Latest news with #Kanaan
Indianapolis Star
18-05-2025
- Automotive
- Indianapolis Star
'This place is something else, man': IMS provides Day 1 Indy 500 qualifying drama for LCQ
INDIANAPOLIS – "You know, some days, I'm happy I'm here. I don't have to do this (expletive) anymore." That was Tony Kanaan, who Thursday morning zipped up his fire suit, yanked on his helmet and strapped into an Indy car for the first time in the two years since what was meant to be his third and final retirement from the sport. For 15 of his 25 years, the Indianapolis 500 proved to be Kanaan's Achilles heel – the race that made him famous, made him an honorary Hoosier and that once every 12 months would find a way to rip his heart out. That 2013 victory gave him a taste of perhaps racing's greatest triumph, and some wondered if he'd ever be able to finally hang up his helmet and cease his pursuit of that second Baby Borg. But days like Saturday – where names like Rahal and Andretti found themselves on either side of one of the most vicious cutlines in sports and where one driver crashed and saw his future hang in the balance for nearly five hours – gave Kanaan a reminder just how brutal the Indianapolis Motor Speedway can be during the Month of May. And for a moment, he found some solace in his new role on the timing stand. Marco Andretti will be fighting Sunday afternoon to make his 20th Indy 500 start after falling into the Last Chance Qualifier by just 0.0028 seconds over the course of 10 miles to Graham Rahal. Andretti started on pole five years ago and four times finished 2nd or 3rd in the Greatest Spectacle in Racing. This year, he'll do well just to get to drive it again after Sunday. 'I don't know what else to do. I think tomorrow is ours to lose. We need to just not be dumb tomorrow and do four solid ones, and we should be okay,' Andretti said Saturday evening after finishing Day 1 of qualifying for the Indianapolis 500 as one of four drivers on the outside looking in and not yet locked into the field. He'll be joined in Sunday's Last Chance Qualifier – where three drivers will start May 25 on the back row, and one will be left a spectator, by Meyer Shank Racing's Marcus Armstrong and Dale Coyne Racing's Jacob Abel and Rinus VeeKay. 'Just the fact we're running tomorrow is a bummer,' Andretti continued. '(Not getting) 30th isn't a big deal unless we screw up tomorrow, obviously. But I don't want to be in that position. We have bigger problems. Just had speed problems. I've seen it across the garage with big teams. There's always that one (car) where they change every bolt on the car, and how fast it's going is how fast it's going to go. I drew that straw this year. 'This place is something else, man.' If you saw which Andretti Global driver skidded through the short chute of IMS just minutes after noon Saturday and completely totaled his car, you would've presumed Colton Herta, not Andretti, to be the Andretti Global driver losing sleep Saturday night. And yet, it was Herta's No. 26 squad – and Andretti Global at-large – who wowed last year's championship runner-up, taking just four-and-a-half hours to go from watching Herta skidding upside down with sparks flying to rolling his backup car out onto pitlane to fill up with fuel and tear out onto the warmup lane. And with an hour left in Saturday's action, Herta threw down four laps that not only proved his new No. 26 was largely running properly, but ones that landed him in the field and bounced his teammate Andretti. 'What a heroic effort by the guys. I don't think I've seen anything like that on any car. Bare chassis, bare tub in four-and-a-half hours to a complete car,' Herta marveled Saturday night. 'The only thing we transferred over was the engine. Everything else was destroyed. 'It was (our crew's) day. Me and (Herta's engineer Nathan O'Rourke) tried our hardest to take us out of the show. They kept us in.' And yet, as he steps away from the adrenaline rush of the final six hours of Sunday's action and takes stock in the challenge that awaits him – versus the expectations he shouldered entering the month – there's pain, too. The Saturday Herta weathered put him in a hole next Sunday after expecting to be fighting for pole. 'It sucks. I think from our standpoint of where we want to be, what we want to contend with, we're not happy just making the show,' Herta said. 'We want to fight for the pole. We want to be in the Fast 12, and when we don't get a chance to do that, it's pretty disappointing.' For Mike Shank, the Meyer Shank Racing co-owner who experienced multitudes of emotions Saturday – a wrecked race car, a driver with a possible concussion, a four-time 500 winner at times on the ropes to even make the race and an under-the-radar veteran who turned the single fastest lap of the day (and two of the fastest three) and will have a legitimate shot to take pole or land his car on the front row for this year's 500. When he stepped back from the chaos of it all, Shank, whose team won the 2021 500 with Helio Castroneves, ultimately goes to bed Saturday night shouldering some frustrations not about a driver and team who turned maybe one of the fastest cars in Gasoline Alley into a mangled mess, but about a team he believes wasn't properly prepared for the disasters that IMS sometimes brings in May. 