The only guy who was going to beat Team Penske on the historic Milwaukee Mile last weekend was Tony Kanaan. Tony was quicker than Sam Hornish and second only to his old friend and rival Helio Castroneves, and when both Penskes hit trouble in the closing laps with failed wing mounts Kanaan was able to lead team-mate and Indy 500 winner Dario Franchitti across the line in an Andretti-Green one-two.
Many people thought Kanaan finally was going to win the Indy 500 this year. He led the race’s opening laps, battling fiercely with Castroneves, and led exactly half of the 166 laps or 415 miles which comprised this year’s rain-interrupted and shortened 500. Kanaan was leading when the 91st running of the 500 was red-flagged after 113 laps and he appeared to be in command after the restart only to get caught out when at the back of the field for another restart just nine laps before heavy rain brought an end to a long day. After smacking the wall Kanaan limped into the pits for repairs and was able to make it home unlapped in twelfth place.
IRL champion with Andretti-Green in 2004, Kanaan also finished second at Indianapolis that year. He was on the pole at Indy in ‘05 and bounced back this year after a tough season in ’06 for Andretti-Green as the team struggled to match Penske and Ganassi’s level of performance. All five of AGR’s cars were competitive at Indy this year and each of Kanaan, Franchitti and Marco Andretti had the speed to win the race. The team’s regular four-car fleet was also very competitive at Milwaukee with Danica Patrick enjoying a strong race until colliding with Dan Wheldon and young Andretti also running well until crashing on a late restart.
