Kanaan is entered in his 21st Indianapolis 500, his sixth with Ganassi, but his first driving an “extra” entry, in what will likely be his only IndyCar race of the season. In 2020, his final year with AJ Foyt Racing, and in 2021 with Ganassi, Kanaan was an oval specialist in a full-time entry.
But Kanaan said some of his crew and engineers used to be on his car full-time while others are from Chip Ganassi Racing’s two-car Cadillac Prototype program in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
After finishing the two-day test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway third fastest, the 2013 Indy 500 winner remarked: “We took it really slowly. We're a new team as far as my car. We had to just get everybody together in the groove.
“The guys working with me, half of them worked on my #10 car when I was at Ganassi [2014-’17]. We just took it easy. We did a lot of race work, like everybody else.
“Obviously my teammates did a pretty good job giving me something to start. That was pretty decent. It was an easy day really. I think we had a lot of information gathering. The guys went through it. We were just trying – a lot of my guys are working on the IMSA side this year – just to get really in the groove, get everybody working together.”
He later explained: “The cars are prepped the same. Chip wouldn't field me in a car just because he wanted to do me a favor. The car is the same prep as the other ones. The team is a bunch of good guys. I think as a team we're competitive.
“As a team we've been working really hard. There is no doubt that we'll do everything we can to win this race.”
Kanaan was also gave special praise to his race engineer Andy Brown, who worked with March Engineering in the 1980s, then Galmer, PacWest, Panther and Ganassi.
Kanaan described working with Brown as “awesome.” He went on: “It's one of those things that as you go out through your career, you think, ‘What else can happen for you to have more fun or to be more pumped?’ … I've known Andy for three decades, never had worked with him, got beat by him plenty of times!
“I remember obviously I got closer to Andy when Dan [Wheldon] worked with him and they won this race [in 2005].
“It's been a lot of fun. We tried not to be too nostalgic, actually tried to fit in with the technology instead of, ‘When we were here in 1990...’
“It's been a pleasure. He is an awesome dude. I am enjoying it a lot.”
