Tony Kanaan reacts to Zak Brown's playful encounter with military dog at the Retired Military Dogs Golf Tournament

Arrow McLaren's Deputy Team Principal Tony Kanaan recently reacted to team CEO Zak Brown's day out on the greens. Brown participated in the Retired Military Dogs Golf Tournament organized by the Warrior Dog Foundation.

The tournament was hosted by Hockey Hall of Famer and 6x Olympian Teemu Selanne and US Marine Mike Pagano at the Coto de Caza Golf & Racquet Club in California. Zak Brown shared a carousel with one video and three photos on Instagram from his time at the event.

Tony Kanaan was one of the first people to react to the post, leaving a googly eyes emoji in the comments section: "👀".

Brown is an avid golfer. The 53-year-old often heads to the greens between race weekends or during the summer and winter breaks to unwind. If you have watched Netflix's Drive to Survive, you might have seen the episode where he heads out for a day of golf with McLaren driver Lando Norris and ends up taking a dig at their poor game:

"Hope our racing is better than our golf," Zak Brown said in a clip taken before the 2024 season.

As for Tony Kanaan, the 2004 IndyCar champ, his life mostly revolved around racing before retirement. Even after bidding goodbye to the sport in 2023, he couldn't stay away for too long. He remained loyal to Brown and rejoined Arrow McLaren in a new leadership role.

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Tony Kanaan's transition from being an Arrow McLaren driver to its Deputy Team Principal was a "trial of patience"

Arrow McLaren's Tony Kanaan at the 108th Running of the Indianapolis 500 - Source: Getty

Tony Kanaan's IndyCar career was spent with various teams. His first major contract was with Andretti Green Racing, where he spent 8 years before a three-year stint with KV Racing, with whom he won the 2013 Indy 500. This was followed by a four-year stint with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and a three-year stint with A.J. Foyt Enterprises before returning to CGR for two more years.

2023 was the only year he drove for Arrow McLaren before hanging up his boots. However, the bond he built with Zak Brown and the team was deep. Kanaan returned as a Deputy Team Principal, but the transition wasn't the smoothest.

After receiving the honor of being inducted into the Junior Achievement Central Indiana Business Hall of Fame, this transition was one of the topics Kanaan addressed. He said via McLaren:

"It’s definitely a big transition, and it’s been quite an adjustment for me. When you’re a race car driver, you’re leading your team all the time. You’re taking care of your mechanics, engineers and team around you, and you’re also making the decisions inside the car in split seconds. The shift has been a trial of patience because the dynamics are different outside the car. I didn’t think I would enjoy this as much as I would, but I love it."

In 2024, Arrow McLaren's performance was decent. Pato O'Ward finished 5th in the standings with 460 points and his rookie teammate Nolan Siegel finished 23rd with 154 points. In 2025, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing's Christian Lundgaard will join the duo as the team's third driver.