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For the past week, I think I have watched more Tony Kanaan interviews on You Tube than I have in the past fifteen years or so. He was a guest on Hinch and Rossi’s podcast. There was almost an hour long interview with Marshall Pruett; and David Land had a two-parter where he spread his interview over two episodes, which was probably smart. There were also a couple of interviews on channels that I don’t follow.

Give Arrow McLaren Team Principal Tony Kanaan credit, as he tries to explain to the public his reasoning for going after Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist, as well as his thought process in not bringing back Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard. You certainly cannot accuse him of dodging interviews or not being transparent. While each interview was different, there were a lot of similar themes coming out of each one.

Kanaan made it clear that he thought Siegel had the talent to compete in the NTT IndyCar Series. But it was unrealistic for someone his age and his lack of experience to cut his teeth with one of the top teams in the series and survive. I don’t think he will get much of an argument from anyone on that point. I am hopeful that Siegel will stay in the series and land a ride at whatever Juncos Hollinger Racing is known as next year. The pressure to perform won’t be as great, but Rinus VeeKay has certainly raised the bar there this season.

The second part of that side of the equation is a much tougher sell than letting Siegel go. Christian Lundgaard has won two races this season. He is the only driver in the short history of Arrow McLaren to score a victory, whose name is not Pato O’Ward. Up until O’Ward’s win at Mid-Ohio last weekend, Lundgaard was the only Arrow McLaren driver to even step onto a podium this season. Yet mere days after a spirited drive at Road America where he drove to a win after finding himself in last place on Lap Two, he found himself out of a ride after just a season and a half at McLaren.

This is nothing new at Arrow McLaren. Can anyone even count the drivers that have been let go from the team since they joined forces with Schmidt Peterson Motorsports, in the middle of the 2019 season? Just a few of the drivers that have been kicked to the curb by Zak Brown include James Hinchcliffe, Alexander Rossi (who wasn’t fired, but they only offered him a one-year deal), Marcus Ericsson, Oliver Askew, Felix Rosenqvist, Théo Pourchaire and David Malukas. Now add Nolan Siegel and Christian Lundgaard to that list.

The other side of the equation is justifying bringing on Felix Rosenqvist for a second stint at Arrow McLaren; and an aging Scott Dixon, who will be driving for a new team for the first time in a quarter century. We’ve seen how well seasoned veterans acclimate to new teams with the recent moves by Marcus Ericsson and Will Power. Ericsson is just now meeting expectations in his third season at Andretti Global. Aside from Pato O’Ward, patience has a history of wearing thin at Arrow McLaren after about a season and a half.

I certainly hope that if things don’t quite go according to plan, Zak Brown’s head doesn’t turn to whatever is hot at the moment and a legendary driver like Scott Dixon is unceremoniously kicked to the curb – like any other expendable driver. He has earned the right to go out on his own terms, and I would hate to see him end his career in embarrassment and wishing he had stayed at Chip Ganassi Racing.

Kanaan’s plan for Dixon is to bring not only his driving talents to the team, but all of the intangibles that a six-time champion can offer. That includes feedback to the engineering staff on how to set up a car to what each driver wants, as well as the new car in 2028. It also includes how the driver should convey that information to the staff. For all of Pato O’Ward’s talents, giving good feedback to the team is apparently not one of them.

And there is this…the most fulfilling years of Tony Kanaan’s career was when he drove for Andretti Green (AGR) in the 2000s. Not only was he winning races regularly as well as winning the 2004 championship – his teammates, who happened to be his best friends, were winning also. In 2004-05; Kanaan, along with teammates Dan Wheldon, Darion Franchitti and Bryan Herta were winning far more races than Team Penske and Chip Ganassi Racing combined. Those four drivers had the most close-knit team I have ever seen in racing, except for possibly Mario and Michael Andretti at Newman/Haas. But even that famous father/son combo was not particularly ecstatic when their teammate won. When an Andretti Green driver won a race, it was hard to tell who was the winning driver in victory lane, because they were all there and genuinely celebrating a team victory.

I understand why Tony Kanaan looks back on those years with such fondness. In all of last week’s interviews, Kanaan kept referencing how important chemistry is. He had seen it at AGR, and knows how important that is. Later, he experienced chemistry with Scott Dixon, whom Kanaan called his very best friend. He also knows that Pato O’Ward and Felix Rosenqvist became best friends, during Rosenqvist’s first stop at McLaren – and it carried on long after he left. Scott Dixon considered Rosenqvist as one of his favorite teammates over the last twenty-five years at Ganassi.

