Former IndyCar champ ends two-year win drought
Turns out the fourth time was the charm for Tony Kanaan.
The 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champion has long been considered as somebody you can’t count out at any track, but the 7/8-mile bullring of Iowa Speedway had been a thorn in his side since it was introduced onto the schedule in 2007. Going into today’s Iowa Corn Indy 250, Kanaan’s record was as dismal as it gets: Three starts, three crashes, three DNFs.
But now, TK has one completed race at Iowa under his belt. Even better, it’s a victory. Starting 15th on the grid, he quickly made his way into the front of the field and with ten laps to go, he passed Helio Castroneves for the lead and went on to take the checkered flag by 4.2 seconds. The win is Kanaan’s first since his triumph at Richmond International Raceway in 2008 and continues the overall resurgence of his Andretti Autosport team this season.
I made a mistake in qualifying and shot myself in the foot, because if you guys look at the two first sessions in the morning yesterday, we were pretty strong. Last night – I got to thank my two teammates, Ryan [Hunter-Reay] and Marco [Andretti] – they came to the truck and they gave me a talk, which I usually do to them, which I was impressed by that.
They said, ‘Man, come on, we have a good car,’ and we thought about doing the set-up together, and we did. Marco was more aggressive and it didn’t work for him, but Ryan was right there and, you know, when you win from 15th, and you pass every single car on the racetrack, it’s definitely a winning car.”
Kanaan made his first appearance at the point on Lap 120 after passing Dario Franchitti. The two old rivals would engage in a battle for the lead over the next 50-plus laps, with Franchitti taking it back at Lap 136 only to lose it to Kanaan again ten laps later.
But a Lap 177 crash involving Takuma Sato (who was running third at the time) triggered a round of stops that ended with Franchitti as the first off pit road. But the Scotsman’s chances of defending his Iowa crown from 2009 would not last long afterwards. He lost the lead at Lap 196 to Helio Castroneves and four laps later at Lap 200, his No. 10 Target machine suddenly slowed down on the track.
Franchitti was able to bring the car back to his team’s pitbox, where it was discovered that it was stuck between fifth and sixth gears. He finished 18th.
“I was shifting from sixth down to fifth and came up with a box full of neutrals,” he said after the race. “We had a winning car today, but it wasn’t anybody’s fault. The Target team did a great job today. These things just happen.”
Franchitti’s problems set up a battle between Castroneves, Kanaan and E.J. Viso, but when the three encountered lapped traffic toward the final laps, it appeared that Castroneves had come out better as his lead over Kanaan grew. But Kanaan wouldn’t give up that easily, and on Lap 240, he managed to pass his fellow Brazilian and simply drove away after that.
Castroneves, Kanaan and Scott Dixon made contact at the exit of pit road after pit stops on Lap 54, and in post-race, Castroneves wondered if his car deteriorated during the race because of it.
“Maybe that bump between Tony and Scott might have caused something, because it was very hard to set up the car during the race,” he said. “I should be happy, but with ten laps to go, it slipped right through my hands. We had great pit stops. The team did an incredible job.
“Tony did seem to have a better car. He could run everywhere, but more consistent.”
As for Viso, his podium run managed to salvage an afternoon that saw his KV Racing Technology squad have two more wrecked race cars. Mario Moraes was collected in a first-lap crack-up with Justin Wilson, followed by Sato’s wreck later on.
“It’s been a very tough year for the team,” he said. “We all knew that we could get there. We have some very good people on the team and good drivers. We finished in the position we deserved to have. I hope this is the start of good things to come for the rest of the season.”
Kanaan also hopes that his win at Iowa will do the same. He sits sixth in the championship now and while he admitted that he has a long way to go in order to catch new leader Will Power, he said the team was ready to keep digging.
“…When I said all along this year that we were better than last year, a lot of people twisted their noses and didn’t believe it, but we are,” he said. “We got to keep working on it and we have now a few road and street courses coming up, which we were really strong in, and we’re there.”
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IZOD IndyCar Series
Iowa Corn Indy 250
Iowa Speedway, Newton, Iowa
Final Results
(Car #-Driver, Team, Deficit)
1. 11-Tony Kanaan, Andretti, avg. speed of 131.205 m.p.h.
2. 3-Helio Castroneves, Penske, -4.2030 seconds.
3. 8-E.J. Viso, KV Racing Tech., -5.2538 seconds.
4. 6-Ryan Briscoe, Penske, -9.0536 seconds.
5. 12-Will Power, Penske, -9.5902 seconds.
6. 9-Scott Dixon, Ganassi, -15.2683 seconds.
7. 14-Vitor Meira, Foyt, -16.8703 seconds.
8. 37-Ryan Hunter-Reay, Andretti, -1 lap down.
9. 24-Graham Rahal, DRR, -1 lap down.
10. 7-Danica Patrick, Andretti, -1 lap down.
11. 4-Dan Wheldon, Panther, -1 lap down.
12. 77-Alex Tagliani, FAZZT, -2 laps down.
13. 19-Alex Lloyd, Coyne, -2 laps down.
14. 2-Raphael Matos, DFDragon, -3 laps down.
15. 26-Marco Andretti, Andretti, -6 laps down.
16. 34-Mario Romancini, Conquest, -6 laps down.
17. 36-Bertrand Baguette, Conquest, -13 laps down.
18. 10-Dario Franchitti, Ganassi, -38 laps down.
19. 5-Takuma Sato, KV Racing Tech., crash on Lap 177.
20. 06-Hideki Mutoh, Newman/Haas, handling on Lap 131.
21. 78-Simona de Silvestro, HVM, handling on Lap 128.
22. 67-Sarah Fisher, Fisher, crash on Lap 92.
23. 18-Milka Duno, Coyne, handling on Lap 31.
24. 22-Justin Wilson, DRR, crash on opening lap.
25. 32-Mario Moraes, KV Racing Tech., crash on opening lap.
Race Statistics
Time of race: 1 hour, 42 minutes, 12.4036 seconds; Margin of victory: 4.2030 seconds; Cautions: 4 for 51 laps; Lead changes: 16 among 7 drivers; Lap leaders: Power 1-32, Andretti 33-44, Franchitti 45-54, Rahal 55-65, Franchitti 66-67, Dixon 68-85, Franchitti 86-112, Dixon 113-115, Franchitti 116-119, Kanaan 120-135, Franchitti 136-145, Kanaan 146-180, Franchitti 181-195, Castroneves 196-198, Franchitti 199, Castroneves 200-239, Kanaan 240-250.
Point Standings
Power 274, Dixon 263, Franchitti 258, Castroneves 251, Briscoe 240, Kanaan 229, Hunter-Reay 225, Wilson 191, Andretti 184, Dan Wheldon 183.
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Quotes and materials from league press releases and transcripts were used in the making of this article.
