Paul Tracy

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Paul Tracy
Paul Tracy
Nationality	Canadian
Champ Car #
Current team
Race starts	261
Series Championships	1 (2003)
Wins	31
Podium finishes	74
Pole positions	25
First Champ Car race	1991 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach
Last Champ Car race	2008 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	edit

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

Contents 1 Early years 2 Penske-Newman/Haas years 3 Team Green years 4 Forsythe years 5 French helmet controversy 6 Personal 7 Complete Champ Car results 8 Indianapolis 500 results 9 References 10 See also 11 External links

[edit] 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 also holds the record as the youngest winner of the single seater Can-Am series in 1986.

Tracy worked his way up through the racing ranks and in the United States he won the 1990 Indy Lights Championship, setting a record with nine wins.

[edit] Penske-Newman/Haas years

The following year, he competed in his first Champ Car event at Long Beach, California and at mid-season became a test driver for Penske Racing. He was scheduled to start a select 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 Champ Car 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.

[edit] Team Green years

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. 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.

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 Helio 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 Champ Car 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.

[edit] 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 (perhaps his finest victory of the season and of his career, as 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, Players 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 and had wins at Long Beach and Vancouver.

The 2005 season started out strong for Paul. He led the points standings after 5 races, winning at Milwaukee and Cleveland. Bad luck and mistakes characterized the rest of his season. He was leading at Toronto when he ran out of fuel and crashed on his own while leading the race at Denver. A hard crash with Sébastien Bourdais at Las Vegas ended his championship hopes. Tracy finished the year 4th in the standings.

2006 looked to be a transitional year for Tracy, with a 5-race deal run in the NASCAR Nationwide 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, but he has since stated that he has no plans to run in NASCAR 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 prior to the Long Beach Grand Prix, 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]

However, following the unification of open wheel racing in North America, Forsythe announced that he would not be moving on to race in the IndyCar Series in 2008, leaving Tracy a free agent. He is reportedly interested in finding an IndyCar Series team to continue his involvement in open wheel.^[3]

[edit] French helmet controversy

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

During the 2006 season, he was involved in a controversy in which he said that French drivers always keep or do not want to remove their helmets during altercations. This happened after two incidents in races in San Jose and in Denver. In 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, confronted Tracy in the pits displaying his frustration at him and wanted him also to pay for the damage since Tagliani's race team had financial issues. Tracy then warned Tagliani not to touch him and eventually they threw several blows at each other before Champ Car officials separated the two men. 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.^[4]

At the next race in Denver, Tracy and French driver Sébastien Bourdais were fighting for the second position during the last lap. At the last curve of the race, Tracy, while having fuel and brake issues, was well behind Bourdais coming into the final corner. Still, Tracy didn't slow down enough and lost control and hit Bourdais's car in the process. The Newman-Haas driver then charged himself towards Tracy and gave him a shove while the Canadian invited to confront him. However, Bourdais didn't continue the altercation and walked away. Tracy was docked an additional three points in the championship and was fined $25,000 US dollars. Champ Car mentioned that "Tracy's on-track actions in Denver were determined to be in violation of his probation"^[5] a probation stemming from the San Jose incident. Bourdais requested a suspension to Tracy since he cost him several points that could have limited the drop of his lead in the point standings from A. J. Allmendinger, Tracy's teammate who won the Denver race and thus sinking significantly Bourdais's lead in the standings.

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".^[6] Tracy did downplay those remarks citing it as a joke. Tracy 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".^[7] 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 the race on several occasions in the past and that this incident was a payback according to him. In regards to the helmet remarks, Bourdais fired back at Tracy and quoted : "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." and added : "It's just Paul Tracy making a fool out of himself race after race."^[8]

Tagliani added : "I said he (Tracy) should wear a straight jacket 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".^[7]

During warm-ups and qualifying sessions for the Grand Prix of Montreal, the crowd at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve booed him loudly. During the traditional drivers presentation before the race, Tracy was wearing a blue mask and a Quebec flag as a cape while doing wrestling gestures, and the fans began to warm up to him.^[9] RDS, TSN's sister television network title an article as : Paul Tracy, "le Crazy Quebecois" (the crazy Quebecer)^[10] 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.^[11]

[edit] Personal

As of 2006, Tracy resides in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He has two children, Alysha and Conrad. He has a business interest in Spy Sunglasses.

