AP Photo/Rainier EhrhardtHélio Castroneves isn't feeling the need for legal speed at this time.
The toe-tapping IndyCar driver has asked a Miami judge to postpone his upcoming trial on tax-evasion charges until next November so that he can maintain a full racing schedule in the coming year.
Castroneves, whose name spread beyond the racing world when he won Dancing With the Stars last year, is scheduled to go to trial on March 2. He has pleaded not guilty to using a Panamanian shell corporation to hide more than $5.5 million in earnings between 1999 and 2004.
According to documents filed in a Miami federal court by Castroneves' boss, Penske Racing Inc., the company would have to get a replacement now if there's a possibility that its star won't be able to compete in the 2009 IndyCar series.
Meanwhile, it would be "catastrophic" for the Brazilian racer to lose his job at this time, and he should not have to "face the prospect of losing his career based solely on the return of an indictment," attorneys for Castroneves wrote in the filing.
A rep for the U.S. Attorney's Office said that they will respond to the motion in court.
Castroneves is currently free on $10 million bail and last month was cleared to travel to Australia to drive in the Gold Coast Indy 300 in Brisbane.