MotorSportsTalk continues its run through the driver-by-driver lineup in the Verizon IndyCar Series, after the 2016 season, with seventh-placed Tony Kanaan.
Tony Kanaan, No. 10 Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet
- 2015: 8th Place, Best Finish 2nd, Best Start 2nd, 3 Podiums, 6 Top-5, 10 Top-10, 213 Laps Led, 7.6 Avg Start, 9.9 Avg. Finish
- 2016: 7th Place, Best Finish 2nd, Best Start 2nd, 2 Podiums, 5 Top-5, 12 Top-10, 37 Laps Led, 8.8 Avg. Start, 8.8 Avg. Finish
For the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series, Tony Kanaan was back in a big way. Yes, he didn’t win a race and only scored a couple podiums, but this was easily his best season yet at Chip Ganassi Racing Teams as well as his best overall in perhaps five or six years – maybe longer.
Until the final two races, which ended with a bit of a thud – 19th and 13th place results were two of his three worst finishes all season – Kanaan was between second and 12th in all but one of the first 14 races. He arguably could have won Road America with another lap, he had one of his favorite all-time drives at Indianapolis en route to fourth there, and he was typically tenacious at Phoenix, Toronto and Texas.
His qualifying remained a strong point as well. Only just two spots on average behind Scott Dixon, 8.8 to 6.2, Kanaan was always starting high enough up in the field to where his team’s pit crew work and Kanaan’s usual performance on race days could make the difference.
He never seemed out of contention. Far more often than normal Kanaan’s blue-and-white No. 10 car was firmly in the mix and there were no races where it felt as though Kanaan was anonymous. Mid-Ohio – maybe – with a 14th place start and 12th place finish was the only track where it didn’t seem Kanaan was in the frame.
Firmly focused, fit as ever and determined not to let the doubters get him down, Kanaan proved throughout the year that he still has more than enough of what it takes at this level to succeed – and will be keen to rock it once more in 2017, as he’s back once again with Ganassi.