Kanaan leads Ganassi 1-2 to end 2014 on a high note (VIDEO)

By Aug 31, 2014, 1:59 AM EDT
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FONTANA, Calif. – Since IndyCar returned for the de facto second half of its season at Houston in late June, Tony Kanaan and the Target Chip Ganassi Racing crew had been bursting at the seams to break through to win.

Kanaan nearly podiumed there before being taken out under yellow, led 325 laps between Pocono and Iowa, posted a double podium at Toronto, and another third at Milwaukee.

So the winning potential for the No. 10 Target Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet this year has been obvious, but until Saturday night at Auto Club Speedway, had not been realized.

Finally, then, was the word best used to describe Kanaan, who capped off the 2014 Verizon IndyCar Series season with his first win since the 2013 Indianapolis 500.

“It’s a long time coming. For Target, with the 25-year anniversary. Finally,” Kanaan told NBCSN in victory lane.

“We had a team meeting this aftrernoon. If you win this afternoon you get to brag for seven months. At Chip Ganassi Racing, the winner gets your picture on the wall, and I finally get one now.”

For Kanaan, taking over the car previously driven by Dario Franchitti, it was important to secure at least one victory.

“It’s very emotional,” he said. “This 10 car has a lot of history so I didn’t want to go winless. I told Dario I dedicate it for him.”

Kanaan’s strong second half brought him up to seventh in the final points standings, and second in the Ganassi quartet.

Teammate Scott Dixon almost quietly ran to second in the race, and suddenly made it to third in the championship. He posted 11 top-five finishes this season.

With Dixon having won at Mid-Ohio and Sonoma, Ganassi went from no wins in the first 14 races of 2014 to three in the last four. Kanaan hailed the team’s forward momentum through the tail end of the season.

“We’re extremely confident as a unit. The team showed how quick we can turn. Now we’ll have the team spirit really good through winter, and I have seven months on top,” Kanaan said in the post-race press conference.

The win wasn’t the only bit of news revealed at the presser – Tony and wife Lauren Bohlander Kanaan confirmed Lauren will be expecting a child in late January.

Ford Mustang GT3 test has Austin Cindric dreaming of Daytona: ‘I want to drive that car’

By Mar 22, 2023, 2:30 PM EDT
Cindric Ford GT3 test
Jonathan Bachman/Getty Images
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Austin Cindric wasn’t the “mystery” test driver behind the wheel of the new Ford Mustang GT3 at Sebring International Raceway, but the Team Penske driver desperately wanted to be.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, an amateur sports car driver himself, made the big reveal via a Tuesday tweet that provided the first video evidence of the GT3 Mustang on track.

“I’ve watched the video in question about a million times,” Cindric said Wednesday during a Ford Performance Zoom news conference to promote NASCAR’s first road course weekend of the season at Circuit of the Americas. “Definitely exciting times for sure. I want to drive that car. It suits my experience level and also the relationships that I have.”

Ford will enter the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next season with its GT3 Mustang, entering a two-car factory effort (that will be managed by Multimatic) in GTD Pro and making customer cars available in the GT Daytona category.

That increases the likelihood of seeing more NASCAR drivers crossing over to IMSA. Cindric has been the only full-time Cup driver in the Rolex 24 at Daytona the past two years, but Ford Performance global director Mark Rushbrook has said the GT3 Mustang will provide more opportunities.

Ford has used its GT4 Mustang as a NASCAR driver development tool in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge with Harrison Burton and Zane Smith combining to win the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January.

“We’re excited about the Next Gen car and the new architecture there and the similarities between that car and GT3 and even GT4 cars,” Rushbrook said at the announcement of the Ford GT3 program in January 2022 at Daytona. “We think it’s a great opportunity and to do be able to do that in a 24-hour race and get NASCAR drivers even more time is something we need to consider taking advantage of that opportunity.”

Given his sports car background, Cindric probably still would be in the Rolex 24 regardless. He has eight IMSA starts since the 2017 season opener at Daytona, racing a Lexus RCF GT3 and Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the GT category. The 2022 Daytona 500 winner made his second LMP2 start this year with Rick Ware Racing.

But Cindric’s preference naturally would be in a Ford, particularly with sports car racing enjoying convergence and crossovers in both GT and prototype racing.

“It’s an exciting time in GT racing, just as it is now for prototype racing with a lot of new regulations and manufacturers building new GT3 cars,” he said. “And also the opportunity with WEC (the World Endurance Championship) and Le Mans and how that all lines up for that category of car. It’s definitely an exciting time. I want to be as much of a part of that as possible.”

Though those odds seemingly will increase with multiple Ford entries in the Rolex 24 field next year, Cindric said NASCAR drivers still have to put in the networking to land rides as he has in recent years.

“Now how (the GT3 Mustang) relates to specifically NASCAR drivers and how often they want to be in the Rolex, could it be an influence? Absolutely, as far as the tie-in with the manufacturer,” Cindric said. “But the challenge and the drive and the logistics of getting an opportunity for a race like the Rolex 24 will be just as challenging as it always is to find your one-off ride for the race. At least from my experience, that’s what I still anticipate.”

It turned out the “mystery” test driver wasn’t from NASCAR (Farley revealed the driver to be 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Joey Hand after a fan asked whether it was Joey Logano).

But Cindric believes there could be more Cup drivers — and perhaps himself — behind the wheel of Mustang GT3s in the future.

“There’s definitely more of a pathway than I think there would be before as far as Ford drivers are concerned,” he said. “Hopefully, I’ll get the opportunity to drive that thing. It’s obviously a great looking car. That’s the first box you’ve got to check. And it’s cool (to have) a guy like Jim Farley, no doubt he’s a racer just as much as he is steering the ship for Ford. It’s cool to see he’s just as excited as the rest of us about it.”