Kanaan

INDIANAPOLIS -- For a guy driving with one arm, Tony Kanaan did pretty well.

Six weeks after breaking his left arm and puncturing his leg, Kanaan fought off the lingering effects of the injuries and finished third in Sunday's Indianapolis 500.

The native of Brazil suffered the injuries in the Japan Indy 300 six weeks ago, putting his participation in jeopardy. But Kanaan was right on the heels of Team Penske racers Gil de Ferran and Helio Castroneves as they drove under the checkered flag, finishing 1.24 seconds behind de Ferran.

When it was over, the 28-year-old Kanaan was tired but in no pain.

"I have been driving with my right arm for 500 miles, so I was trying to save my left arm," he said. "I have a big pain in my shoulders right now, but, no, I am not upset (with my finish) at all. I think if you look back a month ago, I was looking just to get in the car and get in the race. So finishing third -- it's not (bad)."

Kanaan may have felt good about his showing. But to owner Michael Andretti, it felt all too much like exactly what it was.

"Ol' Roger (Penske) did it again," Andretti told Kanaan on pit lane. "He kept me out of victory lane again. Three years ago, they also did it 1-2 and I finished third."

Andretti was in street clothes as he spoke, having dropped out of his final race as a driver after completing 94 laps, including 28 as the leader. Kanaan led two laps.

"We had a fast car, but nobody was able to pass anybody," Kanaan said. "As soon as Gil put himself in front of Helio, Helio couldn't pass Gil, either. I was just stuck behind them."

The consolation prize for Kanaan was remaining atop the IRL IndyCar points standings. After four of 16 races, Kanaan has a 14-point lead over Castroneves, his childhood friend.

"We need to look at the big picture," Kanaan said. "Obviously, the Indianapolis 500 is what we wanted to win. But I'm thinking about the championship now, and I guess we're leading the championship right now. So I'm going for that one."

Kanaan's rise to the top of the points has somewhat of a roller coaster ride. He finished fourth in the season's opening race at Homestead-Miami Speedway and followed with his first IRL career victory at Phoenix.

Then came disaster at Twin Ring Motegi in Japan on April 13. Kanaan was leading with 23 laps to go when Scott Dixon tried to pass and they crashed. Kanaan suffered a radial fracture of his left arm and a puncture wound and bruises on his left thigh.

Battered and bruised, Kanaan endured a long flight back to the United States and underwent surgery here. It was unclear when he could race again, but he only missed the first two days of Indy practice, then qualified second.

Kanaan said the pain in his leg was actually a bigger problem than his arm leading into Indy practice. But the leg was 100 percent by race day.

"My arm wasn't in any pain, but I obviously always have this concern," he said. "It is much weaker than my right arm (and) it's much thinner. So I was trying to save it ... and basically I wore my right shoulder off trying to hold the steering wheel with one hand."

But he also made sure the left hand was lightly holding the steering wheel, too, "so it would look OK on the in-car camera so I don't scare people," Kanaan said.

When Andretti dropped out just before halfway, Kanaan told himself, "Well, it's up to me."

A slow pit stop set him back, but Kanaan clawed his way toward the front and made one of the most spectacular moves of the race on lap 110 when he passed Dan Wheldon, Tora Takagi and two lapped cars going into turn one on a restart.

That put Kanaan back in third, where his charge stopped.

"We had a fast car," Kanaan said. "But Gil was fast and Helio was fast. I don't think I could have passed them."