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Kanaan’s Winning Ways Continue

Indianapolis, Ind. – Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan was all smiles and charm when he returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway the day after winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. He came back after a long night of interviews and merrymaking, and he hung around the famous Yard of Bricks for the traditional and lengthy winner’s photo shot. Thereafter, his interview schedule accelerated with non-stop commitments before reality sets in for next weekend’s street-race in Detroit.

    Jeanetta Holder (behind the car), known as the “quilt lady”, who has made a quilt for each Indy 500 winner since 1976, laughs at Tony Kanaan’s antics as Kanaan took the quilt off the car, laid it on the track and curled up in it. Holder’s assistant is in front of the car with Kanaan. [Russ Lake Photo]

    Indianapolis 500 winner, Tony Kanaan, hugged the Borg Warner Trophy during Monday’s post-race photo session. Kanaan’s likeness will be added to the trophy, which is on permanent display at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum. [Russ Lake Photo]

During the photo-shoot, the happy winner joked with sponsors, friends and crew members, reveling in the moment and smiling with every photo op presented. And there were dozens of photo ops taking place the two-hour session. Always the jokester, Kanaan staged a mock wrestling match with ever-present Indy newspaper boy Chuckie and when presented with the winner’s quilt from the Quilt Lady, Jeanetta Holder, he rolled it out on the Yard of Bricks and laid down in it.

These antics went on non-stop during the photo shoot.

In a subsequent media session, Kanaan talked about the race, his career and the outpouring of congratulatory messages he received after taking the checkered flag.

Calls that stood out from the rest were one from his six-year old son and a very emotional call from Rubens Barrichello. The former F1 driver called from Monaco where he had been doing television work for Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.

Waking up Monday morning, Kanaan wondered whether he had been dreaming that he had won the 500, but it didn’t take long for him to realize his life-long dream had come true. “This is such a big race, and it boosts your confidence a lot to win it,” he said. “And it goes to show you that old guys, such as Dario (Franchitti) and me, can still win.”

Reflecting on the race, the Brazilian said that he felt he had a winning car from the drop of the green flag, but the non-stop action was nerve-wracking. “No one wanted to lead,” he said. “It is amazing in a 500-mile race, and everyone was waiting for the other one to lead. It was such a penalty to be up front. I made that mistake early-on and I had to pit two laps early. But when you are driving slowly, it becomes more dangerous as people are lifting more and at different places. It did give some of the rookies a chance to lead the race, but then they had to pit early. It was an intense race that went by so fast.”

Had the green flag stayed out until the last, Kanaan thought the outcome would have been a wild one. “It was going to be a crazy finish,” he noted. “I think at the end of the race without any disrespect to Carlos Munoz, I think experience was going to make it a race among Marco (Andretti), Ryan (Hunter-Reay) and me, and that’s what I was getting ready for. It wasn’t that Carlos didn’t have the car, but when it was time to go, we can do things that he wasn’t expecting us to do. My gut feeling was that Marco had the best chance for winning, but it was wide open. And I think the lead would have changed two or three times on the last lap.”

Concerning the yellow-flag finish, he said, “I think we should consider a green-white-checkered flag finish, but I’m all about the tradition of this place, and I’m not saying this because I won under the yellow because I have lost plenty of them under the yellow. I’m kind of in the middle about making a decision like that, but I think you should finish under the green.”

Going into the season, Kanaan and his team didn’t know whether they could run a full schedule, which is why they put major emphasis on the Indianapolis 500 – a business plan that worked out well. “My heart is that I built the team where I’m at,” he noted.

He went on to say that in recent years he had been working hard on the business side, seeking sponsorship to keep his career on track, and he hopes Sunday’s victory may serve to maximize sponsor interest. “I would love to have less pressure on that side, so I can concentrate on the driving side. I am confident that with this win we can build something solid for the upcoming years.”

With the winner’s prize $2.3 million, the team’s future looks even brighter.

At 38, Kanaan has had a brilliant career capped off with the Indianapolis 500 victory, but he pledges to continue racing hard for the next few years. In doing so, his popularity will continue to grow and his contributions to the sport will multiply.

Not only is Kanaan over-the-top with victory, but he’s just as excited with having his likeness on the Borg-Warner trophy alongside those of his best friends, the late Dan Wheldon and Franchitti. Interestingly, all three copped their victories in yellow-flag conditions.

Kanaan is a deserving champion and should be an outstanding goodwill ambassador for the IndyCar Series and racing in general.

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