Kanaan to retire from IndyCar racing following 2020 season

Tony Kanaan has announced that he will retire from IndyCar racing at the end of the 2020 campaign. 

Kanaan has raced in the premier single seater racing series in the United States since 1998, winning the 2004 IRL IndyCar Series with Andretti Green Racing. 

In 2013, Kanaan won the Indianapolis 500, which remains his sole victory at the Brickyard in 18 attempts.  His average speed read a 187.433 mph - the fastest in Indy 500 history. 

The Brazilian will return to Indianapolis this year for a final time as part of a 'farewell tour'. He will also race at the other four other oval events during the year, driving the No. 14 A.J. Foyt entry. 

“I look back at all these years racing in INDYCAR and the first thing that comes to my mind is how fortunate I’ve been to be in the top level of the sport for this long," Kanaan said.

"I walked into this sport as a 23-year-old with lots of hopes and dreams and I can say, without a doubt, that I accomplished everything I wanted,” he said.

“I’m 45 now; I have fans, wins, podiums, records, a championship and an Indy 500. I feel and know I can still do this for a long time, but like everything else in life there is also a cycle in racing.

"For a long time, I’ve been asked when I would retire, and my answer was always the same: The day I wake up in the morning and feel like I can’t do this anymore, that’s when I’m going to retire."

Across 377 career starts, Kanaan has amassed 15 pole positions and 78 podium finishes - only second in race starts behind Mario Andretti.