[edit] Complete Champ Car results

still to be completed

early years/points column needs work

Yr	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	Rank	Points
1991	Coyne/Penske	SUR DNP	LBH Ret	PHX DNP	IND DNP	MIL DNP	DET DNP	POR DNP	CLE DNP	MDW DNP	TOR DNP	MIC Ret	DEN DNP	VAN DNP	MDO DNP	ELK DNP	NAZ 7	LAG Ret					21st	6
1992	Penske	SUR Ret	PHX Ret	LBH 7	IND Ret	DET DNP	POR Ret	MIL Ret	NHA DNP	TOR Ret	MIC DNP	CLE 14	ROA DNP	VAN Ret	MDO Wtd	NAZ DNQ	LAG 12						12th	59
1993	Penske	SUR Ret	PHX Ret	LBH 1	IND Ret	MIL Ret	DET 9	POR 3	CLE 1	TOR 1	MIC Ret	NHA 2	ROA 1	VAN Ret	MDO Ret	NAZ 3	LAG 1						3rd	157
1994	Penske	SUR 4	PHX 5	LBH Ret	IND 4	MIL 11	DET 1	POR Ret	CLE Ret	TOR Ret	MIC Ret	MDO 14	NHA 7	VAN 15	ROA Ret	NAZ 1	LAG 1						3rd	152
1995	Newman/Haas	MIA 8	SUR 1	PHX Ret	LBH Ret	NAZ Ret	IND Ret	MIL 1	DET 2	POR 2	ROA 3	TOR Ret	CLE 3	MIC 7	MDO 9	NHA 6	VAN Ret	LAG 8					6th	115
1996	Penske	MIA 1	RIO 8	SUR 1	LBH 1	NAZ 7	500 1	MIL 10	DET 12	POR 13	CLE 10	TOR 8	MIC 9	MDO 2	ROA 6	VAN 7	LAG 4						13th	61
1997	Penske	MIA 3	SUR 12	LBH 9	NAZ 1	RIO 1	GAT 1	MIL 3	DET 4	POR Ret	CLE 13	TOR 7	MIC Ret	MDO 5	ROA 8	VAN 2	LAG 1	FON 2					5th	121
1998	Green	MIA 16	MOT 7	LBH 8	NAZ 1	RIO 6	GAT 4	MIL 1	DET 6	POR 8	CLE 7	TOR 3	MIC 2	MDO Ret	ROA 9	VAN Ret	LAG 5	HOU 4	SUR Ret	FON 1			13th	61
1999	Green	MIA 4	MOT 12	LBH 10	NAZ 11	RIO Ret	GAT 10	MIL 4	POR 12	CLE Ret	ROA Ret	TOR 8	MIC 9	DET 5	MDO 4	CHI 3	VAN 3	LAG Ret	HOU Ret	SUR Ret	FON 5		3rd	161
2000	Green	MIA 4	LBH 3	RIO 2	MOT Ret	NAZ 7	MIL 13	DET 7	POR Ret	CLE 8	TOR 9	MIC Ret	CHI 8	MDO Ret	ROA 1	VAN 6	LAG 8	GAT 7	HOU 1	SUR 3	FON Ret		5th	134
2001	Green	MTY 6	LBH 5	FTW Canc	NAZ 4	MOT 5	MIL Ret	DET Ret	POR 16	CLE 5	TOR Ret	MIC Ret	CHI 14	MDO Ret	ROA Ret	VAN Ret	LAU 15	ROC 7	HOU 11	LAG 5	SUR 6	FON 12	14th	73
2002	Green	MTY Ret	LBH 2	MOT Ret	MIL 9	LAG 8	POR Ret	CHI Ret	TOR 6	CLE 6	VAN Ret	MDO 8	ROA 5	MTL 5	DEN 10	ROC 7	MIA 3	SUR 12	FON 1	MEX 11			11th	101
2003	Player's	STP 1	MTY 1	LBH 1	BRH Ret	LAU 12	MIL 12	LAG 3	POR 2	CLE 2	TOR 1	VAN 1	ROA Ret	MDO 1	MTL 6	DEN 4	MIA Ret	MEX 1	SUR 13	FON Canc			1st	226
2004	Forsythe	LBH 1	MTY 7	MIL Ret	POR 3	CLE Ret	TOR 5	VAN 1	ROA 12	DEN 2	MTL 4	LAG 10	LAS Ret	SUR 4	MEX 10								4th	254**
2005	Forsythe	LBH 2	MTY Ret	MIL 1	POR 3	CLE 1	TOR Ret	EDM 3	SAN 2	DEN Ret	MTL 8	LAS Ret	SUR Ret	MEX 3									4th	246
2006	Forsythe	LBH Ret	HOU 2	MTY 4	MIL Ret	POR 7	CLE Ret	TOR 2	EDM 5	SAN Ret	DEN 6	MTL 2	ROA 10	SUR 4	MEX INJ								7th	208
2007	Forsythe	LAS 3	LBH INJ	HOU INJ	POR 10	CLE 1	MTT Ret	TOR Ret	EDM 5	SAN 11	ROA 12	ZOL 10	ASS Ret	SUR 9	MEX 5								11th	171

