IndyCar: Tony Kanaan to return to A.J. Foyt Enterprises in 2019
By Asher Fair
Veteran driver Tony Kanaan is set to return to A.J. Foyt Enterprises in the 2019 IndyCar season as the driver of the #14 Chevrolet.
A.J. Foyt Enterprises veteran Tony Kanaan, who is currently driving in his 21st IndyCar season, is set to return to the team in the 2019 IndyCar season. He is currently in his first season driving the #14 Chevrolet for the team, and he is set to do so next year as well.
In addition to bringing back the 43-year-old Tony Kanaan for a second season as the driver of the #14 Chevrolet, A.J. Foyt Enterprises are also set to bring back 19-year-old rookie Matheus Leist as the driver of the #4 Chevrolet.
For the first time since they entered the 2016 season with Takuma Sato driving the #14 Honda and Jack Hawksworth driving the #41 Honda after doing the exact same thing in the 2015 season, A.J. Foyt Enterprises are set to enter a season with the same two drivers that they entered the previous season with.
The team are coming off of two consecutive offseasons of completely reconstructing their driver lineup. From the 2016 season to the 2017 season, they switched from Honda aero kits and engines to Chevrolet aero kits and engines. They replaced Sato in the #14 Honda with Carlos Munoz in the #14 Chevrolet, and they replaced Hawksworth in the #41 Honda with Conor Daly in the #41-turned-#4 Chevrolet.
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Neither Munoz nor Daly were brought back by the team this season, as they were replaced by Kanaan and Leist, respectively. Neither Munoz nor Daly currently drive full-time in IndyCar, but both competed in the Indianapolis 500 in May for Andretti Autosport and Dale Coyne Racing, respectively.
So far this season, Kanaan has had decent pace, but his results have not exactly shown it. He currently sits in 14th place in the championship standings with three top 10 finishes in the first nine races of the season. His best finish so far this season is a seventh place finish in the second race of the Chevrolet Dual in Detroit on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan.
Kanaan is currently the fourth highest Chevrolet driver in the championship standings, and he is the highest Chevrolet driver not including Team Penske’s three drivers, who all currently sit in the top eight in the standings.
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Are you excited to see Tony Kanaan now set to return to IndyCar for his 22nd season in the sport next year driving the #14 A.J. Foyt Enterprises Chevrolet for the second consecutive season?