By Lenny Sundahl
In announcing his impending retirement at the 2023 Indianapolis 500, Tony Kanaan begins to put the wraps on 25 years at the top flight of American motorsport. At his Wednesday press conference, he looked back at his beginnings and paid tribute to many of the people that helped him get where he is now.
photo: McLaren.com
As a young driver in Brazil, racing number 6 in karting, Kanaan pressed on through the death of his father at 13 to pursue racing. His road to Europe was paved by no less than motorsport legend Ayrton Senna.
“He’s been my idol, the guy that was actually responsible for getting me a job in 1993 before he passed.”
That ride resulted in a 3rd place finish at that season’s Formula Opel Nations’ Cup, five wins and a championship in the Italian Formula Europa Boxer series the following year, and one win and 5th place in Italian Formula 3 in 1995.
photo: McLaren.com
Kanaan’s path took him to America in 1996, and he was taken under the wing of Bruce Horne, head of Tasman Motorsport, where he would race for the next three seasons: two seasons in Indy Lights, where he would win four races, take 2nd in points in 1996 and the series title in 1997; and then a move up to their CART seat for 1998, where he finished 9th and took Rookie of the Year honors. Horne then sold the team to Forsythe Racing, with Kanaan following for a season in which he would take his first Indycar win, at Michigan. While Kanaan and Horne would both leave the team separately in 1999, the two would remain close, with Horne becoming Kanaan’s manager for a period.
After three years at Mo Nunn Racing–including his first visit to Indianapolis, in 2002–Kanaan was signed to Andretti Green Racing, partnering soon-to-retire owner-driver Michael Andretti and Kanaan’s friend Dario Franchitti. While this heralded the start of Kanaan’s time as a regular championship contender–promise that he fulfilled in 2004–at Wednesday’s announcement, he cited the team’s 1-2-3-4 finish at the first IRL event at St. Petersburg as a career highlight, despite finishing second to the late Dan Wheldon, but ahead of Franchitti and Bryan Herta: “It felt like a win. My best friend at the time won, I had my two other best friends on the podium.”
photo: McLaren.com
They remained friends, through Franchitti’s departure to NASCAR in 2008, return in 2009, Kanaan’s departure to KV Racing after 2010, Wheldon’s death in 2011, through Franchitti’s retirement in 2013. When that seat opened up at Chip Ganassi Racing, it would be Kanaan, his career revitalized by finally cracking the nut that had been the Indianapolis 500 that previous season, who would take the wheel, scoring his final win to date at Fontana in 2014.
Kanaan was going to retire after 2020 with AJ Foyt, only running the ovals on which he had excelled, from that first 500-mile win in 1999 to the last in 2014, but retiring without fans–thanks, COVID–didn’t feel right. So he came back for another ovals-only season in 2021. Then he came back again, just for Indianapolis in 2022, and came achingly close to another win. Now, in 2023, Franchitti is texting Kanaan about his perpetually delayed retirement: “Is this number five or six?”
photo: Indycar
Everything is coming full-circle. His ride this year will be with McLaren–Senna’s McLaren–now run by Zak Brown, who, all those years ago in Europe, ran in the same feeder series against Kanaan. His car number? 66, mirroring the 6 he raced all the way back in his karting days.
Franchitti, a driver coach for Ganassi, will be there. Herta, spotter for his son Colton, will be there. Steve Horne will be in attendance: “He actually phoned me last week and said, it’s your last one, I’m coming.” Steve Horne currently resides in New Zealand, but he will be there. And, perhaps in some otherworldly sense, the father and the hero will be there, giving that extra push for one more win.
Penske Entertainment: Joe Skibinski
