IndyCar notes: Sore Kanaan ignoring pain in race car

WEST ALLIS, Wis. — It’s only 225 miles, but Sunday’s IndyCar Series race at the Milwaukee Mile could feel like the longest of Tony Kanaan’s career.

Kanaan was limping noticeably Saturday after qualifying his Andretti Green Racing No. 11 with a four-lap average of 167.793 mph, good for third in the 20-car lineup for Sunday’s A.J. Foyt 225.

The Brazilian has been black and blue and in lots of pain since a broken suspension sent his car careening into the concrete wall last Sunday during the Indianapolis 500. Kanaan bounced off the first hard hit and then, with no steering or brakes, slammed into the wall again at more than 180 mph.

“Everything is bothering me,” Kanaan said, grinning ruefully. “The ribs on my back, and my ankle and my femur are pretty sore. They are sore on the right side and we lean on (that side) every lap, so it’s pretty much everything is hurting. It’s like when you have an injury and everybody keeps pressing at that spot, that’s what I’m going to have to deal with tomorrow for 225 laps.”

The 34-year-old Kanaan said the Indy crash was the hardest he’s ever had, although he has twice had broken arms and once broke seven ribs in crashes.

“But I remember after those crashes I spent four days in the hospital with a button and a lot of morphine on it,” he said. “This time, I crashed and I got released 20 minutes later. So, for sure, it’s been the biggest one with the least amount of injuries.”

And, even in pain, Kanaan, the acknowledged leader of the team that also employs Danica Patrick, Marco Andretti and Hideki Mutoh, had each of his teammates approach him for qualifying advice after he struggled out of his car.

“They said, ‘Can you say something to your teammates?’ and I said, ‘Yeah, when I get out of the car.’ I couldn’t breathe (in the car),” Kanaan said. “Qualifying is already (all) adrenaline, and then it takes your breath away because you’re trying to put laps together. On top of that, I couldn’t breathe at all because of the G-loads. It was not pleasant, but it was nice to put at least a decent lap together.”

Looking ahead to race day, Kanaan shrugged.

“Although I look bad, looks like I cannot do even 10 laps, you watch, tomorrow will be fun,” he said.

OUT OF MY WAY: Paul Tracy has always been known as an aggressive, hard-nosed driver, but the longtime open-wheel star says the current crop of young guns is cut from a different cloth.

“I think the attitudes of these drivers has changed,” said Tracy, who is subbing this week for injured Vitor Meira in A.J. Foyt’s No. 14 entry. “When I came up, when I first started, I didn’t say nothing to anybody. I looked down. You know, I saw A.J., Rick (Mears), Mario (Andretti), I’d look down at the ground like a scared dog.”

He said the current drivers don’t lack for confidence and rarely back down, whether they are right or wrong.

“I think if I did some of the stuff that goes on on the tracks today at the age of some of these young kids, running guys down into the grass and into the pit wall, I mean, if I did that when I was 21, 22 years old to a guy like A.J. or Mario, they’d come down and pull me behind the garage and kick the crap out of me,” Tracy said

The 40-year-old Canadian, who leads all active drivers with 31 open-wheel wins, says everyone is driving aggressively.

“You know, they’re fighting for 14th position like it’s a win,” he said,” like it’s the last lap, but it’s the beginning of the race.”

GETTING ACQUAINTED: IndyCar rookie Mike Conway’s first look at the Milwaukee Mile was from the back seat of a two-seated IndyCar driven by Dreyer &Reinbold Racing teammate Davey Hamilton.

Hamilton, who drove for the team at Indianapolis, but is sitting out the Milwaukee race, gave Conway a lesson in how to drive the flat one-mile oval.

“It’s definitely different coming to Milwaukee after running at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway all month long,” said the 25-year-old Englishman, who finished 18th last Sunday in the Indy 500.

“Davey showed me what lines you can run and pointed out things like bumps in the pit lane, pit entry, pit out and bumps on the track,” Conway said. “… It looks like it’s going to be good fun racing because you’ve got a racing line that you run, but you can also run tighter as well, if you need to overtake.”

He was 11th in qualifying.

SPARK PLUGS: Rookie Stanton Barrett crashed in practice Saturday and, with no backup car, will miss Sunday’s race. … The last five winners of the Indianapolis 500 have gone on to finish second at the Milwaukee Mile. … This is the 50th time — although not in consecutive years — that the race at the Milwaukee Mile has followed the Indy 500 on the schedule.