Helio Castroneves' closest friend Tony Kanaan shares the "painful" ordeal of watching his Daytona 500 failure

Arrow McLaren team principal and former IndyCar driver Tony Kanaan was featured in the recently released episode of the Pit Pass Indy podcast. The Brazilian looked back at the race weekend at St. Petersburg and also shared his clear opinion about fellow countryman Helio Castroneves' Daytona 500 drive.

Helio Castroneves made his NASCAR debut at the iconic Daytona 500 at the Daytona International Speedway. The Brazilian raced for Trackhouse Racing in the No.91 Chevrolet. Tony Kanaan, who raced alongside Castroneves in the IndyCar series in the 2000s, shared his opinion about the semi-retired IndyCar driver’s Daytona 500 debut. Kanaan said,

“Of course, I'd be remiss if I didn't bring this up, but our old buddy Elio Castroneva has got to run his first Daytona 500. I don't think he expected to be a pinball like he was on the track.”

“Yeah, I talked to him quite a bit and he's like, man, this is a lot different than, you know, I've learned a lot. But you know what? It was great to see him there. I think he elevated our names as well, you know, but made it even more. Put it in the car out there. But yeah, it was painful to watch him getting hit left and right,” he added.

Both Helio Castroneves and Tony Kanaan made their IndyCar debut (then CART) in 1998. Castroneves made her debut for Bettenhausen Racing and moved to Hogan Racing for 1999. He then moved to Team Penske and raced for them for the next couple of decades.

Tony Kanaan raced for a multitude of teams during his racing career, including Andretti Global, KV Racing Technology, Chip Ganassi Racing, and A.J. Foyt Racing. The 50-year-old ended his career at Arrow McLaren in 2023.

Tony Kanaan shares his expectations from Arrow McLaren's 2025 campaign

Tony Kanaan took up the role of deputy team principal at Arrow McLaren after Gavin Ward departed from the team in 2024. Before the start of the 2025 IndyCar season, Kanaan was promoted to the role of team principal.

Christian Lundgaard, Pato O'Ward, and Nolan Siegel have formed one of the youngest lineups on the grid for McLaren. Speaking about the expectations from the team in the upcoming season, he said (via IndyCar)

“All I care about is we’re going to win races, because when we do that, some people don’t realize how good that is and how addicting that is, and that’s when you start to have people clicking and buying in, cause you’re going to be fixated on being successful.”

Pato O'Ward had a terrible qualifying at the St. Petersburg GP, where the Mexican was unable to fire up the alternate tires and ended up second last in the group during session one. He started the race in P23 and suffered a puncture as he ran over the debris from the lap 1 crash.

The Mexican still managed to get back near the top 10 and finished P11. Nolan Siegel crashed out on Lap 1 at St Petersburg, and Christian Lundgaard finished P8.