Tony Kanaan’s consecutive start streak won’t be jeopardized despite the KV Racing Technology-SH Racing driver suffering torn ligaments in his right hand from a Turn 1 crash on the penultimate lap of the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 21.

Kanaan, whose streak will hit 200 at his home race May 5 in Brazil, will wear a brace in driving the No. 11 entry on the 2.536-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit for the Itaipava Sao Paulo Indy 300 presented by Nestle.

Jimmy Vasser knows first-hand about the tenuous nature of racing an Indy car. The KV Racing Technology co-owner holds the record of 211 consecutive starts, which Kanaan will break fittingly Labor Day weekend at Baltimore barring injury/illness or other unforeseen circumstances. Kanaan's streak dates to June 24, 2001 (Portland).

Vasser’s streak started with Hayhoe-Cole Racing (co-owned by Jim Hayhoe and Rick Cole) in the Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey at Laguna Seca on Oct. 3, 1993, in the final race of the CART season and continued through the 2006 season-opening Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach on April 9 with PKV Racing.

Vasser registered 238 total starts, making his CART debut in the 1992 opener at Surfers Paradise (starting 17th and finishing 15th). He won the 1996 PPG Indy Car World Series Championship, driving for Target Chip Ganassi Racing, with four victories (it also was Honda’s first title). Overall, he won 10 races, finished in the top 10 in 136 and was running at the end of 149 of his final 194 starts (dating to Milwaukee in 1995).

“Really, it was just a matter of being fortunate -- one to keep a ride and have a job and two not getting hurt,” he said. “I was fortunate that those two factors played for me.”

Vasser did have his share of shunts, including suffering a broken leg in an accident during the 1992 Indianapolis 500, in which he was the fastest rookie qualifier (started 28th).

“There was a point where I would have missed a race in ’96 in the championship year,” he said. “I got vertigo when I crashed very hard in Detroit and went testing at Mid-Ohio the next week and could barely get back to the pits. Everything was upside down. There was a week or two off and I was able to come back at Portland. If there was a race the next week I would have missed it probably.

“(When) I broke my leg in ’92, I missed some races and we didn’t run a full season in ’93 and that’s why the streak started. A lot of guys probably could have done more if they just didn’t get hurt.”

Or, in the case of Michael Andretti, move to Formula One for one season, which bisected his CART seasons of 1983-92 and 1994-2002. Andretti is tied with Emerson Fittipaldi (1984-95) with 164 consecutive starts covering the latter half of his CART career. Al Unser Jr. is third overall with 192 from 1983 to 1995.

“I’ve been kind of lucky and the cars started getting safer, too,” Vasser continued. “I was never a driver who was known to crash or got caught up in a lot of stuff. I don’t know if that’s being more conservative or knowing more about your surroundings.

“You’re going to have your shunts and get knocked around a bit, but Tony I think is one of the most respected drivers out there that the others look at and know they can race close to and trust.”

Scott Dixon with 141 consecutive starts and Marco Andretti with 117 are the only other active drivers with 100-plus streaks, though Vasser suggests 200 or more consecutive starts could be attained by them and others under the right circumstances.

“All records are meant to be broken,” Vasser said. “It’s more fitting for Tony to be the ‘Ironman.’ It’s not fitting for Jimmy Vasser to be called the Ironman. I’ve never competed in the Ironman (triathlon, as Kanaan has) and nobody caught me in the gym that much.”