Helio Castroneves patted the small toy in his pocket – a good luck charm of sorts from his 2-year-old daughter – as he nervously waited to hear whether his name would be announced as being eliminated in Week 2 of “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars.”

Castroneves and his professional dance partner, Chelsie Hightower, joined Joey Fatone and his dance partner, Kym Johnson, in the uncomfortable bottom two on the results show Oct. 2. The winner of the autumn 2007 dance competition and Hightower received a total score of 23 (of 30) from the three-judge panel for their Jive performance the night before, which put them in the middle of the 12-couple pack. But fan voting constitutes the other half of a couple’s total.

“There was a little movie going on in my head, what a great time we had together and what hard work we did,” said the three-time Indianapolis 500 champion. “If you asked me what would you have changed in (the dance)? Nothing. We really put a lot of work into it.

“I was surprised. It’s the name of the game. Votes are extremely important.”

Click it: Watch their performances on the Team Helio page || Personal voting appeal

Fatone and Johnson were the ones who heard the music for the final time and Team Helio moved on to the third round (8 p.m. ET Oct. 8 on ABC), in which couples will be recreating some of “Dancing With the Stars” most unforgettable routines. Celebrities are serving as the creative directors of the performances, and Team Helio will perform a Quickstep.

Here’s how to vote for Team Helio (the number of votes per method corresponds to the number of contestants left … i.e. 11 for Week 3):

• By phone at 1-800-868-3404 from the start of the show until 60 minutes after the program ends
• By texting VOTE to 3404 (AT&T customers only) from start of show until 60 minutes after program ends
• At www.facebook.com/dancingwiththestars
• Online at www.abc.go.com (email validation is required after clicking JOIN at top of homepage) from the start of the show until 11 a.m. (ET) the next day for U.S. and Canadian residents.
• International fans also can vote for Team Helio online. Here's how: When you go to www.abc.go.com and click JOIN to register an account, enter a U.S. zip code. Click this link to find a zip code (http://www.mapsofworld.com/usa/zipcodes/). Remember to adjust your voting time to the deadline of 11 a.m. (ET) Tuesdays.

Hightower promised their dance will be “full of fun, energy, and surprises.” 

It’s a new twist for the show. Additionally, two couples will be eliminated Oct. 9.

“It’s going to work awesome,” said Castroneves, who dropped a hint that the dance had been performed by a current competitor and “it’s going to be a lot of black and white.”

Helio and Chelsie on Access HollywoodCastroneves, who joined Hightower for a segment on the set of "Access Hollywood Live" (right) among other media Oct. 4, said he was “very sad” about former N’ Sync baritone Fatone going home after only two performances.

“In fact, there was mixed feelings up there (during the elimination moment) because Joey’s such a great guy so we were like, ‘Oh, man, it’s not fair,’ ’’ Catroneves said. “But, unfortunately, there are a lot of things outside of our control.”