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Paul Tracy

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Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Second Qualification Day for the 2009 Indianapolis 500.
NationalityCanada Canadian
IRL IndyCar Series career
Debut season2002
Current teamKV Racing Technology
Car number15
Former teamsTeam KOOL Green
Vision Racing
A.J. Foyt Enterprises
Dreyer & Reinbold
Starts10
Best finish22nd in 2009
Previous series
1985
1986-1987
1988-1990
1991-2007		Canadian FF
Canadian FF2000
ARS (Indy Lights)
CART / CCWS
Championship titles
1990
2003		ARS (Indy Lights)
Champ Car World Series
Awards
1990
1993
1999
2000		Bruce McLaren Trophy
Most Improved Driver
All-Star Team
All-Star Team

Paul Tracy (born December 17, 1968 in Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) is a professional automobile racer who competed in the Champ Car World Series from 1991 to 2007. He is nicknamed "PT" and also goes by the nickname "The Thrill from West Hill".

Racing career

Early years

Fascinated by cars since boyhood, Paul raced go-karts at Goodwood Kartways near his hometown until he was 16. At age 16, in 1985, he became the youngest ever Canadian Formula Ford Champion. He was also the winner of the final Can-Am race at the age of 17; in that same race he achieved the record of the youngest winner in Can-Am history.

Tracy worked his way up through the North American open-wheel feeder series' culminating with winning the 1990 Indy Lights Championship, and in the process set a record for single season wins with nine.

Penske and Newman/Haas years

Tracy making his third start for Penske Racing at Laguna Seca in 1991

The following year, he competed in his first IndyCar event at Long Beach and at mid-season became a test driver for Penske Racing, in his first race for the team at Michigan he crashed and broke his left leg. He recovered and raced twice more for the team at the end of the season. He was scheduled to start a selected number of races for Penske in 1992 and ended up starting 11 races, many of his starts as a substitute driver for the injured Rick Mears.

His first full year of IndyCar competition came in 1993 and he won five times with his first win coming at Long Beach and the others at Cleveland, Toronto, Road America and Laguna Seca. Paul led the series in laps led and was voted most improved driver by his peers. The 1994 season started out slowly for Tracy as he scored just two points in the first four races. He rebounded from his poor start and finished on the podium in eight of the final twelve races with victories at Detroit, Nazareth, and Laguna Seca. His third-place showing in the points gave Penske a sweep of the top-three slots with Al Unser, Jr. winning the title and Emerson Fittipaldi second. That year, Tracy also tested with the Benetton Formula One team at Estoril.

Despite three successful seasons at Penske racing, Paul switched to Newman/Haas Racing for the 1995 season. Although he won two races (Australia and Milwaukee) and finished 6th in the championship, Tracy returned to Penske racing for 1996. His return to Penske was a disappointment as he finished the season with no wins and 13th in the championship. A back injury also forced him to miss two races. 1997 was a roller coaster season for Tracy. He won consecutive events at Nazareth, Rio de Janeiro and Gateway, to take the points lead. The season went downhill soon after as he finished 26th or worse in each of the final five events to slip to fifth place in the championship. His wins were the 98th and 99th for Penske Racing in CART; they had to wait 3 more years for their 100th.


During this period (1994-1995) Paul Tracy also dabbled as a professional downhill mountain bike racer. He raced for Yeti Bicycles and made appearances in the pro class at famous bike races such as the legendary Kamikaze at Mammouth mountain. During this time Penske developed a special upside down suspension fork for Yeti Cycles and Paul. Kaiser Aerospace in partnership with Yeti Cycles built one of the first thermoplastic carbon fiber bicycles for Paul at a cost of 1/2 million dollars to produce.

Team Green years

File:PaulTracyCleveland.jpg
Paul drove for Team KOOL Green from 1998–2002.

Tracy left Penske racing again to race for Team KOOL Green for the 1998 season. The year was a struggle as he finished no better than fifth in any race and ended up a disappointing 13th in the championship.

Several on and off track incidents during the year earned him the wrath of CART officials and he was excluded from the 1999 season opener. Although he missed the first race, Paul still had a very successful season as he recorded seven podium finishes and had victories at Milwaukee and Houston. He finished third in the championship.

The 2000 season was also a success for Tracy as he won at Long Beach, Road America and Vancouver and finished fifth in the championship. Paul sat on the pole for the Michigan 500 with a new track record speed of 234.949 mph (378.114 km/h).

Paul's fourth year with Green in 2001 was one of the worst of his career as he went winless and finished 14th in the championship. 2002 was another year of struggle for Paul. He did win a race at Milwaukee but failed to finish 10 of 19 races and was 11th in the championship.

