, drivers, and most of all, the promoters of the Canadian Grand Prix who first heard about the FIA’s decision from the media. Ecclestone and the FIA came up with a unique explanation for this action…that they wanted to have a more modern venue to run Formula 1races, much like the Indianapolis Speedway which is more than 75 years old itself. And, isn’t the Montreal track a street circuit anyway?

This announcement has a lot of people scratching their heads, and for good reason since there’s no race for North America, a viable and attractive part of the world that F 1 would like to have a bigger stake in. Come to think of it, this announcement came after the successful inaugural night race in Singapore, which Ecclestone would like to see more of. One would think that another night race might be more profitable than a North American day race…we’ll have to wait and see on that one.

Max Mosley, FIA’s infamous president, who is near the end of his tenure, has brought up another one of his less popular ideas. In an effort to reduce costs to the teams, Mosley is proposing that all of the racing teams, McLaren, Ferrari, BMW, Renault, etc., use the same engines, similar to the rules for American Indy Car racing. Why? The ultimate in motorsports, Formula 1, is known for its ultra hi-tech developments. Formula 1 is where most new and innovative automobile ideas come from. And developing anything mechanical is expensive. The reason that Formula 1 is so popular is because of their cutting edge technologies. Hopefully, when Mosley moves out of his FIA office, he’ll pack this lame idea up with him.

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