[h=2]Like father, like son for O'Connells in PWC[/h] Wednesday, 14 June 2017








Canaan O'Connell is not only following in his father Johnny's tire tracks, but the two are enjoying competing at the same tracks on some Pirelli World Challenge weekends.
You know, Johnny, it could have been worse ... you could have been sucked into coaching Little League baseball. But that would have been difficult since you work weekends.
"I'm nervous as heck when I watch him, I'm not going to lie," says Cadillac Racing driver Johnny O'Connell of watching his son, Canaan (pictured, with Johnny), race in the Pirelli World Challenge Touring Car B class, where he's making a habit of winning. "But I'm excited. Seeing him winning is a better feeling than me winning. This way I can keep an eye on him. I can focus on my responsibilities at Cadillac, and break away and help him when I can.
Johnny and Canaan will spend five weekends racing together in 2017, when the Touring Car classes join the GT class at Pirelli World Challenge events. Johnny, of course, is a four-time champion for Cadillac, currently driving the No. 3 ATS-V.R, which he shares with Ricky Taylor in the SprintX rounds. That's in addition to four class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, most with Corvette Racing, in addition to an overall win in the 12 Hours of Sebring, an American Le Mans Series GTS title and a Formula Atlantic championship.
Canaan, an instructor at the Bondurant School of Racing – which he says has been a huge help in advancing his driving – is competing in TechSport Racing's Chevrolet Sonic (pictured, below), where he has three wins and five podium finishes in six races. There's a huge speed gap between father and son's racecars, but there's good reason for that.
"One piece of advice my dad has given me is that if you learn to drive a car that is not necessarily fast, and you make that car fast ... when you do get in something fast, you're awesome," explains Canaan. "So to have something that requires momentum – and keeping in mind that I'm driving 5, 6, 700-horsepower cars cars almost every day of the week – to be able to take a little bit of a step back and do something that forces you to be very smart with how you drive a car, not to mention the level of competition, I think that it was absolutely the best fit."

His father echoes that sentiment, saying that while he believes Canaan would do well in a GTS car, being in something slow in multi-class racing is a great teacher.
"It's a great place to learn racecraft. It's easy when you're in the fastest category of cars, because everything is in front of you. When you're in the slowest it's much more difficult. You learn how to use your mirrors, how to change your line technique, how to let traffic by, how to keep guys from getting by you," Johnny says.
Johnny speaks as much like a coach as a father, and that's the way it's been. Most of Canaan's racing education has occurred out of the spotlight until now. Much of that has happened at an indoor kart track near Johnny's home in Flowery Branch, Ga., that is well known to racers, called Lovables after the building's former use as a diaper factory. And when Canaan straps into a car, not matter at what level, Johnny reminds him that its "just like Lovables."
"I try to give him as much knowledge as I can," Johnny says. "That's a fine line, because he doesn't really see me so much as a racing driver as he does Dad, so every now and then I have to remind him, hey, if this was Jan Magnussen or Ollie Gavin or Antonio Garcia [Johnny's former teammates at Corvette Racing], he'd be listening closer and not being snappy. But it's kind of neat...I remember talking with Jan, and of course [Jan's son] Kevin is now in Formula 1, and Jan was saying it was really nice when Kevin came up to him and said, 'All the things you told me are correct.' You want your kid to learn on their own, but you try to offer them advice based on what you've learned. And it does sink in."
Canaan has taken a few steps similar to his father's career – World Challenge and instructing at Bondurant, for example. What other similarities might exist in their careers it's too early to tell. Canaan says both open-wheel and GT routes appeal to him. It should be noted, though, that he drives a GM model, and much of the GM racing brass has watched him grow up.
"They know what a fine young man he is; that's what I'm most proud of, is that he's a great person," beams Dad. Johnny adds that Canaan fits the mold of a GM driver and hopes that he may get an opportunity with a factory program.
But that's some time in the future. For now, Johnny insists that he's faster, but he also says the gap is closing. "I hope he's faster. If there's one person I would like to be faster and beat my records, it would be my kid," he says.
Until then, Canaan knows how fortunate he is, both to have some distinct advantages in his racing career, but in being able to share this passion and this time with his dad.
"I'm probably the luckiest guy in the world in terms of father-son relationships," he says. "Being able to go to the track with each other and being able to talk about our day before it happens ... to do it with your dad, your best friend, is something you can't put a price tag on."