Tony Kanaan went through a draining Sunday, but he’ll be in the field for next week’s Indianapolis 500. The 2004 IZOD IndyCar Series champ broke into the grid with a half-hour remaining, posting a four-lap average of 224.072 m.p.h. that puts him in the middle of Row 11.
Here’s are some pieces of his comments during a post-qualifying press conference:
On dealing with the different emotions throughout Bump Day:
“…Obviously, it was a very emotional day. I’m not the type of guy — I don’t cry very easy. The other Brazilian [Helio Castroneves] does all the time (laughs). But it was a tough day for me and every time I came out, I was very emotional. You have an idea sometimes of how the fans like you and then I hear from you guys because you’re out there and saying I’m the fan favorite and this and that. I’ve never really paid a lot of attention. I’ve always treated my fans really nice. But every time I came out here, the crowd cheered and that made me very emotional. It was a long day. I probably lost five days of my life today — not a lot of hair anyway to lose. But I’m happy to be here.”
On his Andretti Autosport team being able to put his car back together following a practice crash this morning:
“I’m a team player and I think you guys could tell that on [the first day of practice] when I drove five cars. I have nothing to say about my team but good things. Guys re-built three cars in 24 hours — that’s preparation right there if somebody has any doubt. I believe that somebody had written two cars off. I can count on one hand how many teams can rebuild that, so sometimes, the criticism is made in the heat of the moment without people thinking. Sometimes, it’s made to cover some problems that you have. I’m not here to judge anything.
“But yesterday, they were here 7 a.m. in the morning and at 9:30, they were rebuilding another one. And they celebrated as hard as we did the pole in 2005 here, starting 32nd. So we’re not lacking anything. I believe that it’s easy to blame people. But instead of wasting your time blaming somebody, just go work. Go to work and make it better. That’s my opinion. I think I don’t spend a lot of time complaining. Maybe when I get home and complain to “my people,” but in front of [the team]? Those are guys who are working so hard.
“I don’t believe there is somebody who wakes up in the morning and says, ‘Today, I think I’ll make the 11 car slower because I don’t like Tony.’ I mean, that doesn’t happen. And we have very capable people. The team is one of the most winning teams in IndyCar, so we’re not lacking anything. We were behind and we had to work for it.”