'It's incumbent upon me in the future to be more prepared for situations like this at Indy, which comes down to money,' Shank told IndyStar after MSR was forced to prepared Armstrong a backup 500 car not from backup oval machinery, but from his purpose-built road and street course car that was ready to pound through the streets of Detroit in a couple weeks – not hit speeds reaching 240 mph around IMS. 'As a team, we need to think about how we handle situations like this and maybe consider putting some capital into a proper Indy 500 (backup) car. 'Now, that's $1 million, or close to it, but we need to come up with that. These times are tough, but when you look at this, we can't not make this race. We're going to work our asses off (Saturday night), and we're going to get the car wrapped and tune on it and get a couple systems that weren't working properly back running. 'I would anticipate we should be able to get to 231 (mph), but we've just got to be cool and not make any mistakes.' It was a marvel that Armstrong, like Herta, saw any more track time Saturday afternoon after his No. 66 Honda turned into a mangled pile of spare parts Saturday morning in his practice crash, and Shank believed those two runs the second-year 500 driver turned, even if they weren't fast enough to get him safely in the race on Day 1, settled the 24-year-old's nerves enough to set him up for success come the pressures of Sunday's LCQ. 'My mindset was, if the car is good enough to do it, I'm not going to be the reason we're not going to get through today,' Armstrong said. 'I threw caution to the wind and just went flat.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Automotive
- Yahoo
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. Advertisement '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. Advertisement '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.' Advertisement '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
Hamilton Spectator
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Hamilton Spectator
Filipino-Canadian creator Isabel Kanaan turned TikTok videos about immigrant experience into sitcom success with ‘Abroad'
TORONTO - When Isabel Kanaan moved from the Philippines to Burlington, Ont., at 16, she found the calm suburban atmosphere difficult to adjust to. 'Filipinos in general, we're always so noisy. And in Manila, the streets never sleep,' says the 33-year-old, whose family immigrated to Canada in 2008. 'Nothing was open past 9 p.m. I was so confused. Like, 'What do people do after 9?'' she said of her new town, located on the western shores of Lake Ontario. It wasn't just the quiet that took getting used to. Kanaan also figured she'd have to give up on her dream of acting. 'I thought there's no way I could be an actor here because I didn't really see people like me or my stories on TV or in movies,' she says. 'So I didn't pursue what I wanted.' She initially enrolled in math at York University to become a teacher, but the pull toward acting proved strong. She eventually switched to Seneca College's acting program — but upon graduating, found few roles available for Filipina women. 'My agent would get me in the room for characters that were Indian or Spanish or something else,' she recalls. 'I got tired of auditioning for things that weren't meant for me, for Filipinos. I wanted to make something for us.' That frustration led Kanaan to start making TikToks about the Filipino immigrant experience from a humorous lens. Years later, those sketches would evolve into 'Abroad,' an English-Tagalog sketch comedy show on OMNI that she co-created and stars in. Now in its fourth season, 'Abroad' returns Sunday with more sketches spotlighting Filipino-Canadian stories. Kanaan plays several characters inspired by real people, including Passive Aggressive Mama, and Nestor, a black-market dealer turned dance instructor. The show skewers everything from culture shock to language barriers to the quirks of assimilation. A major theme this season is parents grappling with how to raise a second-generation Filipino-Canadian child — a storyline rooted in real life, as Kanaan recently became a mother herself. 'Before, I was just playing my mom or the moms I know in my life… Here I was thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to be different.' And then things come up, and you're like, 'Wait a minute, maybe I'm not so different from them,'' she laughs, acknowledging she's just as 'loud' as the other Filipino moms in her life. Kanaan hopes the show helps Filipino immigrants — and newcomers of all backgrounds — feel seen. 'If they watch the show, they'll think, 'Oh yeah, this has been my experience. There are other people like me,'' says Kanaan, a former cast member of CBC's 'Royal Canadian Air Farce.' Kanaan says 'Abroad' has found a loyal following not just in Canada but around the world, with clips amassing millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. The show was recently acquired by Just For Entertainment Distribution to begin airing internationally. 'We are getting so many hits from all around the world and people saying, 'We want to see this show where we are,'' Kanaan says, noting she's heard from Filipino fans in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. 'Abroad' is up for five Canadian Screen Awards, including best sketch comedy and best sketch comedy performance for Kanaan and her Filipino-Canadian co-stars including Joy Castro, Justin Santiago and Nicco Lorenzo Garcia. Following the recent tragedy at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver, where 11 people were killed after an SUV rammed into a crowd, Kanaan says she hopes 'Abroad' brings some comfort to the community. 