Kanaan Snatches First Season Win
IRL champion Tony Kanaan ended a 12-month drought to claim today his first win of the year at the Kansas Speedway

Kanaan, whose last win was at Nashville Superspeedway one year ago, beat Andretti Green teammate Dan Wheldon to the finish line by just 0.012 - the sixth closest finish in IRL history.
Rahal-Letterman driver Victor Meira made it a three-way photo finish across the line, finishing third only one hundredth of a second behind Wheldon.
"The biggest nose won," a happy Kanaan joked after the race.
Wheldon seemed set to take a fifth season victory, leading 111 of the 200-lap race. Starting from 13th, the series points leader gambled on an early pitstop strategy, but with just two laps before the end of the race lost his lead to a charging Kanaan.
"I love Tony to bits. I'm glad he beat me instead of somebody else, but losing like this is difficult to take," Wheldon said after the race.
Pole sitter Danica Patrick is still chasing the elusive first career win, the Rahal-Letterman rookie battled mechanical failures through the race to finish ninth.
Pos Driver Make-Engine Laps 1. Tony Kanaan Dallara-Honda 200 2. Dan Wheldon Dallara-Honda 200 3. Vitor Meira Panoz-Honda 200 4. Dario Franchitti Dallara-Honda 200 5. Tomas Scheckter Dallara-Chevy 200 6. Scott Sharp Panoz-Honda 200 7. Darren Manning Panoz-Toyota 200 8. Helio Castroneves Dallara-Toyota 200 9. Danica Patrick Panoz-Honda 200 10. Buddy Rice Panoz-Honda 200 11. Tomas Enge Dallara-Chevy 200 12. Sam Hornish Jr. Dallara-Toyota 200 13. Alex Barron Dallara-Toyota 200 14. Patrick Carpentier Dallara-Toyota 200 15. Bryan Herta Dallara-Honda 200 16. A.J. Foyt IV Dallara-Toyota 200 17. Ed Carpenter Dallara-Toyota 200 18. Scott Dixon Panoz-Toyota 200 19. Jimmy Kite Dallara-Toyota 195 20. Kosuke Matsuura Panoz-Honda 134 21. Ryan Briscoe Panoz-Toyota 113 22. Roger Yasukawa Dallara-Honda 53
About this article
Series | IndyCar |
Drivers | Tony Kanaan |
Kanaan Snatches First Season Win
Trending
Can Penske redress the balance in IndyCar's battle of the titans?
IndyCar's gold standard teams Ganassi and Penske are set for another slugfest beginning this weekend at Barber Motorsports Park. A poor start to the first season with the new aeroscreen left Josef Newgarden with too much ground to make up on Scott Dixon in the title chase, but his strong end to 2020 suggests a battle royale lies ahead...
The six major IndyCar subplots to follow in 2021
From rookies arriving with big reputations to veterans who still have the fire and an F1-linked squad pushing to join the big leagues, IndyCar has it all this year. Here are six of the key storylines to keep track of
The Indycar season that proves Michael Andretti is better than F1 showed
Often unfairly characterised as a car-breaker, judged for his lack of an Indianapolis 500 win and a disappointing part-season of Formula 1 in 1993, Michael Andretti was highly respected by his rivals and only thwarted greater success by ill-fortune. When it all came together in 1991, he was a truly formidable force
How McLaren is striving towards IndyCar's elite
The second year of McLaren's full-time IndyCar return is looming, with Patricio O'Ward and Felix Rosenqvist leading its line-up. Strong team personnel and work behind the scenes means that 2021 could be the year it joins the established elite
The enigmatic legacy of a misunderstood Indy stalwart
Flashes of brilliance amid spells of obscurity have been too common for Marco Andretti. While the third-generation racer has opted to bring his full-time IndyCar career to a close, his peaks and troughs have never been for want of trying
Why American racing's top dog is without equal
A byword for success in business and in motorsport for over 50 years, Roger Penske's importance to the US scene cannot be understated. In an exclusive interview, the custodian of the IndyCar Series and Indianapolis Motor Speedway reflects on his journey
The McLaren that rendered its Indy rivals obsolete
When founder Bruce McLaren died in June 1970, his team could have folded. Instead, his loyal band rallied to produce a string of winners - including an Indycar game-changer that won its third Indianapolis 500 five years after its debut
Why Newgarden's best IndyCar season yet wasn't enough
Josef Newgarden feels he didn't put a foot wrong in 2020, yet his finest season-long run of performances failed to yield a third series championship. But in a warning shot to Scott Dixon, Team Penske's team leader has vowed to redouble his efforts in 2021