Kanaan plays down rib injury worries

The Brazilian was left extremely sore and bruised following the massive accident, caused by a suspension failure, at Indy, and had been in a lot of discomfort when he tested at Watkins Glen in mid-June.

But ahead of practice beginning at the track tomorrow, Kanaan said the pain had eased since the test.

When asked how he was currently feeling, he replied: "Better. I was really concerned that day when I was here testing because it hurt me a lot. But I think we will be good for this weekend.

"Still feeling it a little bit, so we're going to manage with the IndyCar Safety Team and the doctors. I've been taking a shot before every race that makes me not hurt a lot in the ribs. Hopefully I won't to do that this weekend. But I'm a lot better than I was, for sure."

Although Kanaan has competed in four oval races since the Indy accident, he said the physical demands of a road course like Watkins Glen made the injury much more of a problem.

"We're turning left and right. Especially at this track, it's a fast track," said the Andretti Green driver. "The road course is a lot worse than the ovals for my ribs. This is the first one since the accident, so hopefully we'll be okay."

Watkins Glen starts a string of three road and street courses races before the championship returns to ovals with the Kentucky date in early August.

Practice gets underway tomorrow, with just a single hour long session for most drivers (and the usual additional half hour for rookie and those outside the championship top ten) on Saturday morning prior to qualifying.