Jim Ayello | IndyStar

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NEWTON, Iowa – They were two young, fiery drivers at the top of their profession. They fought for every pole, every win, every inch. Coming up through Indy Lights at the same time, they even fought for the same seat in an Indy car. By rights, Brazilian exports Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves should have blossomed into one of IndyCar’s all-time rivalries.

But it never happened.

Bob Goshert / For IndyStar

Throughout each of their illustrious careers, they banged wheels, screamed at each other more than once and even ceased speaking to each other for three years after Castroneves became furious with Kanaan for fighting too hard for position while Castroneves was in pursuit of a championship at the 2006 finale at Chicagoland Speedway. At last year’s celebration of their 20 years in IndyCar together, Kanaan admitted the two have long held “a love-hate relationship.”

“He’s the biggest rival of my life,” Kanaan told IndyStar. “To this day, if I’m having a bad day and I’m 16th, but he’s 18th, I feel OK. That’s just the way it works.”

Mark J. Rebilas, Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Yet their rivalry was somewhat a secret, a personal battle that never escalated to an all-out war on track or a war of words — and fists — off track. Why?

For one, Kanaan said, it's because they shared a long history together and were friends at heart. But secondly, and most importantly, because neither one of them was stupid enough to put their lives in danger by taking their feud onto the track with them.

“We already have the fastest cars,” Kanaan said. “We all know it’s a very dangerous sport. It can get very dangerous and unfortunately very dramatic at times. We don’t need to add stuff.”

IndyCar veteran Ed Carpenter agreed with Kanaan, adding that rivalries often get nipped in the bud because there’s often no sensible way to retaliate in IndyCar, even if someone wanted to.

Think back to last week's NASCAR race at Chicagoland Speedway when Kyle Larson and Kyle Busch were going wheel to wheel for the win. Larson banged into Busch in the final lap only to have Busch respond a short time later by nudging him out of the way for the win.

That sort of driving can't really happen in IndyCar, Carpenter said. Think of the costs, both economically and in the championship.

At the same time, that doesn’t mean people have to like each other, and if they don’t, and they speak freely, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that.

When you start carrying over emotions from the previous events to the next, you’re going to probably hurt yourself more than help yourself," said Carpenter, who confessed his anger after his 2015 Iowa Speedway feud with Sage Karam dissipated within days. "That’s why some of this stuff doesn’t fester as much as other series, because you can’t really retaliate without hurting yourself."

MARK BAKER, AP

Among the last real rivalries to unfold with an Indy car series was between Champ Car adversaries Sebastien Bourdais and Paul Tracy. For years, the two battled on track and cursed each other off it, and the fans and media ate it up. But Bourdais hated it.

"It took a lot of the fun away," Bourdais explained Saturday at Iowa Speedway. "And that’s not how it’s supposed to be. I just wanted to be racing. I didn't want it to be about fighting words and opinions and getting taken out. I'm definitely not for that.

Years after their scuffles, Tracy admitted he only started the tiffs in order to try and get under Bourdais' skin, to rattle him. Bourdais said Saturday he doesn't think there's anyone in the current IndyCar paddock who's capable of such tactics.

"It takes a special character to get these kinds of things going. I think it takes someone to really want to take the animosity to another level to really get the whole thing," Bourdais said. "For it to happen, things have to get a little bit out of proportion. And I'm not sure anyone here wants to experience to that."

That speaks to another point Kanaan made about why it's so difficult to generate rivalries today. While decades ago, drivers didn't spend a lot time with one another or communicate much other than at the race track, that's not true of today's IndyCar stars. Many of these drivers are close friends who go out to eat together, work out together and sometimes live together.

Take Alexander Rossi and Robert Wickens, for example. Following their clashes at St. Petersburg and Road America, that's the pair fans are dying to see develop into the next big IndyCar rivalry.

But that's probably not going to happen. Not only do the two of them respect each others' driving talent immensely but they share the same friends (namely, James Hinchcliffe) and work out together at the same facility (PitFit Training). On the weekly IndyCar radio show, "Trackside," Rossi told hosts Kevin Lee and Curt Cavin he and Wickens enjoyed a workout together earlier this week.

Matt Kryger/IndyStar

"We have such a good group of guys who get along," said Kanaan, who added that good relationships foster clean competitive racing. "Sometimes we hate each other, but then we talk it out.

"We kinda hate on each other, and then like three races later, it’s like yeah, whatever. We hated each other, so then we don’t speak. We don’t usually get physical. We have our moments, but I don’t think that’s what the series is all about anyway."

Kanaan said he's not sure the kind of rivalry many fans want to see is good for the series in the long run. Yes, fist fights and helmet throwing can temporarily boost ratings, but at what cost?

"What kind of example is that to set?" Kanaan said. "Nowadays, we’re a series that kids are watching. People are watching. Sponsors are watching. Do you really want to associate yourself with something like that? ... I don’t want to be that guy and have to explain to my kid why I beat the hell out of another driver. Is that sportsmanship? Not really."

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2018 IndyCar race winners