Tracy competing in the 2002 Indy 500

With Team Green, Tracy returned to the Indianapolis 500 in 2002 for the first time since 1995. A late-race caution flag for a crash appeared at nearly the same time he passed Hélio Castroneves for what would have been the race lead. This incident proved controversial due to the lack of evidence from camera angles showing whether or not he was ahead of Castroneves. Debate continued on the issue of whether the caution flag was timed to stop a CART driver beating the regulars of the rival Indy Racing League, which is run by Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Tony George. Perhaps as a result of this, he was voted CART's Most Popular Driver Award.

Forsythe years

Paul Tracy made his off-season move to the Player’s/Forsythe team for the 2003 season and had one of the best ever seasons in Champ Car history. He became the first driver in 32 years to win the first three races of a season, scoring victories in St. Petersburg, Monterrey, and Long Beach. His other victories came at Toronto (his finest victory of the season and perhaps his career; he led all 112 laps and, at one point, had a lead so big that when the first full-course caution of the race came out, Tracy managed to complete a pit stop before anyone else even got close to the pit lane entrance), Vancouver, Mid-Ohio, and Mexico City. He led 658 laps, earned six poles, and ten podiums on the way to his first-ever championship.

Due to tobacco advertising laws, Player's could not return as a sponsor for the following season. At the same time, CART went bankrupt and its assets were auctioned off in an Indiana court. The series was purchased by Kevin Kalkhoven, Paul Gentilozzi, and Tracy's team owner Gerald Forsythe. The lack of sponsor money certainly did not help the team and Paul was unable to defend his championship in 2004. He finished fourth in the series, with wins at Long Beach and Vancouver.

The 2005 season started out strong for Tracy. He led the points standings after five races, winning at Milwaukee and Cleveland. Bad luck and mistakes characterized the rest of his season, however. He was leading at Toronto when he ran out of fuel and crashed on his own while leading at Denver. A hard crash with Sébastien Bourdais at Las Vegas ended his championship hopes. Tracy finished fourth in the standings for the second year in a row.

2006 looked to be a transitional year for Tracy, with a five-race deal run in the NASCAR Busch Series possibly becoming a full-season contract in 2007. However, for a number of reasons, including poor results in the first three Busch races, Tracy reconsidered and determined that staying in Champ Car might be his best option. In May 2006, it was announced that Tracy had re-signed with Forsythe Racing for an additional five seasons. He announced plans to compete in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2007 for Riley D'Hondt Motorsports with sponsorship from SportClips. Tracy also competed in one Camping World Truck Series race in 2008 at Texas Motor Speedway, where he finished 20th for Germain Racing. He has since stated that he has no plans to run in NASCAR in 2009.

Tracy at Toronto in 2007

In November 2006, Tracy was injured while riding an ATV, but a rumor started that he had jumped a sand trap in a golf cart. Tracy denied the rumor and stated that he does not even own a golf cart. In January 2007, Tracy vowed to win the 2007 Champ Car title.[1] However, on April 14 during a practice session at Long Beach, he crashed into a concrete barrier and suffered a fractured vertebra which forced him to miss the race and the next one in Houston. In late-May, he was given the green light by doctors to return into action for the race in Portland on June 10.[2]

IndyCar Series Career

Following the unification of open wheel racing in North America, Forsythe announced that he would not be moving on to race in the IRL-sanctioned IndyCar Series in 2008, leaving Tracy a free agent after the 2008 race at Long Beach. After being without a ride for most of the season, Tracy signed a deal to drive for a joint Vision Racing/Walker Racing effort in the Rexall Edmonton Indy with sponsorship from Subway. Despite starting 15th in the race (due to a last qualifying lap spin by Marty Roth during the second knockout session), Tracy finished 4th behind Justin Wilson, Hélio Castroneves, and winner Scott Dixon. He had a fastest personal lap time of 1:02.9258 at 112.876 mph (181.656 km/h) set on lap 77.

On April 17, 2009 between practice sessions of the Long Beach Grand Prix it was announced that Tracy will drive in the 2009 Indianapolis 500 for KV Racing Technology sponsored by Geico Insurance. Races at Edmonton, Toronto, and Watkins Glen were later added to the KV/Tracy program for 2009, with additional races possible. Following Tracy's 9th place finish in his return to the Indy 500, AJ Foyt Enterprises signed Tracy to replace the injured Vitor Meira in the #14 car, but only for the Milwaukee race.[3] Paul drove again in 2009 for KV Racing at Mid-Ohio in place of Mario Moraes, who returned to Brazil after his father died.[4]

French helmet controversy

During his racing career, Tracy has been involved in several controversies, notably involving CART bosses. Also, several rivals have alleged that he is aggressive and sometimes dangerous, habits which have caused several accidents and feuds in the past. However, the most recent and high-profile incident involving the Canadian driver was the French helmet controversy.

