Kanaan eyes ALMS race deal

The last time we saw Tony Kanaan in an American Le Mans Series prototype, he took victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at the end of last year in an Acura LMP2 entry with Franck Montagny. The itch to drive prototypes is one Kanaan wants to scratch in the worst way even though Andretti Green Racing did not elect to field an Acura P2 for 2009.

“So what it's going to take to get me back into a prototype?" the former IndyCar champion rhetorically asked on SPEEDtv.com. “A phone call and an invitation, that's all."

Kanaan also was part of AGR’s class-winning lineup at Sebring in 2007 with Bryan Herta and Dario Franchitti. It was a conversation with Franchitti about his trip to Le Mans last month that made Kanaan think about a return to sports cars.

“It sounds like it was incredible," Kanaan wrote. “My time driving AGR’s Acura was really fun, just pure racing and amazing battles, but since they stopped that program, I haven’t been back in sports cars.

“I almost drove the long races with Gil de Ferran when he first created his team, but I had the AGR deal already and he had Dixon ready to go, so I couldn't do anything. I would say I’ve been on a sabbatical in sports cars, because this kind of racing is perfect for me and it’s just as serious for me as it is in IndyCars.

“So Dixie has his long races for Gil and Dario has his for Highcroft. I hope I will be able to put something together for the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta – like I said, it's only going to take an invitation and a phone call because I enjoy it a lot.

"Doing the Sebring and Road Atlanta ALMS race each year would be perfect for me right now; they’re the races that I want to do. I won Sebring in 2007 with the AGR Acura and then won a race in 2008. I hope I can keep the streak alive in 2009, plus battling with Dixie and Dario would be great. They’ve been winning too much lately!"