Tony Kanaan completes veteran refresher but has ‘no desire' to return to racing
INDIANAPOLIS -- Arrow McLaren pit stop manager Kyle Sagan left a car he was tending to buckle in Tony Kanaan. Sagan, who worked with the Brazilian driver for most of his career, including in 2013 when Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500, couldn't miss the opportunity to assist Kanaan for a possible final time.
Two years after retiring from the sport, Kanaan returned to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway track for the first time Thursday. After the former champion finished his warm-up lap ahead of his veteran refresher program, he reflected on his decorated career.
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'I never really took it for granted but after two years (off), I'm like, 'I had the coolest job in the world for 26 years,''' Kanaan said.
Kanaan serves as the team principal for Arrow McLaren and is the replacement driver for Kyle Larson. Larson is hoping to complete the 'Double' Memorial Day weekend, racing in the Indy 500 and Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte on May 25. The 50-year-old Kanaan can only replace Larson if weather delays the start of the Indy 500. Once Larson starts the race, Kanaan will be ineligible to participate.
Kanaan drove 15 laps between 210 and 215 mph and 15 laps over 215 mph Thursday and called it 'awesome' to run laps. He said he didn't feel a difference with a hybrid car and enjoyed the speed since he was the only driver on the track.
McLaren announced Kanaan as team principal in February. Kanaan is confident in his team's preparedness for the Indy 500 and said that if he were to replace Larson on race day, his absence wouldn't jeopardize the other three cars. When questioned about how he would prepare the night before the Indy 500 as team principal and potential participant, Kanaan made his priorities clear.
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'I will do whatever the team principal needs,' Kanaan said. 'I've kept myself in shape and think I can wake up, shift, and go. I won't be thinking about the race until we wake up in the morning and it's raining. After the race, it'll take me 15 days to recover because I'm old.'
During his two-year hiatus, Kanaan learned the importance of thinking before he acts and speaks. He believes wise processing may help his approach to the race as a leader and reserve driver.
'I think I'm pretty vocal and should've taken a breath before I said something, and I think that's something I've grown a lot in the past two years, but I had to remove myself from the position to learn how that affects the entire group,' Kanaan said. 'As a leader, I learned that I can make slower decisions when I talk to team personnel and (make) changes in the team. How you communicate with your people depending on what situation it is, you can change the entire dynamic. I see a lot of my actions in the past through my drivers and sometimes I'm like, 'Wow, was I like that?''
Driving is a thing of the past for Kanaan, but if the McLaren team principal wanted to unretire for a third time and run in traffic again, he'd need approval from his wife, Lauren, whom he called the 'boss.'
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'I say go for it,' said Lauren jokingly as she sat in the front row of the media section at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Indy 500 news: 'The brand deserved a tie': IMS President takes us inside his closet, iconic style
Kanaan, however, is at peace with retirement.
'The driver Tony Kanaan was not in a very good mood all the time and always worried about his results,' Kanaan said. 'I'm so focused and committed to that (team principal role) and no disrespect to my previous career. I won everything I wanted to win. I have no desire to go back.'
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Tony Kanaan Indy 500 refresher program makes him reflect on career
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