Tracy proves to Forsythe that it was them, not him

With his gutsy, near-perfect drive on Saturday Paul Tracy proved to his ex-Forsythe team that he was not the problem with the failure of their Champ Car team

When Paul Tracy had the chance to return to an IndyCar cockpit he had second thoughts. "I had many journalists that I'm friends with say, 'Don't do this, it's going to be a bad deal. You're going to be set up to look bad. They're only using you to sell tickets."'

He called Derrick Walker. Would he get a fair shot in Edmonton?

"Look," he recalled Walker telling him. "I'm going to give you the best, everything I got, to make us look good this weekend. So just believe in me."

He did and events moved quickly. Walker borrowed a third car from Vision Racing and crewed it with his own staff. Subway came on board as the main sponsor and they were off to the races. Tracy roared back from a commitment in England to Indianapolis, met his crew and got fitted for a seat.

"I went home back to Las Vegas and trained like crazy in the hundred-degree heat for four days. I wasn't in the best shape of my life."

He arrived in the Alberta capital four days before the race and drove his white No. 22 Dallara car for the first time in practice Thursday. Behind his back there were snickers.

"I learned that guys that were my crew guys and engineers from last year were making bets that I wouldn't crack the top 20, you know, because they felt it was me that was the problem at Forsythe.

"So that definitely gave me some extra motivation, to prove that, 'Hey, I can still do this. I can run up front with these guys that are a lot younger than me."'

The fans remembered. The crowds of well-wishers and picture-takers across from his pit stall matched that of fan favorite Patrick. Tracy ran well in practice, skidded his one precious chassis off course, kissing the safety barrier but keeping it intact. In qualifying Friday his bid to start up front was shattered when fellow Canadian Marty Roth spun out and brought out a yellow caution, wiping out Tracy's flyer lap.

He started 16th in the 28C heat on race day in the middle of the pack, the eighth-row, outside of Patrick. The race was fast with multiple lead changes and few caution flags. Tracy methodically worked his way up the grid. And then his radio gave out. Paul could hear the crew, but the crew couldn't hear Paul.

So they reverted to hand signals. Need more tire pressure Paul, stick your hand in the hair. Need a wing change? Raise your hand.

"We kind of did it, I guess, the way the guys like Mario (Andretti), A.J. (Foyt) and those guys did it back in the '70s when there was no radio."

He ran a fuel strategy race, knowing he didn't have the horses to run with Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon up front, but able to fight with the rest.

"I was fighting with many different drivers, passed a lot of guys, made a lot of really daring passes in the infield," he said.

"My car wasn't so strong in the faster corners, where I could run up on guys. So I had to really make my moves in the infield.

"I did that on Justin (Wilson). I did it to (Ryan) Hunter-Reay and Danica, Dan Wheldon. They were all done in the tight, twisty stuff, which is hard to get by."

He passed Oriol Servia as the race on the 14-turn airport-street course wound down to finish just short of the podium in fourth. To the cheers of the fans, he exited the car and headed for the post-race news conference in a nearby building, to sit in the exact same chair where he squirmed four days earlier. Canoe.ca

"It sure feels like a win," said the veteran driver of his return to IndyCar Series competition. "It's great and I'm really excited. To work our way forward and run with that lead group, the Penske, the Ganassi, and the Andretti Green cars, and show that this team, who put together a car in just two weeks, with a driver that hadn't driven since April, can run and finish like we did is outstanding. If we hadn't had to save so much fuel we could have had a shot at the podium. We just barely missed it. I had to let those guys go by because I was saving fuel."

"People said I had to come out and prove that I can still drive and we went from 15th on the grid to fourth," added Tracy. "Oriol (Servia) ran out of fuel right or had a problem at the end and we were able to get in front of him right at the line. I'm just super happy I was able to get through the whole race without running out of gas myself. It was hard race and I'm just really proud of the job these guys did for me in the pits, the way the sponsors treated us first class in Canada, and the great Canadian fans. I have to thank Derrick Walker, Tony George, Subway and Northlands for giving me this opportunity. It was just a great job by the whole Vision-Walker team."