INDIANAPOLIS — Former Indianapolis 500 winner Tony Kanaan announced Thursday that the 2020 season will be his last as a primary driver in the IndyCar series.
Kanaan said he will run a part-time schedule this year, including the Indianapolis 500, for A.J. Foyt Racing. He said he could potentially drive in a future Indianapolis 500, but would not return for another partial or full season.
“For the future, who knows?” he said. “I’d love to still be involved with INDYCAR to some degree. I’ve also had offers to race in a number of different series, but that’s not my priority at degree. I’ve also had offers to race in a number of different series, but that’s not my priority at the moment.”
🇺🇸 ⚠️🚨 ANNOUNCEMENT 🚨⚠️
2020 will be my last season as a primary driver in @indycar. I'll be racing the five oval races of the calendar, starting with the Indy 500 in May. I'm not retiring from motorsports, only announcing what I'm doing in 2020.#TKLastLap #INDYCAR pic.twitter.com/Yvc4vEh7RO
— Tony Kanaan (@TonyKanaan) January 30, 2020
Kanaan, born in Salvador de Bahia, Brazil, was the 2004 NTT IndyCar Series champion and 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner. He's had 17 total race wins and 15 total poles.
He is IndyCar’s Ironman, having driven a record 317 consecutive races. His streak started in June 2001 in Portland.
Kanaan has been RTV6's Trackside 6 driver analyst since 2009.
In 2017, Kanaan became an RTV6 sports reporter for the day and interviewed double world racing champion Fernando Alonso.
PREVIOUS | IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan interviews Fernando Alonso, becomes ‘reporter' for the day
While shooting some promotional videos in 2013, Kanaan and RTV6's Dave Furst had some fun ... and some bloopers.
Kanaan started his professional racing career in 1991 when he competed in the Brazilian Formula Ford championship and finished sixth.
“I look back at all these years racing in INDYCAR and the first thing that comes to my mind is how fortunate I’ve been to be in the top level of the sport for this long. I walked into this sport as a 23-year-old with lots of hopes and dreams and I can say, without a doubt, that I accomplished everything I wanted,” Kanaan said. “I’m 45 now; I have fans, wins, podiums, records, a championship and an Indy 500. I feel and know I can still do this for a long time, but like everything else in life there is also a cycle in racing. For a long time, I’ve been asked when I would retire, and my answer was always the same: The day I wake up in the morning and feel like I can’t do this anymore, that’s when I’m going to retire."
Kanaan will promote the hashtag “TKLastLap” during the course of the 2020 NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, which opens Sunday, March 15 with the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg. For announcements and updates on Kanaan’s next steps, be sure to follow his social media channels - @tkanaan on Instagram and @tonykanaan on Twitter and Facebook.
BREAKING: #Indy500 & #IndyCar champ @TonyKanaan to run partial schedule in 2020, his last.
•5 ovals in @AJFoytRacing #14
•23rd season overall
•17 wins, 15 poles, 78 podiums
•377 career starts
•317 consecutive starts (record)
Future Indy 500’s still a possibility.#TKLastLap pic.twitter.com/zLfSJErbwi
— Dave Furst (@DaveFurst) January 30, 2020
