Kanaan to make start at Indy, then retire again
INDIANAPOLIS – Tony Kanaan, the 2013 Indianapolis 500 champ, said Wednesday he will compete in Indycar’s biggest race this May before retiring again. The 48-year-old Brazilian made the announcement on Twitter.
He is scheduled to appear at a news conference in Indianapolis later Wednesday as part of the 100-day countdown to this year’s 500. The race is May 28.
“It’s been a wonderful incredible journey, but it’s not done yet,” he said in a video shot at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as the highlight calls fade away. “I will still have the pleasure to drive through the bricks one last time. Thank you all and I’ll see you on race day.”
For one of the series’ most popular, most successful and longest-tenured drivers, this is becoming part of an annual ritual.
He first announced that 2020 would be his last “Last Lap” season as series officials created a special logo for his five-race farewell tour. But when the COVID-19 pandemic forced the 500 to be moved from May until August and then ran with no fans in the seats, Kanaan didn’t think it was the proper way to say goodbye.
So he returned in 2021 and then in January 2022 announced he would return again that season, too, this time as a teammate of seven-time Cup champ Jimmie Johnson on the powerhouse Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Arrow Mclaren SP, a rival of Ganassi’s team, provided that opportunity by signing Kanaan for this year’s 500 while also adding longtime Ganassi sponsor NTT Data to Kanaan’s car. He’ll be on a four-car team full of successful drivers – 2015 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi, 2020 series runner-up Pato O’ward of Mexico and Swedish driver Felix Fosenqvist, who was fourth in last year’s 500. And now, Kanaan, will get another opportunity to join the two-time winner’s club at the Brickyard’s famous 2.5mile oval.