Kanaan slips and slides to third row for final Indy 500 start

Tony Kanaan’s kinda-sorta-maybe-probably last run at the Indianapolis 500 will commence with his No. 66 Arrow McLaren positioned on the third row in P9.

Although the 2013 race winner attacked the four laps and 10 miles with his customary aggression and received the loudest cheers from the healthy crowd in attendance for Pole Day, the Brazilian dealt with a dancing car that lacked the last bit of stability to string together the kind of consistent speed required to transfer into the Fast Six.

“It’s hot, sticky, and very slippery,” he said after making his lone qualifying attempt in Sunday’s Fast 12 session. “We knew the track temp went up quite a bit.”

First to run among his four Arrow McLaren teammates, Kanaan was able to download what he learned to Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi, and Felix Rosenqvist, all of whom made the Fast Six and a chance to earn pole.

“We took a swing at it,” he said of qualifying for his 22nd Indy 500. “It didn't work, so we had the time to tell our teammates what to do.”