Highlights from Kanaan and Battistini press conference
Q. Have you met with Marco (Andretti), sat down and talked with him, after what happened at Indy? What came out of that?
TONY KANAAN: No, we haven't sat down yet. I think I haven't had a chance to see him. I left right after the race. We'll be fine. I think we share different opinions about what happened. But we had a little fun in the banquet on my speech and he had it on his speech. But we haven't sat down and talked about it.
But, like I said before, it's not a big deal. It's done. It's passed. We both lost the race. We’ve got to move on. We have a championship to win for AGR. So I don't see a problem. We don't need to sit down and talk about it to make everything square, for us to be in good terms. I don't think we have a choice here. We are going to be in good terms, no matter what, even if we agree or disagree. I think we represent a big team. We have big sponsors to report to and we have a championship to win as a team. We'll sort it out for sure.
But, no, I haven't talked to him yet.
Q. It seemed to me in the days leading up to the Indianapolis 500 this year there was so much more buzz. Now that it's behind you, as you go away from it, was this year as different as it looked in terms of excitement, exposure, interest? How would you rate this year against past years you've raced in it?
TONY KANAAN: I'd have to say since I've been here, this was the best year for sure, as far as the people watching the race, people supporting the race, the buzz, the city. Obviously we carry a huge momentum from the unification, from Danica's (Patrick) win, from Graham Rahal's win. I understand what the Indianapolis 500 was all about when I came here since '02. But this year, now I know what they talk about the old times, the way it was.
Every day on the track it's full. Bump Day is crazy. Race Day, for sure it's definitely the best year I've been.
Q: You led 38 of 40 laps at Indy, but it certainly wasn't as easy as it sounds. Can you talk a little bit about the race.
DILLON BATTISTINI: Well, it was a dream come true really for me. Obviously my first season in Indy Lights, it was the first time I've raced at Indy. The car was fantastic from beginning to the end of the race. I was able to capitalize and lead most of the laps. It made it look quite exciting as well with a few overtaking maneuvers. Yeah, it was a pretty close race, but I'm used to that kind of thing. I quite like the pressure. I respond well to it. I'm really enjoying this oval racing, I'd have to say. I've done three now, I’ve won two. If I can keep that kind of record going, hopefully I can progress to IndyCar fairly quickly.