I don't usually write about the Indy Racing League but it was very good to see that IRL star Helio Castroneves walked out of the federal courthouse in Miami as a free man, who no longer has to worry about the tax cheat charges that were dogging him.
A jury returned a verdict that acquitted him on all but one of the charges and ruled they could not decide whether he was guilty of the main charge of conspiracy. The jury was deadlocked on the conspiracy charge but had already found Castroneves' sister and his agent not guilty on the charges they were facing. The lack of decision on the conspiracy charge could be retried by the government but doing so would be a daunting task to mount against Castroneves. And it could make the government look like sore losers, who wanted to punish the iconic racer for trouncing them in the courtroom just like he does his competitors on the track.
As for the Brazilian speed demon, he is already in California, preparing for the Long Beach Grand Prix — the first time he has been behind the wheel of a race car since October 2008. As he left the courtroom with tears in his eyes, he said that he was glad the nightmare was over.
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