IndyCar
Tony Kanaan looking forward to returning to INDYCAR this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway
FORT WORTH, TX (Pittsburgh Racing Now) – 2004 NTT INDYCAR SERIES Champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan is returning to the cockpit this weekend at Texas Motor Speedway in the No. 48 Chip Ganassi Racing Honda. Kanaan is sharing the driving duties of the No. 48 with Jimmie Johnson, who is running the road and street courses.
This weekend’s doubleheader will be two of Kanaan’s four races this year, the others being the Indianapolis 500 on May 30 and the Bommarito Automotive Group 500 on Aug. 21 at World Wide Technology Raceway.
“I can’t wait,” said Kanaan. “I’m really excited with the challenge this year with Chip Ganassi Racing. The responsibility of the No. 48, having Jimmie texting me to take care of his car the entire weekend, which I keep reminding him its Chip’s car but it’s his number.”
Kanaan took part in the series open Indy 500 test on April 8 and April 9 at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and felt right at home with the team he was an integral part of from 2014 through 2017.
“Somebody asked me the other day ‘how easy is it to adapt again to a new team?’,” explained Kanaan. “It doesn’t feel like a new team. I have the same teammate (Scott Dixon). My locker is still the same locker from when I left. Eric’s (Cowdin) my engineer, some of my mechanics are still my mechanics from when I was there so it felt like I just came back, came back home.”
Kanaan spent part of this week in the simulator getting ready for the 1.5-mile, high-banked oval. Kanaan is actually doing something similar to Johnson but in reverse. In addition to driving the ovals in the No. 48, Kanaan is racing in the Brazilian stock car series and plans to race in Tony Stewart and Ray Evernham’s Superstar Racing Experience (SRX).
Pittsburgh Racing Now asked Kanaan about the difficulty switching between cars. Watch his response:
There will be one practice session on Saturday from 11:45 a.m. to 1 p.m. CT followed by Qualifying for both races at 3 p.m. The first qualifying lap determines the starting spot for Saturday and the second lap speed will determine drivers starting spots for Sunday’s race. Saturday’s race starts at 6 p.m. CT and Sunday’s race starts at 4 p.m. CT.
Kanaan is thankful for the support of several longtime sponsors who were eager to see him return to the drivers seat after ‘TK’s last ride’ took place in 2020 without fans at many events due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Last year when I jokingly said, ‘I don’t think I should retire. Racing without the fans here is not fun’, the phone rang five minutes after I made that quote,” related Kanaan. “The Bryant folks said, ‘lets do it’. The NTT folks came back and said, ‘let’s do it’. 7-Eleven said, ‘lets do it’, and as a great surprise American Legion came on board for my car full-time for this race (Texas) and for the 500 and they’re on Jimmie’s car as an associate. Great folks, great cause.”
The No. 48 American Legion Honda driven by Tony Kanaan at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on April 9, 2021.
In his Championship season of 2004 Kanaan visited victory lane at Texas, where he will be driving with two different looks, one for the Genesys 300 on Saturday and one for the XPEL 375 on Sunday.
“It’s going to be a big effort,” explained Kanaan. “We’re going to race one livery Saturday night and the guys are going to come in after the race and unwrap the car and then wrap the car. It’s going to be Bryant on Saturday night and the American Legion on Sunday.”
Kanaan would love nothing more than parking the No. 48 in victory lane at a place where he has 1-win, 5-second place finishes and 9-podium finishes.
“I’m feel extremely confident,” said Kanaan. “Obviously we have high expectations for this weekend. The team was extremely strong there last year. INDYCAR has not changed the rules much. We’re coming in a softer tire this year, a little more downforce trying to get the second groove working so I’m ready. Chip is going to be putting the pressure on all of us to win. I like that.”
MONTEREY, CA (September 6, 2026) – Alex Palou and Chip Ganassi Racing are celebrating their 2026 NTT IndyCar Series Championship following the season finale at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
Palou started eighth and finished second in Sunday’s race after clinching the title following last week’s 10th place finish in the second race at The Milwaukee Mile.
“One for the thumb,” said Team Owner Chip Ganassi, referring to Palou’s fifth championship ring in an obvious homage to a familiar football refrain around Pittsburgh.
“Incredible,” Palou said. “I owe everything to this team. So proud of this team. It is great to have another championship and ready for the next one.”
Palou’s title is his fourth straight, matching a feat for the team from 1996-1999.
“I’ve been saying it for years now, I cannot still believe the position I am,” said Palou. “The opportunity to start every single year with the chances and the best team around me and best partners to fight for wins and championships.”
Palou finished the season with 6-wins, 8-poles, 7-podiums, 12-Top 5’s, 15-Top 10’s and 631 laps led.
“Last year was magical,” reflected Palou. “I thought it could not be repeated. We did not repeat it, unfortunately, but we were close. We were like really, really close. Obviously last year we were able to win the 500 and the championship. If I didn’t compare it to last year, this year was just insane. Was so fun.”
CGR Team Manager Barry Wanser, who has been with the team for over 25-years, talked about what makes Palou a special talent.
“I just think his ability to constantly learn and take advantage of the resources that we have at Chip Ganassi Racing,” said Wanser, who credited the men and women behind the scenes at CGR. “Alex can’t perform as well as he does without such a great team behind him. The engineering department certainly has knocked it out of the park again with some great cars. Certainly in the pits has been amazing this year. Alex is just impressive. Very awesome.”
Ganassi, whose team ran off four straight title with Jimmy Vasser (1996), the late Alex Zanardi (’97 & ’98) and Juan Montoya (’99), refuses to take credit for the team’s success, which starts with the team mantra, ‘One team, One goal’.
