IndyCar: Tony Kanaan Q+A on safety and more

MODERATOR: It looked like you were fifth fastest in that last practice group. Eddie Cheever used to say you should practice like you race. Do you agree with sentiment?
 
TONY KANAAN: Yeah. Obviously, it was a busy afternoon. Everybody was trying to get their laps in with the least amount of time that we had with all the things that happened today. We tried and I think we did a pretty good job in trying to figure out what we need for the race.
 
MODERATOR: All veteran drivers talk about the need to have the car feel balanced. Did your car feel balanced today?
 
KANAAN: Yeah. It feels OK. Conditions change every day. We don’t know what’s going to happen next Sunday as far as weather is concerned. It felt good today. Tough day for Indy car. One of my good friends is hurt and in the hospital. While he’s having surgery, we’re driving around the track. My thoughts and prayers are with him. We also need to understand that we went on the track today to understand what we need to make a better race on Sunday for the fans.
 
Q. How do you react when these things start piling up? These aren’t rookies in the back. These guys are as good as it gets.
 
KANAAN: Well, Curt, first and foremost we need to understand that this is a very dangerous sport. Since the 1900’s, how many people can we name because something happened in a racecar. I think as drivers, we’re fully aware of that. Every time we hop in that race car, we don’t know if we’re going to come out of it, if you’re going to come out of it in one piece, if something’s going to happen to you. And that’s something that we’re going to have to live with. I believe that. That’s what makes us different than other people. That’s why not everybody can do this. It’s never easy to see a friend of yours get hurt or lost a friend of yours. But this is the sport that we chose. And I believe… not trying to be rude to anyone in the field, but if people feel uncomfortable with that, you shouldn’t be in the race car.
 
Q. As a follow up, you almost had a similar path to the wall in 2009.
 
KANAAN: I had more time and it was probably a little slower and I broke three ribs on that. I was luckier than (James Hinchcliffe) but I had a crash with Dixon in Japan in ’03 and the suspension actually came inside the bottom of my leg. They were pretty similar accidents but those are the things. Mechanical things happen. We try to make the cars as safe as possible but this is a dangerous sport and those are the things we have to live with.
 
Q. Do you have any concerns about safety going into Sunday’s race?
 
KANAAN: We’re always going to have concerns. And when people crash, anything can happen. I think it was four completely different accidents. I trust the engineers. I trust the guys that built both aero kits. Are we going to have 100 percent of all the answers that we wanted to have? No. But I don’t think we’ve ever had (them) and will ever have them. No I am not concerned. I’m ready to put on a good show for the fans who are coming here to watch us. Accidents happen. We hate them, but it’s part of our job.
 
Q. We watched Ed Carpenter get back in a car and go 225 mph.
 
KANAAN: That’s what we do, guys. That’s the best way to clear it out of your mind. It’s like when you’re a little and you’re riding your bicycle and you fell off. Your dad puts back on it and says, “Ride.” Again. I’m going to keep repeating myself. This is the way that we are. We’re wired different and we have less screws in our head. That’s what makes us who we are.
 
Q. Tony, what is like for you on a day like this where the schedule is in flux?
 
KANAAN: I’ve been around for a long time. You just wait. The wait was for a reason. You can’t get impatient. It’s the same for everybody. It’s not that somebody else is running and you’re here. You got to do what you got to do. I was in the bus. Put my kid (Deco) to sleep. Watched a bit of TV, talked to my wife (Lauren), spent a little time with my friends. I used the time to relax a little bit. It’s nothing you can control. I don’t get aggravated by it.
 
Q. You got to simulate race conditions with 20 plus cars on the track. Any differences to the last few years on the track? Is it easier or harder to pass?
 
KANAAN: It’s similar, but it’s hard to predict because today we’re leaving each other more room and in the race it gets a little more hectic. I think it’s pretty close to what we had. It’s hard to predict, but it’s not far off from last year.
 
Q. What’s your reaction to what INDYCAR did with the flips? Do you think they should have reacted at all?
 
KANAAN: It’s tough to say. I think they talked to the engineers. That would be a question for Derrick (Walker) and not to me. I just drive the race car. I trust what my engineers tell me and I trust what Chevy told me. I think my opinion is irrelevant because I would be talking about something I don’t understand. I understand that when we crash, sometimes we have the risk to flip. Am I willing to take that risk? 100 percent.
 
MODERATOR: Thanks for coming in Tony.

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