SONOMA, California – Tony Kanaan has never counted them in real time. He doesn’t think he would have been in position to start his record 300th consecutive Indy car race on Sunday at Sonoma Raceway if he had.
But the 43-year-old former series champion and Indianapolis 500 winner was faced with the concept of real time on Friday when he passed a figure from his past and future entering the interview room for a press conference surrounding his record streak. Out from the room went 19-year-old Indy Lights champion Patricio O’Ward and 18-year-old runner-up Colton Herta, who are making their Verizon IndyCar Series debuts this weekend.
It was then that the AJ Foyt Racing driver with the gray-flecked beard felt the passage of time, or at least admitted it.
“It's funny to watch Colton Herta and Pato walking out, but I was Colton's first sponsor in his go-kart when (his father) Bryan was my teammate,” Kanaan remembered of when he and Bryan Herta drove for Andretti Autosport. “So I don't know if I feel humbled or I feel old that I can tell Bryan today that I raced with him and his son at the same time.”
The younger Herta had said earlier that he was awed to believe he would soon race with veterans he had watched as a child, like Kanaan.
When Kanaan takes the green flag for the INDYCAR Grand Prix of Sonoma, it will also mark career start No. 360. It ranks the 17-time race winner behind only his boss, Foyt (369), and Mario Andretti (407) for most races in a career. Kanaan would pass Foyt next year and could overtake Andretti within three seasons, should he choose to continue as a full-time Verizon IndyCar Series driver that long.
After winning the Indy Lights championship in 1997 – edging teammate, fellow Brazilian and longtime friend Helio Castroneves in the process – Kanaan has enjoyed a 21-year Indy car career that included stops with Tasman Motorsports, Forsythe Racing and Mo Nunn Racing in CART before following Honda and what was then Andretti Green Racing to the Verizon IndyCar Series in 2003. It’s in those eight seasons with Andretti that Kanaan enjoyed his most success, collecting 13 wins and the 2004 championship.
Kanaan moved to KV Racing Technology for three seasons starting in 2011, which included his emotional 2013 Indianapolis 500 triumph. He replaced retiring friend Dario Franchitti at Chip Ganassi Racing in 2014, spending four seasons there before coming to Foyt this year with the purpose of rebuilding the storied team to prominence.
It's still a work in progress. With just Sunday’s season finale remaining, Kanaan has no podiums, four top-10s and an average finish of 13.9 in the No. 14 ABC Supply AJ Foyt Racing Chevrolet. His teammate is another up-and-comer, 20-year-old Brazilian Matheus “Matt” Leist.
Like O’Ward and Colton Herta, Leist wasn’t even born yet when Kanaan made his Indy car debut at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March 1998. Kanaan reminisced about it on Friday.
“Now I'm going to sound old,” he said with a laugh. “Bobby Rahal, Al Unser Jr., they're all on the grid, all those guys, and I remember we started the race, I was 10th and Al Jr. was ninth, and I'm like, ‘Oh, man, I'm going to pass this guy so bad on the outside’ and I'm just going to drive off. I was just a stupid little rookie. It didn't matter if I was going for the lead, I had to pass Al Jr.’’
With Unser Jr. defending his position, Kanaan crashed on Lap 32 of 150 and finished last of 29 entries.
“He kept running the bottom and I was going to the top, then the next lap he saw I was trying to go to the top,” Kanaan said. “He moved to the top. I'm like, ‘How can he do that?’
“And three laps later, I moved to the bottom, he moved to the bottom and I crashed. So I never passed Al Jr. in my first attempt.”
Kanaan’s record streak began in Portland in June 2001. In 2011, he broke Jimmy Vasser’s then-record of 211 straight starts. He has missed only two races in 21 years.
“I think not a single day goes by that I don't feel fortunate that I'm still around,” Kanaan said. “I've been through many things in my career. I've lost a lot of friends, a lot of friends got hurt and had to retire, and I'm still here. I feel humbled. I feel very fortunate, and now as a driver, when you start breaking records like that, you just want to keep going.
“My boss (Foyt) raced until he was 56. I don't think I'll make it (that long). I'll be 44 the end of this year, but we still have a few years left.”
Kanaan ranked 23rd of 25 drivers on the combined-session timesheet for Friday’s practices. A third practice starts at 2 p.m. ET Saturday, ahead of Verizon P1 Award qualifying at 6 p.m. Both Saturday sessions stream live on RaceControl.IndyCar.com, with NBCSN airing a same-day qualifying show at 8 p.m.
Sunday’s race airs live at 6:30 p.m. ET on NBCSN and the Advance Auto Parts INDYCAR Radio Network.