“When I started the team, I wanted to have a team that I would want to drive for,” explained Ganassi. “That’s kind of always the way I looked at it. It takes a lot of people to make this stuff happen. It’s one team. We all work together. We’re all trying to win. It’s open book with us all the time across the board with all the drivers, all the teams.”
Palou’s four titles in a row by a driver match the only other driver to do it, Sebastien Bourdais.
“We’re in the midst of a generational thing here, a generational driver,” said Ganassi. “Four in a row has been done before, but five out of six hasn’t been done before. That’s something that’s kind of unprecedented. We’re in the midst of that right now. It’s not over!”
MONTEREY, CA (September 6, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin and the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevrolet are back in Victory Lane following a dominating performance at the Mission Foods Monterey Grand Prix at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
McLaughlin, who started on the pole position, ended a 2-year win drought leading 87 of 90-laps en route to his 8th-career NTT IndyCar Series victory.
“Really proud to get our first win together on a road course where the last couple years we probably struggled at the most,” said McLaughlin of his new engineer Raul Prados. “What a great way to end the season. We have a lot of hard work to do over the off-season to come back stronger, combat against the 10 (Alex Palou).”
Palou started second in the No. 10 DHL Lightning Bolt Chip Ganassi Racing Honda that paid tribute to CGR Champion and Alum, the late Alex Zanardi, who passed away earlier this year. Palou settled in behind McLaughlin but couldn’t match the pace or tire wear of the No. 3.
“We started on used alternates and we kind of survived, but then we went on an another used alternates,” said Palou, who finished eighth. “We, like, killed ourselves there.”
Despite the eighth place finish Palou, who clinched his fifth Series Championship in six years last week at Milwaukee, says he is as lucky as they come.
“Obviously last year we were able to win the 500 and the championship,” explained Palou. “If I didn’t compare it to last year, this year was just insane.”
Andretti Global’s Kyle Kirkwood finished second in the No. 27 Sam’s Club Honda to clinch second place in the Series Championship.
“We played it a little bit safer than I might have hoped for the last race of the season, but we had to for the championship,” explained Kirkwood. “We made all the decisions based on that. Probably could have had a go at Scottie at the end on the first few laps on reds. The number one goal was to make the tires last. That’s what we did. Came home with a second, which is something to be proud of.”
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi came home third in the No. 20 Java House ECR Chevrolet. The podium finish ended a drought as well for Rossi and was his first in two years at ECR.
“It’s no secret that this has been a pretty terrible year for myself and the whole ECR team with the litany of issue, some out of our control, some in our control,” said Rossi. “Really ever since the Indy GP, there’s been a huge amount of emphasis and effort behind the scenes to kind of dig out of that hole. This is a great result to kind of reward that effort, just rebuild the confidence in everyone that we’re capable of doing this.”
Despite finishing last in the 25-car field due to the incident with Robb, Hauger hung on to win series Rookie of the Year honors. He finished with 228 points, 15 ahead of Mick Schumacher of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the rookie race.
The 2027 NTT IndyCar Series season opens Sunday, March 7 with the Firestone Grand Prix on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida.
MONTEREY, CA (September 5, 2026) – Scott McLaughlin is on the pole position for Sunday’s NTT IndyCar Series Mission Foods Grand Prix of Monterey after blasting to a quick lap of 1-minute, 9.1363-seconds in the No. 3 DEX Imaging Chevy in Firestone Fast Six qualifying at the picturesque permanent road course.
“I felt like from the jump this weekend, we’ve come with a philosophy we’ve been working on the last, I don’t know, four months or something like that, basically since our Mid-Ohio test,” explained McLaughlin. “Been feeling better and better. Put it all together today.”
McLaughlin edged Alex Palou, whose lap of 1-minute, 9.1540-seconds in the No. 10 DHL Lightning Bolt Chip Ganassi Racing Honda, was a mere o.o177-seconds off the top spot.
“It’s so tough to put a lap together, especially at this place,” said Palou. “I think it’s so great to see that we’re all so close. I’m sure that Scott feels like he could have got another 10th if he puts like a perfect lap. I feel the same way.”
Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Racing’s Felix Rosenqvist clocked in third fastest at 1:09.1931 in the No. 60 SiriusXM Nickelback Honda.
“Good qualifying for us,” said Rosenqvist. “We’ve been in the top three in every session, so I think we would have been disappointed if we didn’t end up in the top three. Always tough to get through with all of the sand and traffic. I missed it a bit in the corkscrew, so maybe there was a pole in there. I’m not sure.”
Ed Carpenter Racing’s Alexander Rossi lines up fourth after a fast lap of 1:09:3247 in the No. 20 Java House Chevrolet.
“The No. 20 Java House Chevrolet has been through a lot this season so it’s nice to get a decent qualifying on the books before the year comes to a close,” said Rossi. ““Road courses have been a big struggle for us, really all season. At a test we had a couple of months ago, we really understood something we hadn’t prior to that and have just been building off of it.”
Arrow McLaren’s Christian Lundgaard will start fifth and Team Penske’s David Malukas will start sixth as Chevrolet took four of the Fast Six qualifying spots en route to it’s 250-career IndyCar Series pole.
Palou’s Chip Ganassi Racing teammates Kyffin Simpson will start 9th in the No. 8 Sunoco and Scott Dixon will start 17th in the No. 9 PNC Bank Honda. The race will be the last for Dixon at CGR after 25-years with the team.
Live coverage of the 95-lap race starts at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on FOX, FOX Deportes, FOX One and INDYCAR Radio powered by OnlyBulls.
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