• Bold indicates Pole Position
• *Season still in progress **New points system implemented in 2004

Year	Team	Wins	Points	Championship Finish
1991	Dale Coyne Racing Penske Racing	0	6	21st
1992	Penske Racing	0	59	12th
1993	Penske Racing	5	157	3rd
1994	Penske Racing	3	152	3rd
1995	Newman/Haas Racing	2	115	6th
1996	Penske Racing	0	61	13th
1997	Penske Racing	3	121	5th
1998	Team KOOL Green	0	61	13th
1999	Team KOOL Green	2	161	3rd
2000	Team KOOL Green	3	134	5th
2001	Team KOOL Green	0	73	14th
2002	Team KOOL Green	1	101	11th
2003	Player's Forsythe Racing	7	226	1st
2004	Forsythe Championship Racing	2	254	4th
2005	Forsythe Championship Racing	2	246	4th
2006	Forsythe Championship Racing	0	208	7th
2007	Forsythe Championship Racing	1	171	11th

1 Championship, 31 series wins

[edit] Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Note
1992	Penske	Chevrolet	19th	20th	Engine Failure
1993	Penske	Chevrolet	7th	30th	Crash
1994	Penske	Ilmor-Mercedes	25th	23rd	Turbo Failure
1995	Lola	Ford-Cosworth	16th	24th	Broken Throttle
2002	Dallara	Chevrolet	29th	2nd	1st Indy start in 7 years

[edit] References

[edit] See also

• List of Champ Car drivers
• List of Canadians in Champ Car

[edit] External links

• Official website

Sporting positions
Preceded by Mike Groff	American Racing Series Champion 1990	Succeeded by Eric Bachelart
Preceded by Cristiano da Matta	CART Series Champion 2003	Succeeded by Sébastien Bourdais (as Champ Car World Series Champion)

2008 Champ Car season
NHL	Forsythe/Pettit	Minardi	Australia	Rocketsports	Coyne	PKV	PCM	Conquest
1 Wilson 2 Rahal	3 Tracy 7 TBA	4 TBA 14 Doornbos	5 Power 15 TBA	8 Bernoldi	11 TBA 19 TBA	21 TBA 22 Servià	28 TBA 29 Figge	24 Perera 34 TBA
Long Beach - Houston - Laguna Seca - Zolder - Jerez - Cleveland - Mont-Tremblant - Toronto - Edmonton - Portland - Road America - Assen - Surfers Paradise - Mexico City

v • d • e CART/CCWS Drivers' Champions (1979) Rick Mears · (1980) Johnny Rutherford · (1981–82) Rick Mears · (1983) Al Unser · (1984) Mario Andretti · (1985) Al Unser · (1986–87) Bobby Rahal · (1988) Danny Sullivan · (1989) Emerson Fittipaldi · (1990) Al Unser Jr · (1991) Michael Andretti · (1992) Bobby Rahal · (1993) Nigel Mansell · (1994) Al Unser Jr · (1995) Jacques Villeneuve · (1996) Jimmy Vasser · (1997–98) Alex Zanardi · (1999) Juan Pablo Montoya · (2000–01) Gil de Ferran · (2002) Cristiano da Matta · (2003) Paul Tracy · (2004–07) Sébastien Bourdais