It’s heartbreaking: A very loyal indianapolies Driver has announced his sudden retirement, sending a powerful statement and bidding the team and supporters a heartfelt farewell.
The 48-year-old Brazilian announced that this will be his final Indianapolis 500 race start, less than a month after saying he didn’t think he would decide on his future until he cleared the twin checkers in May. In addition to becoming a people’s champion, the 2004 Indianapolis 500 champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 victor retires with a total of 17 victories at the pinnacle of American open-wheel racing. Not only do Brazilian IndyCar fans adore him, but Memorial Day Weekend crowds at Indianapolis Motor Speedway also save their greatest applause for TK, fellow countryman Helio Castroneves, and hometown favorite Ed Carpenter.
Although Kanaan excelled and triumphed the Italian Formula 3 in 1995 and the Formula Europa Boxer championship in 1994, it was his 1996 relocation to the United States that enabled him to turn his flashy promise into a season-long reliable performance. He won the Indianapolis 500 the following year while driving for Tasman Motorsports. In 1996, he graduated into the CART Indianapolis 500 with Steve Horne’s squad. Before switching to Forsythe Racing for 1999, he helped the team finish on the podium twice towards the end of the season. That year, TK only made it to the middle step of the podium, where they successfully capitalized on Max Papis’ faltering car in the final moments to win.
Perhaps most importantly, during his three years at Mo Nunn Racing, he and Nunn broke away from the CART/Champ Car faithful in May to run a one-off campaign at the Indianapolis 500, which was sanctioned by the Indianapolis Racing League. This resulted in several additional podium finishes. After starting Nunn’s vehicle in fifth place, Kanaan led 23 laps until falling out with a backmarker at the halfway point, but he would return.
In reality, at the height of the Indy Racing League’s conflict with Champ Car, Kanaan would become one of the league’s superstars after joining what was then known as Andretti Green Racing in 2003. In addition, he established himself as a pillar of the organization controlled by Michael Andretti and Kim Green, coming in fourth in his debut season and winning the championship the following year. With three victories, six runner-up positions, and two third places, Kanaan became the first driver in an Indianapolis 500 season to complete every lap thanks to his exceptional sense of knowing the limit and knowing when and when to take chances. Stated differently, he only finished outside the top five once in 16 races.
Although Kanaan would never again approach that level, he would go on to win ten more races and finish the season three times in the top three with Andretti Green (which would later become Andretti Autosport).
He finally left the team where he had established his reputation to join KV Racing. In addition to finishing sixth in the 2011 championship, Kanaan’s racecraft and wisdom allowed him to guide the team through the 2012 transition of IndyCar to the new Chevrolet twin-turbo V6 and spec DW12 chassis.
However, TK’s greatest accomplishment occurred the following year when, following a string of spectacular misfortunes during the preceding ten years while running strong at Indianapolis, he eventually won. After winning a thrilling race with 14 different leaders and 68 lead changes, he was applauded to the echo.
Kanaan was chosen to take Dario Franchitti’s place with Chip Ganassi Racing, where he would spend four seasons, after the longtime friend and former teammate was hurt in the penultimate race of 2013. He would finish on the podium eleven more times, but Fontana 2014 would turn out to be his lone team victory.
In 2018, as Ganassi reduced the number of cars from four to two, Kanaan found himself commuting between the two ends of the grid. He competed with AJ Foyt Racing for his final two seasons, finishing on the podium at Gateway in ’19. In 2020, he switched to driving exclusively on ovals for the team, sharing the #14 with fellow winner Sebastien Bourdais. In 2021, he was welcomed back to Ganassi to continue in the same capacity. This time, he was racing ovals in the #48 vehicle driven on road and street courses by Jimmie Johnson, a rookie in the IndyCar Series and legend of NASCAR. Ganassi continued to offer a fifth car as a one-off for Kanaan at the 500 even after JJ made the decision to compete in every round in ’22.
In response, TK excelled, splitting the three drivers he will be joining as colleagues at Arrow McLaren in May: Pato O’Ward, Felix Rosenqvist, and Alexander Rossi. He also qualified sixth, led six laps, and finished third, marking his 79th podium finish in a distinguished career.
Kanaan has nine top-five finishes at the Speedway and has started from the front two rows on 11 of his 21 efforts, including pole position in 2005, despite terrible luck at the 500 before winning the race.
Over the past 25 years, Kanaan’s efforts have not always been focused on Indy cars. In 1998, he participated in his first Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, finishing third in the GT1 class while sharing a Ford Mustang driven by Tom Gloy with Robbie Buhl and Mike Borkowski.
Driving Andretti Green’s Acura ARX-01 alongside Bryan Herta and Dario Franchitti, he won the LMP2 class and finished second overall in the 2007 Sebring 12 Hours. In 2008, Kanaan and Franck Montagny won the class at Laguna Seca thanks to AGR’s Acura ARX-01b.
Kanaan had excellent sportscar possibilities when driving for Chip Ganassi Racing; alongside Scott Dixon, Kyle Larson, and Jamie McMurray, he won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in 2015. Similar to Dixon, Kanaan shown quick learning when he was added to the Ford GT team for the Le Mans 24 Hours.
After his open-wheel career is ended, Kanaan intends to seek opportunities with the IMSA and WEC, he told Motorsport.com. He will speak to the media this afternoon at 2:00 PM ET at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When Kanaan first thought he would be retiring in the fall of 2020, his friends, colleagues, and rivals wrote tributes and expressed their gratitude in a story that may be found here.
