Tony Kanaan is done racing, but not with IndyCar: He assumes Arrow McLaren advisor role

No, Tony Kanaan isn't back for another 'one last Indianapolis 500 ride', but the fan-favorite IndyCar driver with more than two decades of experience isn't going too far, after turning his final American open-wheel racing laps last month.

On Thursday, the 48-year-old confirmed his plans to remain on-staff with Arrow McLaren as the team's 'special advisor', which will involve traveling to races and tests with the IndyCar team — as he has already done for the majority of this season — to serve as a driver mentor, while also working closely on the team's commercial side with sponsors.

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"I had said that I wasn't going to leave racing or the IndyCar series, and I'm very excited to join the Arrow McLaren team in this role," Kanaan said in a release. "(McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown) and (Arrow McLaren racing director Gavin Ward) have a great vision for where this team is headed and what we can accomplish, so I look forward to helping us get there and making the team and the series even better.

"This team works hard and has a lot of fun. That's what racing is about, and it's why I love being part of the team."

Added Ward: "Tony's distinct skillset will help the team connect how we go racing to how we can make the most of our partnerships. As a championship driver, he does both incredibly well — delivering on-track and locking in committed partnerships. He brings a championship mindset to what we're doing, and that's racing to win championships while having fun doing it. Having him on the team as a multifaceted resource in his advisor role is a big win for Arrow McLaren."

Notably, Kanaan came on-board last fall after two years of running ovals at Chip Ganassi Racing just as CGR's longtime sponsor NTT Data (who entered the series as a sponsor on Kanaan's CGR car nearly a decade ago) also jumped from Ganassi to Arrow McLaren as a primary sponsor for this year and beyond. In his final Indy 500 start, Kanaan qualified ninth and finished 16th.

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In his role as special advisor, Kanaan joins a club of hall-of-fame-level drivers that remained employed at their respective teams long after they hopped out of the cockpit including Rick Mears (Team Penske) and Dario Franchitti (CGR). Though he's stated numerous times he's made his final IndyCar start, Kanaan continues to race in Tony Stewart's SRX series, including the latest season that will begin later this summer, as well as Stock Car Brazil in his home country.