Tony Kanaan has had quite a bit of success when it comes to American open-wheel racing.

An Indy Lights champion in 1997, he stormed to the Verizon IndyCar Series title seven years later and wrote his name for good in the history books of the category in 2013 by finally winning the mythical Indianapolis 500, hoisting the Borg-Warner Trophy after a series of heartbreaks and near-misses.

However, 2015 has been a year of struggles for the 40-year old Brazilian, in his second season aboard the storied No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet. Entering the 12th round of the championship, he finds himself all the way down to eighth in the points table – all but out of title contention, as his teammate Scott Dixon seems to be the only man able to prevent Team Penske from winning another title.

Lack of performance and misfortunes aside, this was just not Kanaan’s year. Despite a strong debut in the streets of St. Petersburg, finishing third only behind the seemingly always-dominant Penske duo of Juan Montoya and Will Power, followed by a sixth place effort in Louisiana and a top-five result in Long Beach, his results took a big tumble mid-season.

In the next five races, from Barber through Race 2 in Detroit, Kanaan’s seventh place finish at the Grand Prix of Indianapolis stood as his best. He failed to post another top-10 result during the stretch, including another appearance at the '500' in which he failed to see the checkers, crashing out on Lap 151 despite having a good, strong run up to that point.

The return to ovals, however, has seen a resurgance of sorts for the Brazilian. In Texas, a race widely dominated by his teammate Dixon, Kanaan managed to remain close to the No. 9 car having pressured Dixon in the early stages, finishing a distant second. Kanaan’s runner-up finish, however, was his best this year up to that point.

The “fell short of the win” term, though, is best applied to the thrilling MAVTV 500 from two weeks ago. After a sixth place effort in Toronto the round prior where he gambled with fuel strategy, walking the thin line between contending for the win and dropping to the back of the field, the Brazilian put himself in a leading role from lap one of the 250 completed in Fontana.

In arguably the best race of the season, the No. 10 NTT Data Chip Ganassi Racing Chevrolet entry was among the leaders of the pack from the beginning, leading for the first time on Lap 15. He would end up with 204 passes for position throughout the race, most of any driver in an afternoon that featured 2,537 overtakes.

Graham Rahal, however, outlasted him, despite Kanaan showing more speed and poise before the final caution of the race. As the field raced toward the white flag, a scary crash that saw Ryan Briscoe go airborne and flip put an end to his chances of snagging the win and triumphing for the first time in 2015, causing the 2004 champion settled for another second place finish.

As the 2015 campaign marches towards its end, the Verizon IndyCar Series arrives at the Milwaukee Mile for the ABC Supply Wisconsin 250, where Kanaan will again pursue his maiden win of the year. Having triumphed at the Mile twice in the past with back-to-back wins in 2006 and 2007, maybe the win will come this weekend.

Be sure to follow @VAVELIndyCar on Twitter for coverage leading up to and during the race weekend at Milwaukee.

Pete Liguori is a writer for the VAVEL USA Racing section. Follow him on Twitter at @PeteUSSports.