Kanaan & Montoya Elected To IMS Hall Of Fame

Tony Kanaan (left) and Juan Pablo Montoya (right) are the newest inductees to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame. (IMS photo)

INDIANAPOLIS – Indianapolis 500 winners Tony Kanaan and Juan Pablo Montoya have been selected to the Class of 2024 for the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Hall of Fame.

Kanaan and Montoya will be formally celebrated at the Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony and Dinner supported by The National Bank of Indianapolis on Thursday, May 23, at the Indiana Roof Ballroom.

The pair was chosen from a ballot of 14 nominees by a national panel of more than 150 journalists, participants and historians.

Brazilian Kanaan amassed an impressive career in Indy car racing, recording 17 victories and 15 poles in 389 career starts. He also produced 79 top-three finishes and 134 top-five finishes during his career.

In 2004, Kanaan won the IndyCar Series championship with Andretti Green Racing after completing all 3,305 possible laps, becoming the first Indy car driver in modern history to complete every lap of every race in a season.

Fan favorite Kanaan’s long-awaited victory in The Greatest Spectacle in Racing finally came in his 12th career start in the race, in 2013 while driving for KV Racing Technology. He passed Ryan Hunter-Reay on a restart on Lap 197 and stayed out front until the race ended under caution.

Kanaan’s average speed was 187.433 mph, then a record for the fastest Indianapolis 500 in history.

One of the most versatile drivers of his era, Montoya found success in open-wheel, sports car and stock car racing. The Colombian made history at IMS in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 when he became the first rookie winner of the race since Graham Hill in 1966.

Montoya led 167 of the 200 laps to take the checkered flag and earned the Indianapolis 500 rookie-of-the-year award while driving for Chip Ganassi Racing.

After winning the 1999 CART championship, Montoya also competed in Formula One from 2001-06. His best finish in the United States Grand Prix at IMS was fourth in 2002. He earned seven victories and 13 poles during his F1 career.

Montoya continued his career by moving to NASCAR full time in 2007. He competed in the Brickyard 400 from 2007-‘14, with his highest finish being second in 2007. He took the pole for the event in 2010 and produced another top-10 finish in 2013.

In 2014, Montoya joined Team Penske in the IndyCar Series, a year before he claimed his second Indianapolis 500 victory after battling teammate Will Power and Scott Dixon in the final laps.

Montoya was denied the series championship that year to Dixon on a tiebreaker of total victories.

In addition to honoring the inductees, the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Museum will celebrate Mark Miles – the CEO and President of Penske Entertainment Corp. – for his contributions to the racing industry, support of the Museum and as a leader in the community.