It’s Been a Great Ride for Tony Kanaan; Five Oval Races Will Close Indycar Career

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Photo: Tony Kanaan at Texas Motor Speedway in 2019. Courtesy Indycar, Chris Owens

It happens to every driver in time. It’s Tony Kanaan’s turn to retire. Kanaan announced today he will run the five ovals on the NTT Indycar Series schedule to end his Indycar career.  It’s always a little sad to see champion and Indianapolis 500 winner hang it up, but I like when a driver can leave on his or her own terms.

His final race will be at World Wide Technology Raceway August 22. He finished third there in 2019.

“I have no regrets,” Kanaan told a press conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this morning.  “This place (IMS) made me.”

Kanaan has driven in 18 Indianapolis 500s, winning in 2013. He won the pole in 2005 and led in each of his first seven races. He has eight top 5s and qualified in the top 6 from 2002 through 2009 with three front row starts.

Kanaan completed every lap in the 2004 Indycar series and win the series championship. He is the first driver to complete every lap in a season. He has 17 wins and 15 poles in his career.  His best years were with Andretti Green Racing in the early 2000s. He won the 500 driving for KV Racing.

He has always been a fan favorite. He plans to be “a lot more engaged with the fans” at the races he isn’t running in 2020. Look for Kanaan at the autograph sessions at the road  and street course events as well as the ovals.

When the green flag waves at St. Pete, it will end Kanaan’s streak of 317 consecutive Indycar starts.  In a sport with such brief seasons, I find that an amazing statistic.IMG_7537

Kanaan at Laguna Seca last season. The season finale becomes his road race finale in the series. Photo: Mike Silver

Kanaan insists while he may be closing his Indycar career, but he’s not done racing.

“I don’t want anybody to think I’m retiring and I’m disappearing. First of all, I still can drive. We’ve been in talks. Five years or so in this room we started it; we’ve been in talks with IMSA and a bunch of other series. Even Formula-e, you talk about stock car in Brazil. People are like, so what are you doing, what are you doing next year, and I think this will open an opportunity for me to do — Tony Stewart is like, when are you coming back to Eldora. Now I think I can do all those things. ”

Indycar is approaching a point where several of the current big names will be closing out their careers in the next couple of seasons. We have five occasions to honor a driver who has reached the pinnacle of the sport. If you get to one of the ovals this year, make it a point to seek Kanaan out, and tell him how you appreciate what he’s done.

 

 

 

 

Rolex Race Recap and Photo Gallery

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A new driver lineup didn’t affect Wayne Taylor Racing as the team kept its Rolex 24 title Sunday. Both of Taylor’s sons have moved to other teams, leaving only Renger Van der Zende as the sole holdover. Taylor signed Ryan Briscoe from Chip Ganassi’s defunct Ford GT program. Scott Dixon and Kamui Kobayashi joined the squad for the 24 hour race. The Cadillac took the lead for good in the early morning hours and ran away from the field. It was the third victory in four years for WTR.

The number 10 car completed a record 833 laps in a race that had less than two hours of caution periods. At one point the green flag stayed out for more than seven hours.  The long green flag stretches took a lot of dram out of the race as trailing cars had little chance to close up to the leaders.

As usual, the best racing through the night was in the GTLM class. The two Porsches had a great battle with the BMW from Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing. The BMW eventually prevailed, solidifying its lead after sunrise. Drivers in the winning car were Johm Edwards, Augusto Farfus, Chaz Mostert, and Jesse Krohn. Rahal’s other car won the Rolex 24 in 2019.

In LMP2, Dragonspeed retained its Rolex title.  Drivers Ben Hanley, Henrik Hedman, Colin Braun, and Harrison Newey. Dragonspeed is planning a six race Indycar program in addition to its sportscar plans. The team took the lead when the pole sitting Mathiasen Motorsports had an issue.

A Lamborghini was expected to win in GTD and the marque didn’t disappoint. Paul Miller Racing’s car went to Victory Circle. Drivers Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers,  Corey Lewis, and Andrew Caldarelli took home the watches.

Notes

Sebastien Bourdais finished third in his full time sports car debut. The Mustang Sampling team had reconfigured itself in the JDC-Mille stable after leaving Action Express.

Scott Dixon added to his legacy as one racing’s all time greats with his third Rolex24 overall win, tying him for second on the all time roster.

Perseverance award– The crew of the number 4 Corvette spent most of the night hours attempting to find an engine issue. The engine was in pieces in the early morning hours, and the car returned to the track after sunrise. The team spent six hours to complete the repair.

Keating Loves to Drive- Ben Keating drove the number 52 LMP2 car to the pole, then started the race. He also drove the Riley Motorsports Mercedes in GTD. Just doing the math to figure out how he could split his time between the cars and stay within driver time limits was impressive. Keating also drove in Friday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

GEAR has Misfortune- The all female team of Katherine Legge, Christina Nielsen, Tatiana Calderon, and Rachel Frey had a difficult start to the season. The car slowed on the backstretch around 11:30 pm. It limped back to the pits. Early in the morning, the car caught fire with Nielsen behind the wheel. She was not injured, but their race was over.

The IMSA Weather Tech Championship Series next races at the 12 Hours of Sebring March 21. The WEC series will also be there for a 1,000 mile race on Friday.