'It was just so sad… It hits you, even though you're not there — it hits the community,' she says. She's been heartened by how the Filipino-Canadian community has rallied to support victims through various fundraisers. 'That's the thing about the Philippines — we're so community-based. I'm happy we're all supporting and we're getting the word out there,' she says, noting that her show first gained popularity through word of mouth as well. As much as the show speaks to the immigrant experience, Kanaan hopes non-immigrants tune in as well. 'It's showing them the different sides of Canada,' she says. 'I had to learn Canadian culture. There are so many of us and it's so multicultural here in Canada, so there is no reason why you should not learn about your neighbour's culture.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
Winnipeg Free Press
16-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Winnipeg Free Press
Filipino-Canadian creator Isabel Kanaan turned TikTok videos about immigrant experience into sitcom success with ‘Abroad'
TORONTO – When Isabel Kanaan moved from the Philippines to Burlington, Ont., at 16, she found the calm suburban atmosphere difficult to adjust to. 'Filipinos in general, we're always so noisy. And in Manila, the streets never sleep,' says the 33-year-old, whose family immigrated to Canada in 2008. 'Nothing was open past 9 p.m. I was so confused. Like, 'What do people do after 9?'' she said of her new town, located on the western shores of Lake Ontario. It wasn't just the quiet that took getting used to. Kanaan also figured she'd have to give up on her dream of acting. 'I thought there's no way I could be an actor here because I didn't really see people like me or my stories on TV or in movies,' she says. 'So I didn't pursue what I wanted.' She initially enrolled in math at York University to become a teacher, but the pull toward acting proved strong. She eventually switched to Seneca College's acting program — but upon graduating, found few roles available for Filipina women. 'My agent would get me in the room for characters that were Indian or Spanish or something else,' she recalls. 'I got tired of auditioning for things that weren't meant for me, for Filipinos. I wanted to make something for us.' That frustration led Kanaan to start making TikToks about the Filipino immigrant experience from a humorous lens. Years later, those sketches would evolve into 'Abroad,' an English-Tagalog sketch comedy show on OMNI that she co-created and stars in. Now in its fourth season, 'Abroad' returns Sunday with more sketches spotlighting Filipino-Canadian stories. Kanaan plays several characters inspired by real people, including Passive Aggressive Mama, and Nestor, a black-market dealer turned dance instructor. The show skewers everything from culture shock to language barriers to the quirks of assimilation. A major theme this season is parents grappling with how to raise a second-generation Filipino-Canadian child — a storyline rooted in real life, as Kanaan recently became a mother herself. 'Before, I was just playing my mom or the moms I know in my life… Here I was thinking, 'Oh, I'm going to be different.' And then things come up, and you're like, 'Wait a minute, maybe I'm not so different from them,'' she laughs, acknowledging she's just as 'loud' as the other Filipino moms in her life. Kanaan hopes the show helps Filipino immigrants — and newcomers of all backgrounds — feel seen. 'If they watch the show, they'll think, 'Oh yeah, this has been my experience. There are other people like me,'' says Kanaan, a former cast member of CBC's 'Royal Canadian Air Farce.' Kanaan says 'Abroad' has found a loyal following not just in Canada but around the world, with clips amassing millions of views on TikTok and Instagram. The show was recently acquired by Just For Entertainment Distribution to begin airing internationally. 'We are getting so many hits from all around the world and people saying, 'We want to see this show where we are,'' Kanaan says, noting she's heard from Filipino fans in the U.S., the U.K. and Australia. 'Abroad' is up for five Canadian Screen Awards, including best sketch comedy and best sketch comedy performance for Kanaan and her Filipino-Canadian co-stars including Joy Castro, Justin Santiago and Nicco Lorenzo Garcia. Following the recent tragedy at a Filipino street festival in Vancouver, where 11 people were killed after an SUV rammed into a crowd, Kanaan says she hopes 'Abroad' brings some comfort to the community. 'It was just so sad… It hits you, even though you're not there — it hits the community,' she says. She's been heartened by how the Filipino-Canadian community has rallied to support victims through various fundraisers. Winnipeg Jets Game Days On Winnipeg Jets game days, hockey writers Mike McIntyre and Ken Wiebe send news, notes and quotes from the morning skate, as well as injury updates and lineup decisions. Arrives a few hours prior to puck drop. 'That's the thing about the Philippines — we're so community-based. I'm happy we're all supporting and we're getting the word out there,' she says, noting that her show first gained popularity through word of mouth as well. As much as the show speaks to the immigrant experience, Kanaan hopes non-immigrants tune in as well. 'It's showing them the different sides of Canada,' she says. 'I had to learn Canadian culture. There are so many of us and it's so multicultural here in Canada, so there is no reason why you should not learn about your neighbour's culture.' This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
