My race was a good one, but my teammates had many unfortunate things happen to them. For one of us to win the championship, we’ll need as many of us as possible up front. We proved that before with a four car team -- we had three guys taking points away from the other drivers. Look at Dario’s championship year in 2007 at Sonoma, I kind of protect him a little bit and I took points away from people.

Can you win a championship alone? Of course, you can. But it’s much easier to do it as a team. Marco will be there throughout the year. He didn't have a good weekend but let’s not get too excited, it’s just one weekend. Look at Scott Dixon. Dixon finished 16th and Marco was 13th.

After six months in relative privacy, being back in the spotlight takes some getting used to, says Kanaan. (LAT)

Thinking of another championship for Andretti-Green, for sure, I would love to have a wingman sometimes, and also to be the wingman when it is needed. Hopefully we can all be in the hunt together.

This was a great weekend for ‘the little guy.’ People that know me understand that I always want to win, but I’m also very moved by the people who earn good results when they have tough challenges.

I think two out of the three guys on the podium have families, they have to take care of their own wives and girlfriends, pay their mortgages, and they didn't know if they would have a job up until February this year. I was probably on vacation in Brazil knowing that I have a five year deal so job security is very, very much appreciated on my side, but it’s not that way for everybody.

I'm happy for them because that can give them an extra leverage to continue this year. I'm talking more specifically about Justin that came from a big team and has been racing for Dale that doesn't have a lot of money – maybe didn't know if he could make it to the championship and all of a sudden they have a second and third place like that – it pumps everybody up and makes them continue. They might even find sponsors to help.

For Tony George, it’s the best result for his team. Tony’s one of the biggest supporters of the series, but also Ryan Hunter-Reay too, and maybe there will be more opportunities for his sponsors to step up so Tony can even run a third car.

As a fan -- I'm talking about Tony Kanaan as a fan now, (not as a competitor that finished fifth behind all those guys…) if I look at it, it was nice to see it because if we could have predicted this and had gone and bet in Vegas, we’d be rich right now!

I think the fans won as well. I know they get tired of going “Is the podium going to be Ganassi and Penske and Andretti Green, or Andretti Green and Penske and Ganassi…” you know what I mean?

It's always the same faces on the podium. I wouldn’t mind being on the podium every race, I’m not crazy, but from the fans standpoint, it's wonderful. These ‘little guys’ beat the hell out of all these teams that are spending millions!

5th place was all my 7-Eleven car had on Sunday. Some pit strategy things didn’t work out in the end, and all of the yellows made it hard to move up in the last part of the race.

Not as good as some guys did, and better than the results others had. I’m pleased, but not happy, if you know what I mean.

One of the guys that got by me near the end was my old friend Dario. That guy…

Tony pushed as hard as possible, even making up for a slight lack of speed by pulling a few tenths out of his pocket throughout the race. (LAT)

I was at dinner with him the other night -- with Dario, and somebody approached me at the table and asked me for my autograph, and he didn't even recognize him sitting next to me.

I said to myself, “Come on, this guy is Dario Franchitti. The Indianapolis 500 champion, Series champion, and he’s Ashley Judd’s husband."

So that made me wonder, “What's wrong with him?” And I’ve figured it out: It's his bloody hair!

So my plan is, and I'm going to reveal this here to my SPEEDtv.com readers…I’m going to pull a ‘Jackass’ move on him. I’m going grab my clippers and approach him on the drivers meeting and just go, BAM, right in the middle of his forehead. A big patch of hair, GONE! And then he's going to have to cut it.

Right now he's using a 3X helmet just because of the freaking hair. I'm going to take care of that.

It's not going to be with scissors either, because it would take me too long; it's going to be the clipper, the same way I do my hair. I’m going to get him.

You know, even better, I'm going to propose a bet between me and him that we’ll probably switch: The first time he wins a race he has to shave his head, and the first time I win a race I won't cut my hair until I win again.

But I’ll just win back to back and that will take care of it. This is going to be a good one, guys…

Talk to you after Long Beach,

~Tony

Tony Kanaan drives the 7-Eleven Dallara-Honda for Andretti-Green Racing in the Indy Racing League. A native of Salvador, Brazil, Kanaan landed in America in 1996, claiming the Firestone Indy Lights championship in 1997. Graduating to CART in 1998 would deliver Tony 'Rookie of the Year' honors, and his first win would come at Michigan in 1999.

Kanaan earned the 2004 Indycar Series championship, recording 15 consecutive top-five finishes, including three wins and six second-place finishes. An accomplished triathlete, he also enjoys bicycling, go-karting and watersports. He speaks English, Portuguese, Italian and Spanish. Learn more about Tony at www.TonyKanaan.com.br



The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEED.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or SPEED