IndyCar: Tony Kanaan to retire after 2020

2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan is set to retire after the 2020 IndyCar season, his 23rd season in the sport.

Tony Kanaan announced Thursday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway that he is slated to return to A.J. Foyt Enterprises behind the wheel of the #14 Chevrolet for the third consecutive IndyCar season.

However, the 45-year-old Brazilian also confirmed that, for the first time in a career at the highest level of American open-wheel racing that dates back to the 1998 season, he is slated to be a part-time driver.

Kanaan confirmed that he is set to drive the #14 Chevrolet in five races, the five oval races, on the 17-race 2020 schedule, confirming previous speculation.

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The long-time fan-favorite is set to compete in the 104th running of the Indy 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway as well as races at Texas Motor Speedway, Richmond Raceway, Iowa Speedway and World Wide Technology Raceway at Gateway.

These races are scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24, Saturday, June 6, Saturday, June 27, Saturday, July 18 and Saturday, August 22, respectively.

After that, the 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner is set to retire, although he did not rule out returning for future Indy 500 bids.

“I look back at all these years racing in INDYCAR and the first thing that comes to my mind is how fortunate I’ve been to be in the top level of the sport for this long. I walked into this sport as a 23-year-old with lots of hopes and dreams and I can say, without a doubt, that I accomplished everything I wanted,” Kanaan stated in a press release.

“I’m 45 now; I have fans, wins, podiums, records, a championship and an Indy 500. I feel and know I can still do this for a long time, but like everything else in life there is also a cycle in racing. For a long time, I’ve been asked when I would retire, and my answer was always the same: The day I wake up in the morning and feel like I can’t do this anymore, that’s when I’m going to retire.

“Unfortunately, there are other things one should take into consideration when planning the future, and probably the most important one is what are the options that are available. For 2020, my best option was to race the five ovals of the NTT INDYCAR SERIES season, the sport that gave me so much and that I will always love. I’m not done with racing, that’s for sure.

“I decided that this year I would step back a bit and enjoy these five races, have time for my family (wife Lauren, sons Leonardo, Max and Deco, and daughter Nina) and my fans, and also give back to the sponsors that always stood by me.”

Kanaan, whose most recent win came at Auto Club Speedway back in August of 2014, has recorded 17 victories in 377 starts, including an all-time record 317 consecutive starts, over the first 22 seasons of his career. He earned one victory in his 93 CART starts from 1998 to 2002 and 16 in his 284 IndyCar starts from 2002 to now.

“For the future, who knows?” he said. “I’d love to still be involved with INDYCAR to some degree. I’ve also had offers to race in a number of different series, but that’s not my priority at the moment.”

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As Tony Kanaan prepares for the final five races of his IndyCar career over the course of the next few months, we wish him the best in his farewell tour and as he prepares for his next chapter.