Justin Marks’ Dream Of Bringing Four-Time Indy 500 Winner Helio Castroneves To The Daytona 500

Nascar Cup Series team owner Justin Marks would like to enter four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves in the Daytona 500.

Marks spoke about that idea during the 3^rd Annual Race Industry Week sponsored by EPartrade, Racer and Speed Sport which began Monday morning and concludes Friday evening.

Marks is the owner of Trackhouse, which also features Project91 designed to bring a driver with international acclaim into Nascar. According to Trackhouse, Project91 is “designed to push the guardrails and expand our international reach.”

Former Formula One driver Kimi Raikkonen of Finland drove the Project91 car to a 37^th-place finish at Watkins Glen International.

Marks would like to bring one of the biggest names in the history of the Indianapolis 500 to the biggest race in Nascar, the Daytona 500.

“The idea of Project91 started because I was watching a Formula One race and thought, ‘You know what would be awesome? If Lewis Hamilton drove in the Daytona 500,’” Marks recalled. “It’s our biggest race and the biggest stars in global motorsports in our biggest race is something we should pursue.

“AJ Foyt and Mario Andretti raced in the Daytona 500. It’s attractive because it’s a crown jewel event.”

Marks, however, cautioned that it may not happen in 2023.

“The Daytona 500 is a difficult race to run a third car, especially how new our team is,” Marks said. “I don’t see us rolling out a third car for the 2023 Daytona 500. To add that element to all the work we have to do as a company in January and the first part of February, introducing that element in our ramp up to the season is not something I’m ready to do yet.

“But drivers like Helio, those are the guys we want in Project91, so those discussions are ongoing.”

Marks is both a disruptor and a smart businessman. He shook up the Nascar Cup Series garage area last year as both driers at Trackhouse won races including Ross Chastain and Daniel Suarez. Chastain made it to Nascar’s “Championship Four” race with his stunning and amazing last lap move at Martinsville Speedway when he passed five cars in the final turn to advance.

“I 100 percent set out to be a disruptor,” Marks said. “These race teams I’m competing against are operating the same way they did 30 years ago. There is a huge opportunity for Trackhouse to challenge everything and challenge what the traditional model of a race team is.

“I look at us as a sports and entertainment brand. Three to five years from now, Trackhouse will be unlike something everybody has always seen. We have a lot of exciting plays in our future and 100 percent, we are trying to disrupt everything that we do.”

The emergence of Marks and Trackhouse Racing has come at a pivotal time for NASCAR. Its legendary team owners are aging, and it was time for a fresh face.

Roger Penske is 85. Joe Gibbs is 81. Richard Childress is 77. Rick Hendrick is the relative youngster out of this group at 73.

Justin Marks is 41 and is the face of NASCAR’s future.

“This sport is primed for the next generation of owner,” Marks said. “Current ownership is in the twilight of their careers. We don’t know what the succession plan looks like at a lot of these companies. We don’t know what the future at a lot of these big companies looks like. That was an opportunity for TrackHouse to come into this sport and gain some equity right away.”

Marks has big ideas and is looking outside the boundaries of Nascar. He owns one of the top karting tracks in the country, Go-Pro Motorplex in Mooresville, North Carolina. He is also one of the owners of the Big Machine Music City Grand Prix on the streets of Nashville, a very popular weekend that combines musical entertainment and racing featuring the NTT IndyCar Series.

Shortly after Marks discussed his interest in Castroneves, I traded texts with the four-time Indianapolis 500 winner, who acknowledged he is interested, but “I have not heard anything yet…still waiting…

“I’m ready.”

Castroneves drives for Meyer-Shank Racing in the NTT IndyCar Series along with teammate Simon Pagenaud. Shank told me he would do whatever he could to help Castroneves compete in the Daytona 500 for Marks, a former driver for Shank.

A Honda representative also told me that Honda would not object to Castroneves, a Honda IndyCar driver, competing in a Chevrolet in the Daytona 500 because “Honda doesn’t compete in Nascar so there is no direct conflict.”

The vision behind Project91 is bold and creates an opportunity for Nascar to attract international talent, which in terms would create international opportunity.

“That is a really exciting program,” Marks said. “It’s a passion project for me and fits into the strategy of what Trackhouse is trying to do and look like and be different. I spent enough time in other forms of racing to know there is significant global interest in Nascar.

“People around the world are fascinated by Nascar. It’s such a unique form of racing and it’s something that only we do. People overseas look at Nascar like we look at the Supercar Series as something that would be interesting to try.

“It’s been such a heavy lift for so long for people to come into Nascar because it’s so difficult to drive and the skillset you need to drive it is so proprietary, it hasn’t been a great experience for other people.

“The NextGen car is much more consistent with the global platform of GTGT
racing. It’s like a GT 3 car or a SuperCar. The future of Project91, we have some neat conversations happening right now. Ultimately, how that program grows from a commercial standpoint, we are always going to do at least one race and as much as 5-10 races.”

Marks believes world class talent from other disciplines can come into Nascar and drive them on ovals because the NextGen car is so different than the previous generation of stock cars.

“If that works out the way I’m hoping it works out, the doors have been kicked wide open into the types of exciting talent and personalities and international flair that we can bring into Nascar.”