Graham Rahal spins Tony Kanaan on final restart, costs both a likely podium finish at Houston - MotorSportsTalk

Tony Kanaan showed that patience is one of his biggest strong suits in Saturday’s Race 1 of the Shell and Pennzoil IndyCar Grand Prix of Houston.

Kanaan was dumped on the final restart of the race by Graham Rahal, ending potential podium finishes for both drivers. Kanaan was running third at the time and Rahal fourth.

“I’ve gotta be professional, I have a team to defend and a lot of good sponsors, so I can’t do what I really want to do,” Kanaan said, showing incredible restraint, even though he had a look on his face that showed just the opposite.

“What a shame,” Kanaan said to NBCSN. “It was a great run. We fought all the way, all day long, and to be taken out like that, I think it’s stupid.

“But (Rahal) was having a good day, too, and ruined his day. I guess I wanted to believe the best, that he didn’t do it on purpose, he came over to apologize, but that still doesn’t take the frustration out of me.”

Kanaan’s car was undriveable after the contact, but Rahal was able to continue. He went over to Kanaan afterward to apologize.

“Obviously, I said I’m sorry,” Rahal said. “With the stack up on the restart, I was trying to keep the tires just as dry as I could. I was just to the left (of Kanaan) and when it stacked up, I just didn’t see him at all and got into the back of him.

“Obviously, this has happened about a hundred times this year, but it doesn’t make it right.”

Kanaan wound up recording a 13th-place finish, while Rahal was penalized 30 seconds for avoidable late-race contact. While he crossed the finish line third, the penalty pushed his eventual finish to 11th.

“I think if it had ended under green, we would have won this race for sure, and I feel confident saying that because I was moving by those guys in a hurry,” Rahal said. “But, shoulda, coulda, woulda. In the end, I made a mistake. That’s the way it goes.”

Added Kanaan, “It’s just a shame. Am I mad at him? Yes. Can I turn back time? No. So we have to turn the page and go on to tomorrow.”

Rahal also tried to look ahead.

“This car, I said last night that it could win today,” Rahal said. “We didn’t qualify as well as we thought we could of, but everybody saw there was nobody quicker than us on that racetrack.

“What can we do? We have to go back out there tomorrow, try to qualify a little better and run upfront.”

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FORT WORTH, Texas – Defending series champion Will Power’s name is off the board of potential IndyCar free agents, but there’s still much to be settled in the field – starting with the reigning Indy 500 winner.

Marcus Ericsson is waiting on a contract offer to remain with Chip Ganassi Racing beyond the 2023 season (his fourth with the team). The Swede said he’s made it clear to car owner Chip Ganassi that he wants to stay in the No. 8 Dallara-Honda, which has four victories since June 2021.

“Yeah, it’s up to him, basically,” Ericsson said Friday at Texas Motor Speedway. “He needs to give me an offer for ’24 onward. The ball is in his corner. I really enjoy it at Ganassi, and we’ve done a lot of great things together and would love to continue, but the ball is in his corner. He knows very well what I want.”

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Two days before Ericsson won the Grand Prix of St. Petersburg season opener March 5, Ganassi sang the praises of the emerging star driver to a small group of reporters.

“I want him here beyond this year,” Ganassi said of Ericsson. “He seems to have gotten more out of winning the Indy 500 than anyone else has of recent time, which is a good thing. He did a good job. He’s been everywhere. It’s been a really positive thing for Marcus, the team, the series. He’s grown with that as well.”

Ericsson didn’t sew up his current deal until late in his breakthrough 2021 season (after a memorable victory in the inaugural Music City Grand Prix). So he isn’t necessarily anxious about it but conceded he “was thinking a bit about it over the winner in the offseason and talking about it

“But now that the season has started, I told my managers and everyone I want to focus on the driving. They focus on those things. Now the season is on, and I want to try to win races, win another 500 and championship. That’s where my focus is. (A new contract) is one of those things that happens when it happens. But I’m happy where I am, and I want to do well.”

IndyCar’s two best teams, Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing, tend to be very tight-lipped about their drivers’ contract status.

Power confirmed Friday to journalist Bruce Martin that his new deal was for multiple seasons. That means all three of Penske’s drivers are in multiple-year contracts (unlike Power’s deal, Scott McLaughlin’s extension was announced by the team last year).

But there is more uncertainty at Ganassi’s four cars aside from Ericsson. While Scott Dixon has a ride for as long as he wants (and the six-time champion has given no indication of retiring), Ganassi’s other two other seats have yet to be solidified beyond 2023.

The No. 11 is being split this year by rookie Marcus Armstrong and veteran Takuma Sato this season. In the No. 10, Alex Palou is believed to be in his final year at Ganassi before heading to Arrow McLaren.

That expected move would cast doubt on the future of Felix Rosenqvist, who returned to Arrow McLaren when the team was unable to bring in Palou (who was embroiled in a contract dispute with Ganassi).

Aside from Penske, virtually every other IndyCar team (including Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing and Meyer Shank Racing, which has Helio Castroneves in a contract year) has seats that potentially could open for next season, and even drivers who appear to be under contract for next year still could be on the move (via buyouts and option years).

Though Juncos Hollinger Racing announced a “long-term, multiyear contract partnership” last July with Callum Ilott, but the second-year driver was cagey Friday when asked about how long the extension ran.

“It’s for whatever I want it to be,” said Ilott, who finished a career-best fifth at St. Petersburg. “I’ll say that.”

Before returning to JHR, Ilott turned enough heads as a rookie to draw interest from several teams, and he indicated Friday that he still would be listening.

“I’d love to talk to some other big teams,” Ilott said. “Nothing stops me from talking. Look, you’ve got to be fair. I agreed to (the deal), but it’s pretty obvious that I’m quite interested as people are interested in me as a driver, but I need to focus on the job I’ve got here.

“I’m confident whether it’s in one year, two years, three years, four years, that if I’m wanted now, I’ll always be wanted. I’m a good enough driver that I don’t need to lack confidence in that side. … I’m not worried.”