The French helmet controversy erupted during the 2006 season after Tracy was involved in two on-track incidents at San Jose and Denver. At San Jose, Tracy missed a right curve and went straight into an open space area. By trying to return to the track, he hit Alex Tagliani's car, damaging the whole front of it. After the crash, Tagliani, a French-Canadian, angrily confronted Tracy in the pits and demanded that he pay for the damage since Tagliani's race team had financial issues. Tracy then warned Tagliani not to touch him, but the latter persisted and eventually the two men came to blows before being separated by Champ Car officials. Tracy noted that Tagliani was still wearing his helmet during the scuffle. Both men were fined an undisclosed amount of money, while Tracy was put on probation for three races and lost seven points.[5]

Paul Tracy and Sébastien Bourdais in a confrontation at the 2006 Denver Grand Prix

During the next race in Denver, Tracy and French driver Sébastien Bourdais were fighting for the second position on the last lap. Tracy, while having fuel and brake issues, was well behind Bourdais coming into the final corner. Still, he did not slow down enough, losing control and hitting Bourdais' car in the process. The Newman-Haas driver then charged at Tracy and gave him a shove. Although Tracy invited Bourdais to confront him, the latter chose to walk away from the potential altercation. Tracy was docked an additional three points in the championship and was fined US$25,000. Champ Car mentioned that "Tracy's on-track actions in Denver were determined to be in violation of his probation"[6] a probation stemming from the San Jose incident. Bourdais demanded that Tracy be suspended, since he felt that Tracy had cost him several points that he could have used to widen his now-slim lead in the points standings over A. J. Allmendinger, Tracy's teammate, who won the Denver race.

During a post-race interview, Tracy criticized Bourdais for not confronting him after the incident: "Too bad he wouldn't take his helmet off, then we really would have settled things. But French guys always keep their helmets on".[7] Tracy downplayed the remarks, claiming they were a joke, but added one week later: "I said it was a joke, but it's a fact. If I said anything untrue, I'd apologize for it, but in both instances, they came to me to get in an altercation with their helmets on. I don't regret it, but I said it in joking".[8] Bourdais, Tagliani, and Quebec driver Andrew Ranger asked for the crowd to boo him at the next race in Montreal, on the weekend of August 26.

This incident also renewed a heated rivalry between Tracy and Bourdais in which the Canadian driver criticized his rival for knocking him out of several past races and claiming that the Denver incident was payback according to him. In regards to the helmet remarks, Bourdais fired back at Tracy, saying: "I guess I'm not a hockey player and I didn't see him taking his helmet off either. I guess if he wants to fight someone, he is in the wrong sport." He continued: "It's just Paul Tracy making a fool out of himself race after race."[9]

Tagliani added: "I said he (Tracy) should wear a straitjacket because that's the only thing that could keep him under control. And Sébastien (Bourdais) said he can't drive with that on, so maybe it's the only thing that could keep him out of trouble".[8]

During the warm-ups and qualifying sessions in Montreal, the crowd at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve booed Tracy loudly. However, during the traditional drivers' presentation before the race, Tracy wore a blue mask and a Quebec flag as a cape while doing wrestling gestures, and the fans began to warm up to him.[10] RDS, TSN's French language television network title an article as : Paul Tracy, "le Crazy Québécois" (the crazy Quebecer)[11] and TSN captioned an image with "Captain Quebec". Tracy finished the rain-delayed race in second position behind Bourdais on the following Monday. Fans cheered for Tracy as he wore a Quebec flag on the podium.[12]

Personal

Tracy resides in Las Vegas, Nevada. He has two children, Alysha and Conrad. He has a business interest in Spy Sunglasses.

