INDYCAR: Kanaan exultant after Phoenix test

Tony Kanaan isn't happy that IndyCar is going back to Phoenix International Raceway next year. He's thrilled.

"It's one of my favorite tracks along with Milwaukee and Iowa and I think it's great we're going back," said the 2013 Indianapolis 500 winner following his test at PIR earlier this week. "I won there in 2003 and 2004 and finished second in 2005 after starting last, so I've always loved the place."

The last time IndyCar raced at PIR in '05 it was on the original layout with the dogleg, which has since been replaced with a banked Turn 2 for NASCAR but T.K. said it didn't make much difference during his test along with Graham Rahal. The pair had to dodge some thunderstorms, resulting in some downtime, but Kanaan lapped enough to draw positive impressions.

"The corners are still the same and I guess if you had to change something, the kink and dogleg is fine because we won't be dropping down on the flat part of the track like NASCAR," continued the 40-year-old veteran whose racked up 16 of his 17 career victories on ovals. "You can still make a pass coming out of Turn 2 and going into Turn 3 even though the track is more narrow because there is a safer barrier all the way around."

The 2004 IndyCar champion doesn't think the racing will be flat out when the Verizon IndyCar series comes to town next April.

"We were flat out in the IRL cars during qualifying and for some of the race but it won't be like that when we come back," he said. "Of course it depends on what IndyCar does with the aero package but right now there's no way it's going to be flat.

"And that's a good thing, that's the way we want it. We don't want to run flat."

Kanaan posted a photo of his car in the pits at PIR (LEFT, photo courtesy of Tony Kanaan) on his Facebook page and says he got good feedback.

"I got a great response from the fans who said they hoped we were coming back in 2016."

IndyCar is expected to release its 2016 schedule next Tuesday and it's pretty much exactly as RACER had it a few weeks ago with Phoenix slated to be a night race on April 2. And with Fontana and Milwaukee gone, it leaves five ovals (Indy, Texas, Iowa, Pocono, PIR) in the Verizon series.