INDY DIARIES: "The worst days of my life were Mondays after the 500"

Over 99 runnings, the Indianapolis 500 has become the most famous event in motorsport. That iconic status is built on a bedrock of hundreds of small stories, and to celebrate the centennial race, RACER.com has asked some of the people who are part of Indy's fabric to share a few of those stories with us. Check back every day between now and race day for a new 'Indy Diary' entry.

When the yellows came out three laps before the end of the 2013 Indy 500, Tony Kanaan knew that only a freak problem could prevent him from finally earning a spot on the Borg Warner. And that win turned into a release valve for more than a decade's worth of disappointment at the Brickyard.

"When I crossed the start/finish line and it went yellow flag/white flag ... in a way it was the best moment of my life, but at the same time I'm thinking 'please don't let anything happen here'. Sometimes with these cars, when you're running fast they're awesome, and then when you slow down they break and you have no idea why. That whole final lap, I was hearing things and worrying that something is going to break. But I will never forget that lap. If you look at the broadcast, on the back straightway before the checkered flag I raised my visor and I was crying like a baby.

"And you just feel relief. Nobody can beat you. It's yours. With all of the disappointments that I've had at this place ... this place can really get into your head. It can affect your life. You can get really depressed by it. So you have to be able to manage that. The worst days of my life were Mondays after the 500. It's a race you always want to win. You spend a whole month here, inside this track, and you don't see anything apart from grandstands and race cars, and then you suddenly go back to real life and it's a big shock. It's cool in a way, but you have to manage it, because you cannot let this place get to your head. If you do, it will ruin you.

"I never took it like this place owed me anything. I always viewed it as, as long as I'm fast here, I'm going to keep trying. And I always prepared myself for maybe not ever winning. I always trained myself not to feel too beaten up about whatever happened the next day. The Monday after I won I didn't think about the bad days. I always loved this place, regardless of what my result was. I was humble and just grateful to be part of the Indy 500. I call the track a 'she', because to me, it's a girl. And in 2013, she gave me back the respect."