Former INDYCAR Champion, Indianapolis 500 Winner, and driver of the No. 10 NTT DATA Honda, Tony Kanaan will kick off his 20th consecutive season in Indy car racing at the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season opener on the streets of St. Petersburg. Kanaan’s 20th season celebration has been aptly named TK20 and his career milestone will be commemorated throughout the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season with multiple activations.
NOTES OF INTEREST:
- TK20 Plans: TK20 will be a season-long celebration highlighting Kanaan’s career milestone of reaching 20 consecutive seasons in Indy car racing dating back to 1998. Some of the TK20 activations to look forward to include parties, career-honoring events, TK20 swag, digital content and more. Also as announced earlier this year, 7-Eleven has come on-board with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) as an associate sponsor at select races throughout the 2017 Verizon IndyCar Series season to celebrate TK20 and pay homage to their successful eight-season partnership with Kanaan from 2003-2010.
- All About TK: Kanaan, the 2004 INDYCAR Champion, 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner, and 17-time race winner, is currently the all-time Indy car leader in consecutive starts with 267 dating back to the Portland race in 2001. In 2004, he became the first and only driver to complete every possible lap in a season en route to winning the championship. Kanaan added his first Rolex 24 At Daytona win in the WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship with CGR to his career resume in 2015 alongside INDYCAR teammate Scott Dixon and his NASCAR teammates Kyle Larson and Jamie McMurray. He currently has 326 Indy car starts, producing 17 wins, 15 poles, 129 top-five and 209 top-10 finishes (1998-Present).
- TK Back in the Day: Kanaan began his racing career competing in go-karts in Brazil at the age of eight and spent the next 14 years moving up through the racing ranks in Brazil and later in Europe. Kanaan made the move to the United States in 1996 to compete in the Indy Lights Series with Tasman Motorsports and was crowned Indy Lights Champion in 1997. In 1998 he made the move into INDYCAR, where he has spent the last 19 seasons with six different teams.
CGR QUOTEBOARD:
- Tony Kanaan, Driver, NTT DATA Chip Ganassi Racing: “It’s hard to believe that it’s been 20 seasons racing in INDYCAR – I guess it’s true what they say about time flying when you’re having fun. Next to my Indianapolis 500 win and my INDYCAR Championship title, reaching 20 seasons is definitely up there on my list of major career milestones. I think it’s great that I’m able to celebrate TK20 this season with a series that I love so much and with people who have been instrumental in making my career possible.”
- Chip Ganassi, Owner, Chip Ganassi Racing.: “Helping Tony to celebrate his 20th season in 2017 has been something we’ve really been looking forward to as a team. It’s not a normal occurrence in the motorsports industry to see drivers not only stick around for 20 years, but do it with the level of success and popularity that Tony has been able to achieve in INDYCAR.”
About Chip Ganassi Racing
Chip Ganassi has been a fixture in the auto racing industry for over 30 years and is considered one of the most successful as well as innovative owners the sport has anywhere in the world. Today his teams include four cars in the Verizon IndyCar Series, two cars in the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series, two cars in the NASCAR XFINITY Series, two factory Ford GT’s in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and two factory Ford GT’s in the FIA World Endurance Championship. Overall his teams have 18 championships and more than 185 victories, including four Indianapolis 500s, a Daytona 500, a Brickyard 400, seven Rolex 24 At Daytonas, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Ganassi boasts state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis and Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Pa.
For more information log onto chipganassiracing.com.
TIL NEXT TIME, I AM STILL WORKING ON MY REDNECK!
