Keeping It 500

Professional athletes and tattoos may go hand in hand, but there’s a certain type of sports star you expect to see rocking an intricate sleeve or all-encompassing back piece: the kind of player you consider to be a baller, who stands out in a room even without their distinctive ink. Race car drivers, both because of the conventionality of the sport’s culture and its reliance on heavily marketed sponsorships, don’t usually fit that profile. That perception hasn’t stopped Verizon IndyCar Series’ Tony Kanaan from embracing body art as one of the most decorated drivers in the world, both on the track with wins in the biggest races of his sport and off of it with an impressive collection of black-and-grey work covering his upper arms and ribs.

- Brett Williams

Contrary to what you might expect from a tattooed driver going against the grain of the IndyCar community, Kanaan isn’t some young hotshot heralding the arrival of a new wave of less conservative racers. The Brazilian has been competing in the U.S. since 1996, winning the IndyCar championship in 2004 and the Indianapolis 500 in 2013. At 41, he’s the oldest driver in the Series, currently in his 19th year with (as of press time) 318 consecutive starts, the all-time record. That consistency has been a hallmark of his career. When he won the championship in 2004, he was the first driver ever to complete every possible lap in a season, a feat which has yet to be duplicated.

He’s also one of the fastest drivers of all time. Kanaan’s Indianapolis 500 win in 2013 was the fastest ever recorded in the 100 years of the hallowed contest with an average speed of 187.433 mph. More recently, he posted the fastest practice lap leading up to 2016’s 100th anniversary edition of the race, which he went on to finish fourth.

With that rare mix of speed and consistency in his racing, it’s easy to see why he’s well established as a fan favorite. Add his easygoing demeanor, which translated perfectly to the small screen during recent appearances on the TV shows American Ninja Warrior and Family Feud, and you have a star in a sport where the competitors are usually moving too fast for fans to really keep up with. His popularity is most evident through his massive social media following, especially on Instagram, where he shares snapshots of a life filled with family, fitness, and of course, racing. It’s just about everything you’d expect from a stereotypically clean-cut driver—which make his posts showing off his ink even more surprising.

“I love tattoos,” he says. “That sometimes doesn’t go along with my job description, but it’s one of my passions.”