Rank: 7 Points: -160
Tony Kanaan returns to Andretti Autosport for the 2010 season. Last year Kanaan finished sixth in championship points with five top-fives and ten top-tens. In the off-season, Kanaan competed in a handful of international go-karting events. Kanaan also was the only IndyCar driver to compete in Tony Stewart's Prelude to the Dream at Eldora Speedway.
Tony Kanaan finished third in the 2008 IndyCar series standings for then Andretti Green Racing, accumulating 2 poles (S. Pete, Richmond), and 1 win at Richmond. He also posted eleven top-fives and fifeen top-10s. Tony will race for Andretti Green Racing for the 2009 season.
Kanaan started racing in karts, building them as well as driving. When Tony was just thirteen, his father was dying of cancer, and requested that Tony keep racing, and not stop to take over the family business. "He asked me not to stop racing. I promised him I would keep doing it. Today I am who I am because I worked really hard to fulfill his request."
Kanaan earned victories at Phoenix, Texas and Nashville during 2004, and became the first driver in major auto racing history to complete every lap of every race for an entire season, propeling him to the 2004 Indy Car Series championship. the following year, he finished second in the 2005 IndyCar Series championship
In earlier years,he recorded victories at Kansas and Infineon Raceway in 2000 and qualified for the pole position at the 89th running of the Indianapolis 500.In earlier competition, Kanaan claimed his first IndyCar Series victory on March 23, 2003, at Phoenix International Raceway .
The driver earned two CART pole positions in 2002 at Miami and Fontana events, finishing 12th in the points. His lone career CART win came in 1999 at Michigan Speedway with Forsythe Racing. in 1998 he was awarded the Jim Trueman CART Rookie of the Year
Kanaan was crowned 1997 Dayton Indy Lights Champion, but his previous racing after his early karting days was in Brazilian Formula Championships, and in the Italian Formula 3 championships.
An accomplished tri-athlete, he competed in the California Half-Ironman in April 2003…he also enjoys bicycling, go-karting and watersports…former rollerblade instructor…speaks English, Portuguese, Italian and some Spanish…lists Ayrton Senna and Alex Zanardi as his racing idols. his love of monkeys led him to get a gorilla tattoo on his right bicep when he was 13. Tony's website is
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