"37 years without you": Tony Kanaan pens soul-stirring message for late father

Tony Kanaan is an ex-IndyCar champion and Indy 500 winner, but the ambition to race in the first place was started by his father, Antoine Rizkallah Kanaan, when the Brazilian was a kid. The 50-year-old penned an emotional note dedicated to his father, marking Kanaan Sr.'s 37th death anniversary.

Kanaan's father suffered from cancer and passed away on April 8, 1988. His father's dying wish was for his son to continue his racing career and win the elusive Indy 500. The Brazilian driver won the feat in 2013, fulfilling his endeared father's dying wishes.

The two seemingly had a close connection. While Kanaan's father passed away when he was just 13, his father's words left an imprint on him. With the 37th remembrance day for Antoine Kanaan coming up, Tony wrote an emotional message on X (formerly Twitter):

"37 years without you, Dad. Your strength and guidance still shape every step I take. I am who I am today is because you showed me the way. I love you, always."

The 50-year-old is a father to four kids himself but has learned a few things from his parents.

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Tony Kanaan once shared stories about him spending time with his father

Tony Kanaan at the 107TH Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Practice and Qualifying - Source: Getty

Tony Kanaan only had a few years with his father but has fond memories that seem like yesterday. He revealed how his father led his family to follow the tradition of eating dinner together.

During this time, the whole family chatted about their day and emotionally bonded, as he said in 2019 (via IndyCar):

"One thing that dad did a lot was dinner, everybody has dinner together, everybody sits at the table together. I remember because we wouldn’t start having dinner until dad got home from work. He’d get home, everybody would sit at the table, we’d laugh and talk about the day, so that’s something I do."

“Dad traveled a lot, so when he was home, he wanted to do dinner with us. Otherwise, it becomes everybody would want to have dinner at their own time, especially different people are hungry at different times. ‘No, you’ve got to wait on your brother. No, you’ve got to wait on your dad.’"

Tony Kanaan went on to become a successful IndyCar driver. Despite retiring from the series in 2013, he remained close to the paddock.

Moreover, ahead of the 2025 season, he was announced as the team principal for the Arrow McLaren outfit. Kanaan's squad has started the 2025 season on the front foot, as Pato O'Ward and Christian Lundgaard scored a double podium at the last race weekend in Thermal Club.