Fun-loving Kanaan enjoying life in CART

Thursday, Oct. 22, 1998 | 12:57 p.m.

By MIKE HARRIS

The day Tony Kanaan clinched rookie-of-the-year honors in the CART FedEx Series, rain made the new city street course in Houston resemble an ice rink.

While other drivers were cursing and filled with gloom, the young Brazilian was smiling, obviously having fun while racing to a third-place finish on the wet track.

Neither the smile nor the success come as a surprise to anyone who knows Kanaan. The 23-year-old, who lists his favorite vacation spot as Disney World, is still a kid when it comes to having fun. But the 1997 Indy Lights champion is serious when it comes to racing.

"I read an article that somebody did about Jimmy Vasser in a magazine a couple of weeks ago," Kanaan said. "Jimmy says, racing, it's not everything in our lives.

"I realize that that's true. But I've been racing for 14 years. I love what I'm doing. I am at the place that I always wish to be."

So, he's having fun, brushing aside any hint of tension or stress.

"You know, if you have a talent and a good team, and you're doing your job the way you're supposed to do, the results will come," he said.

The results have come for Kanaan, who has scored points in 11 of 18 starts, including six of the past seven. He is closing the season with a rush, recording both his career-high third-place finishes last month and finishing seventh last Sunday in Australia.

The third-place finishes in Monterey, Calif., and Houston were the first consecutive podium performances by a rookie since Alex Zanardi was first and third in 1996 at Mid-Ohio and Road America.

Zanardi wound up as rookie of the year and followed that with two consecutive PPG Cup titles.

Team owner Steve Horne, who brought Kanaan to Indy Lights and then moved him up to his Tasman Motorsports Group Champ car this year, had very little doubt success would follow.

"He works as hard as any driver I've ever been around, and he loves what he does," Horne said. "The other thing about Tony is, he understands a race car.

"He can communicate what it's doing to the crew in a way they understand. If we've been good for his career, he's been good for our team."

Helio Castro-Neves, Kanaan's countryman and his chief rival in the rookie race this year, also moved up to the CART series after the two finished 1-2 for Tasman last year in Lights.

"We have a good rivalry," said Castro-Neves, who now drives for Bettenhausen Racing. "But I am happy for Tony's success because he is my friend. He is also a very good driver and, when I beat him, I know I have done something good."

Kanaan's success has drawn the attention of other car owners, too.

When Zanardi decided to leave for Formula One next year, team owner Chip Ganassi came calling. In the end, Ganassi hired Formula 3000 champion Juan Pablo Montoya of Columbia.

As good as Target/Chip Ganassi Racing is - with three straight championships in hand - Kanaan said he is happy to stay where he is.

"I'm just proud because somebody else was looking for me," he said. "But I'm happy where I am. I really like Steve Horne. He gave me the opportunity to drive the Champ car for the first time in my life, gave me the opportunity to win the rookie of the year."

Kanaan says he always tries to follow the advice of Horne. He idolizes retiring driver Bobby Rahal, who won races and championships for Horne.

"I hope one day, when I grow up, I'm going to be like Bobby," Kanaan said.