Beyond the Flag
Fansided

One of IndyCar’s all-time most impressive streaks to end in 2020

By Asher Fair

FONTANA- NOVEMBER 2: Tony Kanaan straps his newly painted helmet on before climbing aboard his Mo Nunn Racing Honda Lola before qualifying on pole for the The 500, round 18 of the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) Fed Ex Championship Series on November 2, 2002 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California .(Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images).
FONTANA- NOVEMBER 2: Tony Kanaan straps his newly painted helmet on before climbing aboard his Mo Nunn Racing Honda Lola before qualifying on pole for the The 500, round 18 of the CART (Championship Auto Racing Teams) Fed Ex Championship Series on November 2, 2002 at the California Speedway in Fontana, California .(Photo by Darrell Ingham/Getty Images). /
facebooktwitterreddit

Tony Kanaan’s record streak of 317 consecutive IndyCar starts is slated to come to an end in the 2020 season, as he is only set to compete part-time.

Saturday, June 16, 2001. Tony Kanaan, driving the #55 Honda for Mo Nunn Racing, crashed in qualifying for the following afternoon’s race, the Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit, on the streets of Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan.

Sunday, June 17, 2001. Kanaan was withdrawn from the race due to the concussion he suffered the previous day.

Sunday, June 17, 2001 — also the last time Kanaan did not compete in a race.

More from IndyCar

The now 45-year-old Brazilian finished out the 2001 CART season by competing in the remaining 14 races on the 20-race schedule. He competed again in the 2002 season, entering each of the 19 races on the schedule.

He made the full-time move to the IndyCar Series in the 2003 season after making his Indianapolis 500 debut in 2002, and he has not missed a start since.

Back in September of 2013, Kanaan broke the all-time consecutive starts record of 211, set by Jimmy Vasser, team co-owner of KV Racing Technology. Kanaan was driving for Vasser’s team at the time.

He did it in the race on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland — ironically just outside of Camden Yards, where Cal Ripken Jr. played in his record-breaking 2,131st consecutive MLB game.

Now here we are, a month and a half from the start of the 2020 season, slated to be Kanaan’s 23rd consecutive season in open-wheel racing — an impressive achievement in itself — and that streak is still intact.

Spoiler alert: it is now far beyond what was the all-time record.

Kanaan has now competed in 317 consecutive races.

But that streak will not continue.

While Kanaan is slated to return to A.J. Foyt Enterprises for the third consecutive season in 2020, he is set to do so as a part-time driver for only the five oval races on the schedule.

After that, the 2004 IndyCar champion and 2013 Indy 500 winner is slated to retire, aside of possible future Indy 500 entries.

The first oval race on the 17-race schedule is the season’s sixth race, the 104th running of the Indy 500, at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. It is scheduled to take place on Sunday, May 24.

So when the field of 20-something cars takes the green flag to open up the season on the streets of St. Petersburg, Florida for the Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg on Sunday, March 15, Kanaan will not be among them.

Behind Kanaan, the next highest active streaks are also higher than what was once Vasser’s record mark. Chip Ganassi Racing’s Scott Dixon sits next on the list having competed in 258 consecutive races while Andretti Herta Autosport’s Marco Andretti trails him by roughly a season and a half having competed in 234. Andretti Autosport’s Ryan Hunter-Reay trails Vasser’s now fourth place mark by two starts with 209.

Next. Top 10 IndyCar drivers of all-time. dark

Will Scott Dixon, Marco Andretti, Ryan Hunter-Reay or another driver ever break Tony Kanaan’s all-time consecutive IndyCar starts record? It’s possible, but this is a record, one of the most impressive in the history of the sport, poised to stand for several years at the bare minimum.