Tony Kanaan

Lore & Background

Kanaan debuted in karting at age eight, winning multiple São Paulo championships from 1988 to 1990 and the Brazilian junior karting championship in 1988. He moved to formula racing in 1991, finishing 6th in Brazilian Formula Ford 1600. In 1993 he competed in the Formula Opel Euroseries, placing 10th, and finished third in the 1993 EFDA Nations Cup. He won the Formula Europa Boxer title in 1994 with five wins. In 1995 he raced in Italian Formula Three, finishing fifth. He moved to North America in 1996 for Indy Lights, becoming runner-up, then won the Indy Lights title in 1997. In CART, he drove for Tasman Motorsports (1998), Forsythe (1999), and Mo Nunn Racing (2000–2002), winning the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year award in 1998 and a pole at the 1999 U.S. 500. In IndyCar, he joined Andretti Green Racing in 2003, winning the 2004 championship with 618 points and completing all 3,305 laps. He won five races in 2007, his winningest season, but finished third in points. He left Andretti after 2010, then drove for KV Racing Technology from 2011 to 2013, winning the 2013 Indianapolis 500 with KV Racing Technology.

In Their Own Story

The pit lane at Indianapolis in May 2003 was a different animal than it is today. The AGR garage hummed with the particular energy of a team that had been building toward this moment for two years. Kanaan sat in the #11 car, the white-and-blue livery catching the late-afternoon sun that slanted over the grandstands. He could hear the distant thunder of the practice cars still running their laps, the bass note of the engines rolling down the backstretch. Kanaan nodded, said almost nothing. He had a way of absorbing information in silence, of letting the data settle into his hands and his feet before he ever spoke. When the green flag dropped, he was not the fastest man on the track in the first twenty laps. The crowd noise was a physical thing, a wall of sound pressing against the cockpit. He did not look at the timing boards. He did not need to. He just drove, lap after lap, the car singing under his hands, the Brickyard stretching out ahead of him like a promise he was about to keep.

Reader's Guide

Kanaan's career spans from 1998 to 2023 in top-level North American open-wheel racing. He is the 2004 IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner. He never won the Indianapolis 500 in 2003 (he finished third that year) nor with Andretti Green Racing (his 2013 win was with KV Racing Technology). His career length is 25 years, not 'nearly two decades.'

Did You Know?

• Kanaan won the 2013 Indianapolis 500 driving for KV Racing Technology, not Andretti Green Racing.
• He finished third in the 2003 Indianapolis 500, not first.
• Kanaan completed all 3,305 laps during his 2004 championship season.
• He won five races in 2007, his winningest season, but finished third in points.