Motorsports Results

Career summary

Season Series Team Name Races Poles Wins Points Final Placing
1984 Canadian Formula Ford ? ? ? 1 ? 3rd
1985 Canadian Formula Ford ? ? ? ? ? 1st
1986 Can-Am Horst Kroll Racing 1 1 1 20 8th
Canadian FF2000 ? ? ? 1 164 4th
SCCA/Escort Endurance Championship Mathewson Racing 1 0 0 ? ?
Rothmans Porsche Cup Series ? ? ? ? ? ?
1987 Canadian FF2000 ? ? ? 1 59 15th
SCCA Formula Atlantic Eastern ? ? ? ? ? ?
SCCA/Escort Endurance Championship ? 3 0 0 ? ?
British Grandstand Series ? ? ? ? ? ?
New Zealand Tasman Series ? ? ? ? ? ?
1988 American Racing Series (Indy Lights) Hemelgarn Racing 11 0 1 58 9th
1989 American Racing Series (Indy Lights) Maple Leaf Racing 11 0 0 65 8th
1990 American Racing Series (Indy Lights) Landford Racing 14 7 9 214 1st
1991 PPG Indy Car World Series Dale Coyne Racing 1 0 0 6 21st
Penske Racing 3 0 0
1992 PPG Indy Car World Series Penske Racing 11 2 0 59 12th
1993 PPG Indy Car World Series Penske Racing 16 2 5 157 3rd
1994 PPG Indy Car World Series Penske Racing 16 4 3 152 3rd
1995 PPG Indy Car World Series Newman/Haas Racing 17 0 1 115 6th
1996 PPG Indy Car World Series Penske Racing 14 3 0 60 13th
1997 PPG CART World Series Penske Racing 16 2 3 121 5th
1998 FedEx Championship Series Team KOOL Green 19 0 0 61 13th
1999 FedEx Championship Series Team KOOL Green 19 0 2 161 3rd
2000 FedEx Championship Series Team KOOL Green 20 1 3 134 5th
2001 FedEx Championship Series Team KOOL Green 20 0 0 73 14th
2002 FedEx Championship Series Team KOOL Green 18 0 1 101 11th
Indy Racing League Team Green 1 0 0 40 34th
2003 Champ Car World Series Player's Forsythe Racing 18 6 7 226 1st
2004 Champ Car World Series Forsythe Championship Racing 14 3 2 254 4th
2005 Champ Car World Series Forsythe Championship Racing 13 3 2 246 4th
2006 Champ Car World Series Forsythe Championship Racing 13 0 0 209 7th
2007 Champ Car World Series Forsythe Championship Racing 12 0 1 171 11th
2008 IndyCar Series Forsythe/Pettit Racing 1 0 0 51 33rd
Vision Racing 1 0 0
2009 IndyCar Series KV Racing Technology 5 0 0 113 23rd
A. J. Foyt Enterprises 1 0 0
2010 Izod IndyCar Series KV Racing Technology 1 0 0 33 29th
Dreyer & Reinbold 1 0 0

Sports Car racing

(key)

Can-Am

1 Three-way tie.

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0

SCCA/Escort Endurance Championship

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
2 2 4 0 0 0 0 0

American Open Wheel

(key)

Canadian Formula Ford 2000 Championship (Incomplete)

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
2 ? ? ? 2 ? ? 0

American Racing Series (Indy Lights)

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
3 2 36 7 10 3 7 1

CART / Champ Car

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
17 5 261 25 31 43 66 1

IndyCar Series

1 Run on same day.
2 Non-points-paying, exhibition race.

Series Summary

Years Teams Starts Poles Wins Podiums
(Non-win) 		Top 10s
(Non-podium) 		Championships
4 6 10 0 0 1 4 0

Indianapolis 500

Year Chassis Engine Start Finish Team Note
1991 Lola T9000 Cosworth Wth Dale Coyne Racing Withdrew from rookie orientation
1992 Penske PC-21 Chevrolet B 19 20 Penske Engine Failure
1993 Penske PC-22 Chevrolet C 7 30 Penske Crash
1994 Penske PC-23 Ilmor-Mercedes 25 23 Penske Turbo Failure
1995 Lola T9500 Ford-Cosworth XB 16 24 Newman/Haas Broken Throttle
2002 Dallara Chevrolet 29 2 Green First Indy start in seven years
2009 Dallara Honda 13 9 KV First Indy start in seven years
2010 Dallara Honda DNQ KV Did Not Qualify

References

  1. ^ PAUL TRACY'S NEW YEAR COMES WITH RENEWED COMMITMENT, Champ Car World Series, January 2, 2007
  2. ^ Tracy returns to the track this week, Canadian Press, May 21, 2007
  3. ^ http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/75644
  4. ^ http://auto-racing.speedtv.com/article/indycar-millers-mid-ohio-preview/
  5. ^ Champ Car fines Tracy and Tagliani, Canadian Press, August 2, 2006
  6. ^ Tracy fined, docked points for Denver race, Canadian Press, August 15, 2006
  7. ^ Tracy downplays French-helmet remarks, TSN.ca, August 14, 2006
  8. ^ a b Bourdais suggests "welcome" for Tracy, Canadian Press/TSN.ca, August 24, 2006
  9. ^ Bourdais responds to Tracy incident, TSN.ca, August 15, 2006
  10. ^ Rain postpones Montreal Grand Prix, Canadian Press, August 27, 2006
  11. ^ [1] le Crazy Quebecois, RDS.ca
  12. ^ Bourdais edges Tracy in Montreal, Canadian Press, August 28, 2006

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Paul Tracy.
Sporting positions
Preceded by American Racing Series Champion
1990 		Succeeded by
Preceded by CART Series Champion
2003 		Succeeded by
Sébastien Bourdais
(as Champ Car World Series Champion)
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