Kanaan is connecting a lot of dots, hoping the sets of best friends can all produce the chemistry that Kanaan is searching for. It sounds like there is very little chemistry among the three current Arrow McLaren drivers. Nolan Siegel is still a kid fighting for survival. Pato O’Ward wears his emotions on his sleeve. He has been on the verge of greatness, and really enjoyed having Felix Rosenqvist as a teammate. But four seasons ago, he got the stoic and dry-humored Alexander Rossi as a teammate. I really appreciate Rossi’s sense of humor as well as his driving ability. But I don’t think he would be the warmest and fuzziest of teammates.

After Rossi’s departure, O’Ward got the upstart and very talented Christian Lundgaard as a teammate. While Lundgaard may be more talented than Rossi or even O’Ward himself (except on ovals), he made Rossi seem like the life of the party. I think it has been well-documented that Lundgaard has about as much personality as a 40-pound bag of fertilizer. For all of his driving talents, he is about as cuddly as a cactus. Some drivers don’t care what kind of personality their teammates have, so long as they can share data and information. But given what I know about O’Ward’s personality, I think camaraderie with a teammate is extremely important to him. That’s why Kanaan is putting so much emphasis on chemistry. All of these moves are designed to get the most out of Pato O’Ward.

But can you really force good chemistry? It happens organically for the strangest of reasons. I retired this past January after a forty-five career in the workforce (although I’ve been brought back part-time through the end of August, while my replacement recovers from surgery). In those forty-five years, I had several jobs working for different companies. I can honestly say that there were only two times when I found myself with co-workers that I enjoyed so much that it was an absolute joy to go to work every day. The first was 1991-95. For four years, we had a core that got along so well that we all knew each other’s thoughts. The second time was a three-year stint from 2011-14. It was a totally different job, with totally different people. We really had not much in common, but in the workplace – we enjoyed each other and consequently we operated as a well-oiled machine.

Out of forty-five years, only seven were like magic. Is that to say the other years were miserable? Absolutely not. My most successful years in the work force was the last decade I was working. I went out on a high note, but all of my co-workers I had such great chemistry with were gone (although a few showed up for my retirement party).

My point is, you cannot just make chemistry. It has to happen on its own. I hope it happens quickly at Arrow McLaren. If it doesn’t, Tony Kanaan could find himself as the next casualty. Drivers aren’t the only expendable employees at Arrow McLaren. I’m not sure exactly what happened, but Taylor Kiel and Gavin Ward each held high positions with Arrow McLaren. Both had quiet and undignified exits that had a lot of people asking questions. I hope that doesn’t happen to Tony Kanaan.

I’ve always been conflicted with Kanaan wearing papaya. I am not a fan of Zak Brown and the way he does business. He gets results, but he has chewed up a lot of people in the process. If you were a baseball fan in the 70s, 80s and 90s, you can’t help but draw a comparison between Brown and New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner. Steinbrenner changed managers twenty times in his first twenty-three years of owning he team. He also had a habit of re-hiring managers he had previously fired – only to fire them again. The biggest example of this was Billy Martin, who Steinbrenner hired and fired five times. Am I crazy for thinking of Steinbrenner when I first heard that Rosenqvist was returning for a second stint?

Aside from fearing Kanaan being blamed if this doesn’t go well, and Dixon being treated like a can of corn – I am fearful for Rosenqvist being kicked out the door a second time. In my professional career, I once went back to the same employer less than a year after I had left. The employer had me convinced that it would be different this time around. Within a few weeks, the reasons I left for the first time quickly resurfaced. Within nine months, I was gone again.

Why does McLaren or Rosenqvist think things will be different this time?

My fear is that this will not end well for all involved. I really hope I’m wrong, and I probably am. I really want this to end well for Tony Kanaan. He has been one of my personal favorites – even when he first showed up in CART. He had a unique driving style on the track and a magnetic personality off of it. Like O’Ward, Kanaan wore his emotions on his sleeve. If he was having a bad day, he was not as forthcoming with fans. But that wasn’t common. He has been a fan favorite for a reason – because he takes time with them.

Tony Kanaan is following his gut with these bold moves. I usually appreciate it when someone swings for the fences by making bold moves. It shows they aren’t happy with the status quo. But in the decades I have been following this sport, I think the moves that Kanaan is making at Arrow McLaren may be the boldest I’ve ever seen. This had better work, or this may not end well for a lot of good people.

George Phillips

This entry was posted on July 13, 2026 at 4:04 am and is filed under IndyCar. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.