Kanaan completes Indy refresher course

Tony Kanaan spent Thursday morning sitting in the No. 17 Arrow McLaren Chevy as part of a unique preparation plan to become eligible to race the car if its intended driver, NASCAR star Kyle Larson, needs to skip the Indianapolis 500 in favor of competing in the Cup race at Charlotte.

As part of IndyCar’s regulations, a replacement driver must complete a refresher course before they can race at the Indy 500, so that’s what the winner of the 2013 race did on Thursday after going through the escalating phases of speed that met the series’ criteria.

Lapping near 220mph towards the end of his 1h45m in the car, Kanaan passed the refresher with ease and shared a special moment with Arrow McLaren pit stop coach Kyle Sagan, his former mechanic at two previous teams, as Sagan buckled him into the car just as he did through his 2004 championship season with Andretti Green Racing and at KV Racing on the day he won the Indy 500 in 2013.

Sagan was with Chip Ganassi Racing when Kanaan ran his final Indy 500 in 2023, so with his move to Arrow McLaren, and with the 50-year-old team principal serving as Larson’s official backup driver, Sagan buckled in his old friend for what will likely be his last laps around the Speedway in an Indy car.

“This is something that is so cool, like he buckled me up in '04 and we won the championship,” Kanaan told RACER. “He did it in '13. We win the 500. He wasn't here on my last race, and today, we got to do it one last time. So it's pretty cool.”

Kanaan enjoyed the opportunity to be reunited with driving duties at Indy, but confirmed the refresher won’t be a gateway to coming out of IndyCar retirement.

“A lot of feelings, right?” he said. “I mean, I think you kind of blocked it as you know – I made the decision, you don't want to keep dwelling on it. And I was fine, and I'm still fine. But today, the last couple of days, I've been a little weird, myself. The race car driver came back a little bit in me, but it was a blast.

“I'm pretty fortunate. So before people ask: I'm not coming back. I love what I did. I can't thank the team enough the Speedway and Larson – I'm only here because of that opportunity. But I'm fine. I'll be up there (on the timing stand on) race day.”