Fort Worth, Texas ? Helio Castroneves can find only one comforting thought about being denied a historic third straight Indianapolis 500 victory.

At least the driver who beat him was his Penske teammate, Gil de Ferran.

“It hurts a little more so close to making history,” Castroneves said Thursday. “Losing to Gil, I guess, compensates for everyone. As I’ve always said, it’s a team sport.”

This week Castroneves is back at Texas, where another runner-up finish kept him from winning an Indy Racing League season championship last year.

In the season-ending race at the 11/2-mile Texas Motor Speedway, Castroneves finished less than a second behind Sam Hornish Jr. That left him just 20 points behind Hornish for the season title in his first IRL season.

“Coming back to the scene of the crime,” Castroneves said. “But it’s fun coming back to this place.”

The Bombardier 500 Saturday night will be the IRL’s 11th race at Texas Motor Speedway.

While Castroneves missed a chance to become the first driver to win three straight Indy 500s, he’s still second in the season standings with 123 points, just 14 behind Tony Kanaan and seven ahead of Scott Sharp.