INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Kanaan would love to be in the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500. But, he knows now his time is likely done as a driver in the NTT INDYCAR SERIES. But, his desire to be around the series doesn’t waver. He’d do anything just to be around. Zak Brown saw that passion and knew that despite Kanaan racing his first and only Indy 500 for him this past May, he couldn’t let the popular Brazilian get away that easy.

Kanaan was named as Special Advisor for Arrow McLaren Racing here in INDYCAR. But, earlier this month, he got a new title – Sporting Director. That role will have him join the existing leadership team and to have a more present role beyond race weekends. In this role, Tony will work closely with the drivers, help build and strengthen partner relationships and serve as a resource for the team to stay performance focused in its day-to-day work.

“My role as special advisor was really an opportunity for me to test the waters of being on the other side of a team—as a leader and no longer a driver,” Kanaan said a few weeks ago.
I was able to observe how the team is run, make suggestions on where we can improve and help out with the commercial side of the team. I found out pretty quickly that this side isn’t too bad. I really like it actually and thought I have more to contribute in the day-to-day, outside of just race weekends. I’m looking forward to this new role where I’ll be more engrained with the team, having unique experience to contribute and make Arrow McLaren even better.”

Part of this role is taking on the project of helping Kyle Larson get up to speed at Indianapolis. See, Larson will be attempting the double next May and in his efforts of making his first foray into the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, no one better than Kanaan could help speed up this process.

Which is why Kanaan was on hand to help Larson complete his Rookie Orientation phases on a warm Fall afternoon in Central Indiana on Thursday. This was the first time that Larson was behind the wheel of this Indy Car and it be allowed to start rolling.

See, his only other time in it was for seat fittings. The only other time he’s had in an Indy Car was also to run the sim.

Thursday? This was real life. This was Larson strapping into the No. 6 Dallara-Chevrolet shortly after 11 a.m. ET and being able to pull away.

“I woke up this morning, I was actually nervous. I didn’t know why. There’s no reason for me to be,” Kanaan admitted.

Larson nailed his ROP. He needed just 72 laps to run through the three phases and felt like it was an all-around great day on track for him.

“It was fun,” said Larson. “I guess mostly what I anticipated in a way, the speed and the grip didn’t feel thankfully scarier than what I thought it might.

“Overall it was a great day. Felt like everybody at McLaren did a really good job prepping me to make things easier to get up to speed. Thanks to everybody there.

“Yeah, glad to be through today and look forward to the open test in April.”

While Larson aced his test, Kanaan wasn’t surprised. Even with nerves, he never doubted for a second that Larson was going to fit in quickly here.

 “I mean, it makes my life easier when you have a superstar, so it makes me look good,” Kanaan said. “Yeah, awesome day. I think the good thing is Kyle and I were teammates back in the day. We won the 24 Hours of Daytona together, so we knew each other. We fit in each other’s seat. It was seamless.

“I think we did what we were supposed to do today. It was a lot of information that I was trying to filter and tell people to stop talking to him about. He doesn’t have to worry about that.

“Yeah, come back here in April and get on.

“I don’t think Kyle Larson needs an evaluation as an INDYCAR driver. He’s a complete driver. Out of his generation, it’s the best I’ve seen.

“I’ve tasted a little bit what these guys do, like he does, trying different cars. I know how much I struggle, and he wins and everything. He’s just one of the best race car drivers in the world right now. I’m very fortunate to actually get the chance to work with him. If I can contribute… When we win this one, I’ll still get a ring, and I can say I have two 500s instead of one.”

Something you may have missed in that sense was the fact that he said he had to tell people to stop talking to Larson. That’s why Kanaan is here. He knows the mentality now of both sides and for him seeing that they could be overwhelming Larson, Kanaan felt it was best to step in and voice his opinion of the situation.

“Think about you have a wheel with 25 buttons, then you have the weight jacker, front bar, rear bar. You have telemetry you can analyze. Engineers, they’re just trying to give you all that, which it’s way too much information,” said Kanaan on why he stepped in to cut off that information from going to Larson.

“I know for a fact, because the past four years, three years, since Jimmie (Johnson) and I got together to do what we did here in INDYCAR, I started racing other series. Every weekend I had to reset my head, different wheel, different car.

“Especially him, he just raced two nights ago, won the championship, then he comes here, you get the thing. It’s too much overthinking. Then why are we going to feed him all that right now, because we’re going to come back here next April. We’re not going to remember that. It’s too long.

“He has a championship to win. I mean, I was like, I let them talk. He went to change. Don’t worry about it, just enjoy the racetrack. I didn’t want him to miss the first moment because I think it’s extremely special. I remember my first time here. But also he was here to pass ROP.

“The wheel, we have six months to figure out. We’ll talk now that he physically saw it as a driver. We probably understand a lot more than the engineer giving you the data, the picture of the wheel.

“Go feel the buttons. Hey, do you want the pit lane speedometer back here? Now it’s not okay any more. You have to have experience. That’s why I was trying to tell them just to let him enjoy the game, now we’ll start working.”

He was right. That kind of stuff was what Larson experienced when he did get to drive the car after. He experienced just like how much the car wants to pull left and said that you have to fight it back to the right on the straightaways.

“That was something I didn’t expect,” he admits.

“The way the wheel was lighter, a lot lighter than the simulator, but still a little heavier than what I expected. I think more of the pit road side of things is where I’ll have to work more on. Just the steering is so slow, you have to turn so far getting in and out. If you’re coming in around someone, leaving out around someone. Getting used to the steering at the slower speeds will be something to get used to.

“Then maximizing the apron, braking for pit road, stuff like that, is stuff I’ll have to really focus on and work on, maximizing potential.”

He has a suitable teacher and mentor here in Kanaan and one that’s hungry to help him get there. The respect Kanaan has for his star pupil goes a long way and very well could help lead a California native and a Brazilian sharing an ice cold glass of milk here on Memorial Day weekend.