June 28, 2008
IRL IndyCar Series Suntrust Indy Challenge
June 28, 2008
IRL IndyCar Series Suntrust Indy Challenge
June 28, 2008
IRL IndyCar Series Suntrust Indy Challenge
June 28, 2008
IRL IndyCar Series Suntrust Indy Challenge
September 2, 2007
September 2, 2007
September 2, 2007
September 2, 2007
September 2, 2007
Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan Filho (born December 31,
1974) is a Brazilian race car driver of Lebanese
heritage from Salvador, Brazil. Kanaan is an IndyCar
driver who holds the unique distinction of being the
only driver in the long and storied history of the
Indianapolis 500 to lead the fabled event in each of
his first six starts. Kanaan won the 2004 Indy
Racing League IndyCar Series championship in
dominating fashion driving for 7-Eleven and Andretti
Green Racing, winning three times in his
Honda-powered Dallara. That season he completed
3,305 laps, the first IndyCar Series driver to
complete every possible lap in a season. He also led
889 laps in 13 separate races to establish an
IndyCar Series record.
Kanaan was the 1997 Indy Lights champion, driving
for Tasman. In 1999 he scored his first major
victory in the Champ Car World Series by winning the
U.S. 500 at Michigan International Speedway for
Forsythe Championship Racing. After the Forsythe
team lost their McDonald's sponsorship package,
Kanaan moved on to Mo Nunn's start-up team for the
next three years before moving on to the IRL.
Following his championship season, in 2005 he placed
second in the championship to his teammate Dan
Wheldon. That year, he won his first pole position
for the Indianapolis 500 to add to his finishes of
second, third, fifth and eighth in the event.
Winning the Indianapolis 500 remains one of the few
holes in his resume. In September 2005 he tested a
Formula 1 car with the BAR-Honda Team at Jerez as a
reward for his 2004 IRL championship in a Honda
powered car.
Kanaan is good friend of Brazilian Formula One
driver Rubens Barrichello, and they exchanged
helmets for the events in May 28, 2006. Barrichello
wore Kanaan's helmet livery during the Monaco GP and
Kanaan wore Rubens's one during the Indy 500.
Another of Kanaan's long-time good friends and a
former teammate from his Tasman days is Helio
Castroneves. Kanaan and Castroneves have developed
an intense rivalry that has resulted in some hard
feelings. Castroneves accused Kanaan of costing him
the 2006 IndyCar Series championship by racing him
too hard for position in the final race. Kanaan
countered that he was not paid to let other people
pass him for position. The two started to patch up
their differences at Indianapolis in 2007.
Kanaan had a fine 2007 season, winning a series-high
five events by taking first place in Japan at
Honda's Twin Ring Motegi track, the Milwaukee Mile,
Michigan International Speedway, Kentucky Speedway,
and the Detroit Grand Prix in Belle Isle. He also
took the pole position at Kansas, although a
pit-incident with team-mate Danica Patrick dropped
him from a possible win. Later he took a second pole
position at Kentucky. At the 2007 Indianapolis 500
he dominated the field and led at a rain delay just
past the halfway point. A questionable call to pit
right before the rain-shortened race ended gave the
race to his teammate, Dario Franchitti, who did not
appear to have Kanaan's speed. It was the latest in
a string of disappointments at Indianapolis, and
Kanaan is now often referred to -- along with his
team owner Michael Andretti -- as one of the best
drivers never to win the Indianapolis 500.
