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Paul Tracy - Going NASCAR's way???

Argyle

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I have said it before, and I still believe that Paul's racing style suits the NASCAR series. We will have to see how the testing goes in Michigan.

Open-wheel's Tracy to test Cup car at Michigan

From Team Press Release
August 2, 2005
04:31 PM EDT (20:31 GMT)


WELCOME, N.C. -- Open wheel star Paul Tracy will test Aug. 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Richard Childress Racing's No. 33 Chevrolet in preparation for the Aug. 21 GFS Marketplace 400.

The Canadian is the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion and has 30 victories, ranking him first among the series' active drivers and third all-time. Tracy is currently second in the 2005 point standings with two victories, six top-five finishes and two pole positions after eight of 14 races. He finished second in the July 31 Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose.

"Paul and I have talked about an opportunity like this for the past couple years and it has finally come together for Michigan," said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. "I'd like to thank Gerry Forsythe and Forsythe Championship Racing for allowing us the chance to give this a try.

"This will be Paul's first shot in a stock car but he obviously has a great deal of talent and knows how to win races and championships. We'll take a look at how things go after the test and, if all goes according to plan, get him ready for the Cup race the next week."

Tracy is looking forward to testing his driving skills again at the MIS oval. He competed in Champ Cars there 10 times, earning four top-five and seven top-10 finishes and a pole position. The 2000 pole speed set the track qualifying record at 234.949 mph.

"I'm very excited about this opportunity especially at Michigan where I have a lot of experience," said Tracy. "Driving a Nextel Cup car will be totally new to me but my focus is to develop a package that will help Kevin (Harvick), Jeff (Burton) and Dave (Blaney) and their teams for the race weekend. I want to do whatever I can to help."
With Paul being a free agent at the end of the Champ Car season, depending on how this testing goes...anything is possible!!!!
 

Argyle

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The day is getting closer TR!!!! This may be PT's last season in Champ Car...
Tracy contemplates switch to NASCAR

Associated Press

8/9/2005 6:12:32 PM

BROOKLYN, Mich. (AP) - Champ Car star Paul Tracy is ready for a new challenge and hopes it can come in NASCAR.

Tracy, an open-wheel star with 30 Champ Car victories and one series championship, spent Monday and Tuesday testing a car at Michigan International Speedway. If car owner Richard Childress is pleased with the results, he'll let Tracy compete in the race here later this month.

Tracy said he viewed the possible career change as an opportunity and a learning experience.

''I've done about all I can do and accomplished everything I wanted to in Champ Car,'' said the Toronto native Tuesday. ''When this opportunity comes around to get in with a good car, it's really what keeps you motivated.

''I need to try something different to keep my motivation high. It's my second day in the car. The next step is to see if we can come back here and have a good race. Then after that, I'll really sit down and really think about where I want to go with the rest of my career. Whether it's making a change, which is big in your whole lifestyle, or sticking with what I have now.''

Childress is on vacation and not due back until Wednesday. Once he returns, he'll go over Tracy's results and the two will decide the next step.

RCR officials said Tuesday they've been pleased with Tracy's progress in his two days on the track. He worked Monday with Childress driver Kevin Harvick before taking his first spin around MIS.

''He's got so much experience with the car that he can get in it and go fast,'' Tracy said. ''He kind of set a baseline for me and we are there now.''

Bobbie Leslie, the special projects crew chief with RCR, said Tracy had done well.

''He adapted to the race car really fast, he adapted well to the way we do things as a group,'' Leslie said. ''He's really impressed all of us.''

One reason Tracy is trying to make this move now is that at 36, he knows time is running out on his open-wheel career.

''The top end of the road is really 40,'' he said. ''In anything, to get into any top car, whether it's a Formula 1 car, a Champ Car, or a Cup car, the window of opportunity is so small to succeed. It's a decision I'm going to have to make in the next month or so on what direction I go, but I'm not ready to make it today that's for sure.''

At least one potential competitor wouldn't allow himself to get too excited about one of Champ Car's top drivers making the jump to NASCAR.

''I've watched him race a long time and I don't mean him any disrespect, but if he comes here to race, that's none of our concern,'' driver Dale Jarrett said. ''I couldn't even tell you what he's running, how he's running.''

But Tracy does have the support of good friend Robby Gordon, a former open-wheel racer who is now in NASCAR.

''It's going to be a lot of fun to race him,'' Gordon said. ''Richard Childress obviously is not afraid to give an open-wheeler an opportunity. He gave me one.

''I'm a fan of Paul Tracy, as well. The guy can drive the wheels off a race car.''
 

Argyle

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Tracy, Aikman discuss NASCAR options

TSN.ca Staff

8/27/2005 9:34:29 AM

A pair of football Hall of Famers may be Paul Tracy's ticket into NASCAR competition in 2006.

Tracy, the former Champ Car champion who has NASCAR aspirations, says he's spoken with former NFL quarterback Troy Aikman about possibly joining his new stock car team next season.

"I've talked with Troy on the phone and we're going to set up a meeting at some point," Tracy said in Montreal while preparing for this weekend's Champ Car race.

Aikman and another former Dallas Cowboys quarterback, Roger Staubach, along with Trans-Am driver Bill Saunders have formed Hall of Fame Racing, which plans to compete in the Nextel Cup in 2006. The team has signed a working agreement with Joe Gibbs Racing.

The 36-year-old Tracy has expressed interest in NASCAR for years and, finally, did something about it earlier this month, taking part in a two-day test at Michigan International Speedway in a Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet.

It was hoped that Tracy would indeed make his NASCAR debut at the Michigan event but both sides agreed there simply wasn't enough time to properly prepare a fourth car for the race. Tracy says he hopes to get another opportunity to show he's got what it takes later this year.

"Richard is planning to do a 500-mile engine reliability test and I'd hope to do that for him," Tracy said. "Then, we're hoping I can drive a race later this year at either Atlanta or Homestead, which are both tracks that should suit me pretty well."

Tracy, whose 30 career victories are the most by any active Champ Car driver, is not yet signed with any team for 2006, although Champ Car team owner Gerald Forsythe has offered him a new contract.

"I know Gerry would like to know something, yes or no, as soon as possible," Tracy said. "But I'm not going to make any decision until after I've driven a (NASCAR) race.

"I figure, at my age, I still have three, four, maybe five years in (Champ Car) left in me, but it could be the right time to make a change and I want to take a good look at it. I've talked with some other teams over there (in NASCAR), but Richard Childress is the only one who has stepped up and made something happen at this point."
Things are getting interesting in the early racing silly season...
 

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