RECORD BREAKER; Tony Kanaan just wins, baby.(News)

Byline: CURT CAVIN

There might not be another season in Indy Racing League history like the one Tony Kanaan had in 2004.

The Brazilian's statistics are impressive. On dangerous and unpredictable oval tracks he completed every lap, 3305 in all, leading 889 of them (26.8 percent).

Kanaan ended the season with a league-record run of 15 consecutive top-five finishes and three wins. He claimed the championship trophy with a race left on the schedule, something that has been accomplished only once in the IRL (Sam Hornish Jr. in 2001).

To say Kanaan dominated is an understatement.

Kanaan finished 85 points ahead of his nearest competitor, Andretti Green Racing teammate Dan Wheldon. He also held off the midseason charge of Indianapolis 500 winner Buddy Rice and the late-season barrage of Adrian Fernandez. Each challenger had similarly stout Honda engines. Rice and Fernandez, driving for the Rahal Letterman and Fernandez teams, respectively, had the G Force chassis, which seemed superior to the Dallaras Kanaan and AGR used.

Other drivers in open-wheel racing over the years have won a greater percentage of races, but finding a comparable season of consistency is difficult. Rick Mears completed all but six laps in his 1979 championship-winning CART season, and Hornish Jr. turned all but seven of his laps in 2001. "For me, the most impressive part of Tony's year was his patience and decision-making, more than the records he set,'' said Gil de Ferran, who won CART titles in 2000 and 2001. "Any-one can lead laps when they have a fast car, but he led when he had to lead, pushed others when he had to push, backed off when things got too hot, and finished second or third when he didn't have the car to win.''