Photo Gallery

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Here It Is: The Ticket for the 104th Running of the Indianapolis 500

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The ticket for the May 24 Indianapolis 500 was unveiled today by 2019 winner Simon Pagenaud. It is a nice, simple design with a photo of Pagenaud drinking the milk in Victory Lane. I’m glad it wasn’t a picture of him spilling milk on his head. That’s a “tradition” I can live without.

Of course, Simon did not leave his dog Norman out. He received his own ticket.

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I think I like this ticket better. Is it too late to make this one the actual ticket?

Revealing the ticket usually means tickets will be mailed soon, though today seems a bit early for that. Not that I wouldn’t mind receiving it now.

Back later with more on the Rolex 24.

Rolex 24 Quick Thoughts

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It was another Rolex 24 in which current and former Indycar drivers did well. Scot Dixon and Ryan Briscoe were on the overall winning team. Ben Hanley and Dragonspeed defended their 2019 LMP2 victory. Bobby Rahal’s BMW won the GTLM class for the second consecutive year.  Sebastien Bourdais finished third in his full time IMSA debut.

Attendance at the Rolex 24 seemed to be the best of the seven events I’ve attended.

The race didn’t have a lot of drama in any of the classes. A seven hour green flag stretch kept gaps between the cars steady. As usual, the GTLM group had the best race going on for a few hours.

The drive penalty that the 55 Mazda received for its collision with the 7 Acura was quite light. It’s a penalty which has no effect in a 24 hour race. The 7 never got back into contention.

The crew of the 4 Corvette has my respect. I saw the car in the garage around midnight just before they dismantled the entire engine. Six hours later, the Corvettte returned to the track.

I wondered how the new driver lineup would affect Wayne Taylor Racing. Looks as if there was nothing to worry about.  That team has a handle on this race.

Bourdais’ Mustang Sampling team appeared to be very strong in spite of the ownership and driver changes. They were at the rear of the class early in the race, but worked up to a podium finish.

Rahal now has Rolex 24 wins for both of his cars.

As much praise as I’ve heaped on Daytona International Speedway for the improvements in the facility this weekend, the post race traffic pattern needs a lot of work. I understand  there is not a lot of room for cars to move in the infield, but if someone were directing traffic there might be a smoother flow.

833 laps is an incredible race total. I’ve never seen an endurance race with less than two hours total time under caution.

With convergence looming in 2022, I’m wondering what the car count for next year’s Rolex will be.

Thanks for following along this weekend. I was impressed by those of you who were up watching all 24 hours and took time to read my in race posts.

I’ll be back in a day or two after I run the Serta 24.

Rolex Indycar driver Update

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As of 6:24 Eastern Time, with seven hours and 16 minutes to go, here is where the card Indycar drivers are involved with are, by driver name.

Scott Dixon.  1

Sebastien Bourdais. 2

Ryan Hunter-Reay  5

Simon Pagenaud.   6

Alexander Rossi.  10

Ben Hanley.   9 ( 2nd in class)

Colton Herta. 29 (6th in class)

Corvette, GEAR Have Issues at Halfway Point

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The Rolex 24 just passed the mid point. There was one caution in the last six hours as the leaders continue to click off laps at a torrid pace.

The number 4 Corvette went to the garage with what appears to be an engine issue. Afew minutes later, the number 19 GTD of Grasser Racing slowed on the backstretch and li.ped back to the garage. The 19 is the all female team headed by Katherine Legge.

The current leaders as I write:

DPi.   Car 5 Cadillac Joao Barbosa

LMP2. Car 52. Nick Boule

GTLM. Car 24 BMW Chaz Mostert

GTD. Car 48 Lamborghini Bryan Sellers

Another new feature at Daytona this year is a large high definition television screen in the fan zone. Benches have been added to the area in front of the screen. The television is visible from the turn 3 grandstand.

Back after the race with a recap. So far it  has been a very predictable event.

UPDATE Mike Joachim of Pit Lane Parley sent this photo of the Corvette engine dismantled. Thanks Mike

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6 Hours In, WTR Cadillac Leads

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The first four hours of the Rolex 24 were clean and without much change in the lead. An incident involving the 55 Mazda and the 7 Acura has put the Team Penske car out there f contention for a good finish. The Mazda received a stop and go penalty, meaningless in a 24 race.

Just before the 5 hour mark s pit incident brought out a full course yellow.

The current leaders:

DPi.  10 Wayne Taylor Racing

LMP 2.  52

GTLM  24 BMW

GTD. 44 Lamborghini

Pit stops are being made so the leader board may change by the time you read this.

It’s Rolex 24 Race Day

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Photo: Oliver Jarvis in the 77 Mazda leads the field to the green flag at 1:40 today.

The 2020 racing season gets underway this afternoon as the 58th Rolex 24 begins.  A Mazda is on the pole and the question is can Mazda keep running for 24 hours.  I look for a strong challenge from Penske Acura. The 6 car looks especially strong. Wayne Taylor Racing, in their first race without either of t Taylor brothers driving, could be a factor also.

The weather looks to be dry with moderate temperatures. After last year’s deluge., dry and mild is very welcome.

In GTLM, it  could be a battle between the Porsches. They traded the lead back and forth in qualifying. A Lamborghini will win the GTLM class.

I hope  to report every six hours.

The NBC network group has 16 hours of coverage. NBC shows the start and finish. Coverage is also on NBCSN and the NBC app. The app costs $19.95 for the entire IMSA season.