Kanaan praises “old school Texas” as he delivers another star drive (VIDEO)

By Aug 28, 2016, 12:21 AM EDT
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The haters can say Tony Kanaan should retire. The haters are incorrect.

Kanaan’s incredible 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season in the No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet rolled on Saturday night in the resumption of the rain-delayed Firestone 600 at Texas Motor Speedway, when he finished a perhaps hard-luck third after another stout drive.

Kanaan’s been among the best – if not the best – drivers in the field to have not won this year. He came close to ending a near two-year winless drought Saturday night in Texas after fighting with James Hinchcliffe for the lead of the race in the waning stages, with team owner Chip Ganassi and strategist Barry Wanser opting to pit him for fresh Firestone tires in the waning stages.

Graham Rahal got them both by the checkered flag, but Kanaan, 41, still proved there’s plenty of life left in the “old dog.”

“Oh, that was so much fun. I’ve got to thank the fans that came back. I didn’t think there was going to be a lot of people but whoever didn’t come missed a hell of a race,” Kanaan told NBCSN’s Robin Miller post-race.

“That was some old school Texas right there.

“It was a good night. We started way in the back, but we made up positions right away. I think with INDYCAR not changing the rules and the earlier race being a day race, we had a ton of downforce that we had to run during tonight’s race, so the cars felt a lot closer as you could see. I had to dig into my hard drive and remember pack racing again. It worked out pretty well.

“Big props to the guys in front who gave each other room, that’s why we finished the way we did. It’s always a pleasure to race like that. I feel bad for the people that didn’t come back tonight from the first race to watch because it really was a hell of a show.”

Kanaan described the finish: “On the inside. But if Graham (Rahal) wasn’t pushing Hinch (James Hinchcliffe), I was going to have it. So, I was hoping for Graham to get greedy and go three wide. That was going to slow everybody down, but that didn’t happen. He was smart enough.”

With this result, Kanaan is now third in the points, only behind Simon Pagenaud and Will Power. Although he hasn’t won yet in 2016, he has five top-five finishes and only one finish (25th at the Angie’s List Grand Prix of Indianapolis) outside the top-12 all season.

IndyCar disappointed by delay of video game but aiming to launch at start of 2024

By Mar 27, 2023, 3:00 PM EDT
IndyCar video game 2024
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An IndyCar executive said there is “absolutely” disappointment that its long-awaited video game recently was delayed beyond its target date, but the series remains optimistic about the new title.

“Well, I don’t know how quick it will be, but the whole situation is important to us,” Penske Entertainment president and CEO Mark Miles said during a news conference Monday morning to announce IndyCar’s NTT title sponsorship. “Motorsport Games has spent a lot of money, a lot of effort to create an IndyCar title. What we’ve seen of that effort, which is not completely obvious, is very reassuring.

“I think it’s going to be outstanding. That’s our shared objective, that when it is released, it’s just widely accepted. A great credit both to IndyCar racing, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that our fans love.”

In June 2021, IndyCar announced a new partnership with Motorsport Games to create and distribute an IndyCar video game for the PC and Xbox and PlayStation consoles in 2023.

But during an earnings call last week, Motorsport Games said the IndyCar game had been delayed to 2024 to ensure high quality.

Somewhat compounding the delay is that IndyCar’s license for iRacing expired after the end of the 2022 season because of its exclusive agreement with Motorsport Games.

That’s resulted in significant changes for IndyCar on iRacing, which had provided a high-profile way for the series to stay visible during its 2020 shutdown from the pandemic. (Players still can race an unbranded car but don’t race on current IndyCar tracks, nor can they stream).

That’s helped ratchet up the attention on having a video game outlet for IndyCar.

“I wish we had an IndyCar title 10 years ago,” said Miles, who has been working with the organization since 2013. “We’ve been close, but we’ve had these I think speed bumps.”

IndyCar is hopeful the Motorsports Game edition will be ready at the start of 2024. Miles hinted that beta versions could be unveiled to reporters ahead of the time “to begin to show the progress in a narrow way to make sure we’ve got it right, to test the progress so that we’re ready when they’re ready.”

It’s been nearly 18 years since the release of the most recent IndyCar video game for console or PC.

“(We) better get it right,” Miles said. “It’s something we’re very close to and continue to think about what it is to make sure we get it over the line in due course.”