Kanaan led a field-high 166 laps - more than his total in the previous eight races - and inherited the point when team-mate Marco Andretti had to make a green flag pit-stop after completing 135 laps on a 22-gallon load of ethanol. Once back in front, Kanaan ran away from Castroneves down the caution-free final stretch.
"I was just sweating with ten laps to go, thinking 'what's going to happen now'?" Kanaan admitted, "It was like 'okay, something is going to blow up; it's going to rain'. Actually, if it rains, I was going to win, but maybe I was going to spin in the rain. I knew that we had a good car, but that's how funny racing is. Sometimes it comes when you least expect it."
Kanaan's luck also held with the timing of the various yellows, as he admitted that the race could have gone either his way or Andretti's.
"There was a lot of action - and definitely a lot of yellows," he reflected, "We benefit from being in the front, for sure, but that's just a typical Richmond race - very difficult, very long. I think we had a strong car, and Marco did too. We split the strategies just to try to cover both bases, and finally the luck was on my side.
"When I was in the lead in traffic, and when Marco pulled away, it was tough. But I have to say, lapped traffic was really good - I was really impressed how people respect the leaders and did not impede the progress of it, but I think it was busier. There were 26 cars, a lot of people hitting each other but, like I said, this race is always going to be busy. You're always going to be mad at somebody or somebody is going to be mad at you, because you're always passing or trying to lap somebody. That's the way it is. What are you going to do?"
Despite the potential for controversy, however, Kanaan reckons that Richmond - and the other short ovals - have their place on the schedule.