Fox Sports
15-05-2025
- Automotive
- Fox Sports
Tony Kanaan gets back on track at Indianapolis, perhaps for the final time in storied career
Associated Press INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — It took Tony Kanaan a dozen tries to win the Indianapolis 500, and, much later, four years to accept it was time to retire and find something else to do outside a racecar. His 2023 start in the Indy 500 was supposed to be the last of his career and perhaps will ultimately go down as his final appearance in 'The Greatest Spectacle in Racing.' But that final 500 led to a full-time job with Arrow McLaren Racing, where in under two years Kanaan has been promoted to team principal and the man in charge of making the decisions while McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown focuses on Formula 1. And, in a worst case weather scenario May 25, Kanaan might just find himself back in the field of 33 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. After two days of rain delays, Kanaan on Thursday completed the veteran refresher course required for him to be the emergency replacement driver for Kyle Larson should Larson have to leave Indianapolis early to make it back to North Carolina for the the Coca-Cola 600. A long rain delay in Indy last year ruined Larson's attempt to complete motorsports 1,100-mile 'Double' and he never turned a lap in Charlotte. NASCAR made clear to Larson and Hendrick Motorsports that the Coca-Cola 600 must be his priority or it will cost him dearly in the Cup Series championship race. Although Kanaan said the refresher course rekindled his passion for Indianapolis, he would prefer not to replace Larson and race again at age 50. He'd have to start last if Larson leaves Indianapolis before the race begins. 'My retirement, I think my biggest fear was how much I was going to miss this,' Kanaan said. 'But not sure I want to start 33rd and try to pass everybody and suffer for 2 1/2 hours. I did go out on my own terms and I don't have the need to go back and run this race again.' Kanaan will be on Larson's timing stand during the race and cannot replace him in the car once the race begins. His acceptance of being a retired racer comes from the massive responsibility he's been given by Brown. With Brown based in England, Kanaan is the day-to-day boss at Arrow McLaren and thriving in the new role. 'The team loves him, I haven't had that since I started the IndyCar team. He leads by example. He's a workaholic. He's motivated, and that rubs off on people,' Brown told The Associated Press. "None of that surprises me. What did surprise me about TK is the dude can talk and listen at the same time. He takes a lot of advice, which is a bit unusual. He talks to our board members all the time — probably more than me — and he knows what he doesn't know and doesn't want to make mistakes, he's decisive, and he ain't scared. 'If I tell him to do something — and it's something unpleasant — Tony's like 'OK, I'll do it.' Then 10 minutes later he calls me and tells me its done.' Adjusting to a new role Kanaan doesn't look at his new job as the guy tasked with doing Brown's dirty work — and there was a lot of it last year as the IndyCar team had a slew of driver hiring and firings. He said he understands the difficult business side of motorsports and noted Michael Andretti fired him in 2010 despite an existing contract over a loss of sponsorship. It was then he truly understood the brutal nature of the sport and has carried it with him into his role as leader at Arrow McLaren. 'I think the way I want to run the team, Zak and I think the same. It's not that he doesn't want to do it, it's that I'm in charge and I should do it,' Kanaan said. "If he's going to do everything for me, why am I here? When you're being honest, good or bad, it's going to be uncomfortable. 'I had to do a few things these with people that were my friends,' he continued. 'It's not about that. We run a company now. It's also my reputation and how I want this team to be perceived to be successful. If people are not able to separate the friendship to the professional, then too bad. I think it's just a choice that I made. I think I'm a fair person. I think I try to run the team as fair as I can. If you're lacking, I will tell you. Or if you're doing good, I'll tell you. I will never forget, Zak told me one day, 'You don't need a title. If 10 people walk in the room, they should be able to pick who the boss is.'' The drivers' view Arrow McLaren fields three full-time entries for Pato O'Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel, and a fourth car at Indy for Larson. O'Ward has embraced the feedback he receives from his new boss because Kanaan "still thinks he's a racing driver. 'I think it drives everybody forward. Obviously, always has a good spirit, lots of energy,' O'Ward said. 'I always like to hear the negative feedback more, I would say, than the positive because I feel like the positive, it's always very dependent on just results. But I feel like behind the results, there's a lot of things that happen, and you always learn more from the things that you're doing maybe not optimal. I always welcome it.' ___ AP auto racing: recommended
