1. Tony Kanaan is best known for racing in Championship Auto Racing Teams from 1998 to 2002, and the IndyCar Series from 2002 to 2023.
63 Facts About Tony Kanaan
1. 2.
Tony Kanaan won the series championship on the strength of 5 race wins.
3.
Tony Kanaan competed in Italian Formula Three in 1995 for Tatuus in a Dallara 395-Opel.
4.
Tony Kanaan won a race and secured 9 podiums to win 111 points, ranking 5th.
5.
Tony Kanaan began to compete in Indy Lights in 1996 for Tasman Motorsports, returning for the 1997 season.
6.
Tony Kanaan began to compete in CART in 1998 for Tasman Motorsports, finishing out the season ranked ninth in points, with 92.
7.
Tony Kanaan won the Jim Trueman Rookie of the Year Award.
8.
Tony Kanaan stayed with Mo Nunn Racing for the 2001 season.
9.
Tony Kanaan got his first podium since winning at Michigan in 1999.
10.
In 2002, Tony Kanaan's highlight through the first three races of the season was a second-place start at the Bridgestone Potenza 500 at Twin Ring Motegi.
11.
Tony Kanaan was the highest-starting rookie in the race, qualifying in fifth-place.
12.
An oil leak on the track was not caught by IRL officials and Tony Kanaan crashed, finishing 28th.
13.
In 2003, Tony Kanaan joined IRL full-time, signing with Andretti Green Racing.
14.
Tony Kanaan won the Purex Dial Indy 200 after leading for 79 laps.
15.
In 2004, Tony Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing to drive the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR03-Ilmor-Honda Indy V8 HI4R.
16.
Tony Kanaan won the Copper World Indy 200 at Phoenix International Raceway.
17.
Tony Kanaan won the Bombardier 500 at Texas Motor Speedway and the Firestone Indy 200 at Nashville Superspeedway.
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For 2005, Tony Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing in the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR05-Ilmor-Honda Indy V8 HI4R.
19.
Tony Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing in the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR05-Ilmor-Honda Indy V8 HI4R in 2006.
20.
Tony Kanaan had an issue with another friends and former teammate from his time at Tasman Motorsports, Helio Castroneves.
21.
Castroneves accused Tony Kanaan of costing him the 2006 series championship by racing him too hard for position in the final race.
22.
Tony Kanaan countered that he was not paid to let other people pass him for the position.
23.
Tony Kanaan had his winningest season during 2007 in the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR5-Honda Indy V8 HI7R for Andretti Green Racing.
24.
At the Indianapolis 500 Tony Kanaan won the Scott Brayton Award for showing the spirit of the late Scott Brayton, who was killed while practicing for the 1996 Indianapolis 500.
25.
Tony Kanaan dominated the following race, the Meijer Indy 300 at Kentucky Speedway.
26.
Tony Kanaan infamously got into a fight with Hornish that eventually involved Michael Andretti and 15 to 20 others.
27.
In 2008, Tony Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing in the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR5-Honda Indy V8 HI7R.
28.
Tony Kanaan rose above the controversy to finish 3rd in points with 513 points.
29.
Tony Kanaan returned with Andretti Green Racing for 2009 in the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR5-Honda Indy V8 HI7R.
30.
In 2010, Tony Kanaan returned to drive the No 11 7-Eleven Dallara IR5-Honda Indy V8 HI7R.
31.
Tony Kanaan won 14 races and one championship in eight years with Andretti.
32.
Tony Kanaan was involved in a spectacular crash at the MoveThatBlock.
33.
Tony Kanaan finished second in the oval standings with 148 points.
34.
In 2013, Tony Kanaan returned with KV Racing Technology in the No 11 Hydroxycut Dallara DW12-Ilmor-Chevrolet Indy V6.
35.
Tony Kanaan moved up through the field and battled for the lead with Ed Carpenter, Ryan Hunter-Reay and Marco Andretti.
36.
On lap 197 Tony Kanaan passed Hunter-Reay for the lead on a restart for a crash by Graham Rahal with Carlos Munoz, Hunter-Reay and Andretti behind.
37.
Tony Kanaan won at an average speed of 187.433 miles per hour, breaking the record set by Arie Luyendyk in the 1990 race.
38.
Tony Kanaan finished 11th with 397 points, his first full-time IndyCar season to finish out of the Top 10 in points.
39.
Tony Kanaan finished 7th in points with 544 points his best since the 2011 season.
40.
In 2015, Tony Kanaan began to drive the No 10 NTT Data Chevy for Ganassi.
41.
In 2017 Tony Kanaan had his worst and last season in the No 10 NNT Data Chevy for Ganassi.
42.
Tony Kanaan stated that the 2020 season would be his last, running only a five-race schedule.
43.
Tony Kanaan competed in the Sports Car Club of America United States Road Racing Championship in 1998.
44.
Tony Kanaan competed only at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
45.
Tony Kanaan drove the No 4 Tom Gloy Racing Ford Mustang Cobra.
46.
Tony Kanaan finished 19th in points in the GT1 class with 35 points.
47.
Tony Kanaan competed in the American Le Mans Series in 2007 in the No 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura Courage ARX-01a-Acura AL7R 3.4L V8 for Andretti Green Racing in the LMP2 class.
48.
Tony Kanaan returned in 2008 in the No 26 XM Satellite Radio Acura ARX-01b-Acura AL7R 3.4 L V8 for Andretti Green Racing.
49.
Tony Kanaan first competed in the Rolex Grand-Am Sports Car Series in 2013.
50.
Tony Kanaan finished 58th in the DP standings with 22 points and 138th in the GT standings with 16 points.
51.
Tony Kanaan first competed in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship for Chip Ganassi Racing in the No 02 Riley MkXXVI-Ford EcoBoost 3.5L Turbo V6 in the P class.
52.
Tony Kanaan competed in Formula Nippon in 2007 for Tony Kanaan Racing in the No 27 Bridgestone Potenza Lola FN06-Mugen Honda HF386E.
53.
Tony Kanaan competed only in the Suzuka Circuit as a special entrant, finishing in 6th place.
54.
In 2010 Tony Stewart offered the driver who won the 2010 Indianapolis 500 a chance to drive in his charity race, the Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway Kanaan participated after Indianapolis 500 winner Dario Franchitti opted out.
55.
Tony Kanaan drove the No 11 7-Eleven Cadillac for GRT Race Cars in a car based on his Andretti Autosport car from 2003 to 2010.
56.
In 1996, Tony Kanaan drove a Opel Calibra at the Interlagos round of the International Touring Car Championship.
57.
In 2012 Tony Kanaan began to compete in Stock Car Brasil in the No 100 Bassani Racing Peugeot 408 at Autodromo Internacional Nelson Piquet, finishing 19th.
58.
In 2021, Tony Kanaan entered four races of the Superstar Racing Experience, an all-star stock car racing series.
59.
Tony Kanaan is a member of the "brat pack", a group of CART drivers who were close friends off the track, along with Dario Franchitti, Max Papis and the late Greg Moore.
60.
Tony Kanaan completed half Ironman competitions and competed in the Ironman World Championships in 2011 with a time of 12:52:40.
61.
Tony Kanaan appears in the 2001 film Driven as himself in a scene among drivers preparing for the final race of the season at Detroit.
62.
The racing series used for the film is the FedEx CART Championship Series, which Tony Kanaan raced in at the time for Mo Nunn Racing.
63.
The first episode of the television series IndyCar 36 was about Tony Kanaan's weekend leading up to the 2012 Honda Grand Prix of St Petersburg on the Streets of St Petersburg.