Tony Kanaan signs contract extension with Chip Ganassi Racing - MotorSportsTalk

Former IndyCar champion (2004) and Indianapolis 500 winner (2013) Tony Kanaan and primary sponsor NTT Data will return to Chip Ganassi Racing for 2017.

The team announced contract extensions for both Kanaan and NTT Data Tuesday afternoon.

“We are very happy to re-sign Tony to drive the No. 10 for us, but are just as pleased to bring a great partner like NTT Data back to the team,” team owner Chip Ganassi said in a release. “Tony has played a strong role as one of the leaders of this team both on and off the track and we feel fortunate to have him back.”

Kanaan, driver of the No. 10 NTT Data Honda, joined CGR in 2014 and has finished seventh (2014), eighth (2015) and seventh (2016).

He has one win and 11 podium finishes in his CGR tenure. The 2017 season will be Kanaan’s fourth with the team and 20th Indy car season.

“I’m thrilled to be back with Chip and NTT DATA – it’s been one of the most rewarding partnerships of my career,” Kanaan said in a statement. “It’s been great having a partner in NTT DATA that is so committed to making our on-track performance as strong as it can be and I think it’s really shown in our growth together over the last few years.

“Our 2016 season was strong, but our results didn’t always reflect our performance and we definitely have some unfinished business heading into 2017.”

The Brazilian native, who turns 42 on Dec. 31, is the all-time Indy car leader in consecutive starts (267), which dates back to his first race in the now-defunct CART series in 2001 at Portland, Oregon.

Kanaan will enter the 2017 season with a record that includes 326 Indy car starts, 17 wins, 15 poles, 129 top-five and 209 top-10 finishes (1998 through 2016).

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The NBC Sports IndyCar power rankings naturally were as jumbled as the action on the streets of St. Petersburg after a chaotic opener to the 2023 season.

Pato O’Ward, who finished second because of an engine blip that cost him the lead with a few laps remaining, moves into the top spot ahead of St. Pete winner Marcus Ericsson and Alexander Rossi, who finished fourth in his Arrow McLaren debut. Scott Dixon and St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who led 31 laps) rounded out the top five.

St. Pete pole-sitter Romain Grosjean (who started first at St. Pete after capturing his second career pole position) Callum Ilott (a career-best fifth) and Graham Rahal entered the power rankings entering the season’s second race.

Three drivers fell out of the preseason top 10 after the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg – including previously top-ranked Josef Newgarden, who finished 17^th after qualifying 14^th.

Heading into Sunday’s race at Texas Motor Speedway, here’s NBC Sports’ assessment of the current top 10 drivers through the first of 17 races this year (with previous preseason rankings in parenthesis):

NBC Sports’ IndyCar Power Rankings

1. Pato O’Ward (5) – If not for the dreaded “plenum event” in the No. 5 Chevrolet, the Arrow McLaren driver is opening the season with a victory capping a strong race weekend.

2. Marcus Ericsson (7) – He might be the most opportunistic driver in IndyCar, but that’s because the 2022 Indy 500 winner has become one of the series’ fastest and most consistent stars.

3. Alexander Rossi (10) – He overcame a frustrating Friday and mediocre qualifying to open his Arrow McLaren career with the sort of hard-earned top five missing in his last years at Andretti.

4. Scott Dixon (3) – Put aside his opening-lap skirmish with former teammate Felix Rosenqvist, and it was a typically stealthily good result for the six-time champion.

5. Romain Grosjean (NR) – The St. Petersburg pole-sitter consistently was fastest on the streets of St. Petersburg over the course of the race weekend, which he couldn’t say once last year.

6. Scott McLaughlin (6) – Easily the best of the Team Penske drivers before his crash with Grosjean, McLaughlin drove like a legitimate 2023 championship contender.

7. Callum Ilott (NR) – A quietly impressive top five for the confident Brit in Juncos Hollinger Racing’s first race as a two-car team. Texas will be a big oval litmus test.

8. Graham Rahal (NR) – Sixth at St. Pete, Rahal still has the goods on street courses, and Rahal Letterman Lanigan remains headed in the right direction.

9. Alex Palou (4) – He seemed a step behind Ericsson and Dixon in the race after just missing the Fast Six in qualifying, but this was a solid start for Palou.

10. Will Power (2) – An uncharacteristic mistake that crashed Colton Herta put a blemish on the type of steady weekend that helped him win the 2022 title.

Falling out (last week): Josef Newgarden (1), Colton Herta (8), Christian Lundgaard (9)