Add another designation to Tony Kanaan’s impressive list of credentials. In addition to once being a championship-winning race car driver, he is now the deputy team principal of Arrow McLaren’s NTT INDYCAR SERIES team.
The new title announced Tuesday came in the wake of the organization parting ways with Gavin Ward, who had been the team principal for the past 14 months and had been a member of the organization since July 2022.
Kanaan, the 2004 INDYCAR SERIES champion and winner of the 2013 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge, is now essentially the leader of McLaren’s Indianapolis-based racing efforts, although he and McLaren CEO Zak Brown stressed that those duties are shared by a leadership group comprised of several individuals. Brown makes the final decisions.
For Kanaan, who turns 50 on the last day of this year, the broader responsibilities represent his continued rise within the team that won three NTT INDYCAR SERIES races this year and saw driver Pato O’Ward nearly win the “500.” In addition to O’Ward, who finished second to Team Penske’s Josef Newgarden at Indy, Arrow McLaren will field full-time cars next season for Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel while welcoming back 2021 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson to its Indianapolis Motor Speedway oval lineup.
Kanaan said he works “for McLaren and Zak wherever I might fit in,” but after much of two seasons with the organization, he feels comfortable to assume this role until Brown decides what’s next.
“I’ve done a lot in various parts of this team since I got here, working with the sponsors,” said Kanaan, who like the team is based in Indianapolis. “If (team principal) is my strength and what we need, I would (do that), but I think Zak has plans. If somebody’s better than me (at the job) I have no problem stepping aside and then going to do other things because I think I can do various things. It’s not one job. Whatever (Brown) says, I’ll do.”
Brown, who is based in England with the Formula One side of the company, said he is in no rush to decide what happens with the position Ward held. Brown thinks Kanaan fits the bill in many ways.
“I’ve known TK for a long time,” Brown said. “I’ve always been a fan of successful racing drivers being part of a leadership team just as I had Gil (de Ferran) involved in the Formula One team. I think championship drivers know what great racing teams look like, know what great people look like, know what bad racing teams look like and what ‘bad’ looks like.
“Racing drivers know risk versus reward, they know when to go for the gap, they are good communicators, good listeners. So, much like Gil, who was a big contributor to our Formula One team and sorely missed, bringing in TK (adds) – no different than what Dario (Franchitti) adds a tremendous amount of value to the (Chip Ganassi Racing) organization. To have someone like TK on the shop floor, (someone who is) highly motivated, very engaged, who can move around the racing team and both work with me and the leadership team on whether it’s drivers or engineers or mechanics, knows what ‘great’ looks like, we want to do what Tony’s already accomplished – winning the Indy 500 and the (series) championship.
“He’s very valuable and kind of a utility player in the sense that we can employ TK in a variety of areas. There isn’t a part of the racing team that he doesn’t understand. He’s a highly motivated individual, which is the type of energy and leadership that can drive a racing team.”
When Kanaan joined Arrow McLaren, he said it was more work than he anticipated. But he quickly went from asking to be only part of the race-weekend activities to being involved in all facets of the business on a daily basis, and he is enjoying it.
“I think I had a good training (for management) at home – four kids,” he said. “I think (success) is about the trust I’ve built. You see the people – look around – there’s a lot of people (here) that I won a lot of my races and championships and the ‘500’ with. If people do their jobs and have the mentality that we walk in here every morning (with the goal) to win races, I don’t need to manage people. We just need to do our jobs. We have the right people in place. They know what to do, and they make my life easier (and) make me look good.
“Every job is a big job, and you know me, I’m fully committed when I’m into something.”
Arrow McLaren said a host of people involved in team leadership, including Brian Barnhart, Scott Harner and Nick Snyder, remain in their positions to work alongside Kanaan.
Kanaan said his No. 1 goal since joining the team has been to win the “500,” and that remains unchanged.
“Zak and McLaren give us everything we need,” he said. “Now it’s up to us.”