Tony Kanaan(I)
- Actor
Tony Kanaan was a racing fan as a boy in Brazil and even participated
in some karting, but didn't consider it to be a full-time job because
he had his education to attend to. However, his father, a factory
owner, died when Tony was a teenager and his uncle stole money from the
family business. To provide for his family, Tony Kanaan moved to Italy
in hopes of advancing his race career. Despite having no money to fund
his rides and often having to live in the race shop, he did well on the
race track, winning races, including the 1994 Italian Formula
Alfa-Boxer Championship. These trying times helped strengthen Tony's
sense of hmor and today Tony is considered one of the nocest, funniest
guys in racing. For the 1996 season, despite an offer of a
factory-backed ride from Audi in touring cars in Italy, Kanaan went to
thw United States after being quickest in a test for the Tasman team in
the Indy Lights series. The next year, he won the championship. In
1998, he graduated to the CART Champ Car series with Tasman, winning
the Rookie of the Year title with a 9th place finish in the final
standings. The next year, he won his first pole and then his first
race. In 2000, he joined the start-up Mo Nunn Team. Despite often
running at the front, as of April 2002, Tony and the Mo Nunn Team are
still gunning for their first CART victory.