Nunn's praise boosts Kanaan

The CART engineer extraordinaire professed himself delighted with his new driver, who won the rookie of the year title in 1998 and won his first race last year.

"We are very pleased and impressed with Tony's performance so far in the testing we've done, both on ovals and road courses," said Nunn. "I'd rate Tony right up there with the guys I've worked with before, based on what I've seen so far."

Kanaan was sought out by Nunn to drive the former's Reynard for his new team. Until then, the Brazilian was set to drive the works Swift at Forsythe Championship Racing, a team that due to a political dispute, will not enter the 2000 Champ Car series.

As a result, it is only to be expected that Kanaan is pleased to be driving for Nunn. The Brazilian returns Nunn's enthusiasm in spades.

"I've already learned more than I have in the last three years," said Kanaan. "Morris has this ability to show you things that, when you stop and think about them, are very obvious things. But they are things that can make a big difference. I had a feeling what was in store for me when I agreed to drive for Morris. But now, I'm more excited than ever this year. And we haven't even had a race yet!"