Tracy hopes Edmonton performance opens doors in ’09

Paul Tracy

The Edmonton IndyCar race is the only one slated for Walker Racing and Paul Tracy for 2008. However their performance this past weekend proved they belong. Tracy is hopeful the group can put together a program for 2009 and here he talks about the weekend and what he hopes comes out of it.

"I spent the whole race saving fuel, doing fuel mileage, and the last stint I really had to do fuel mileage, couldn't really go quick at all," he admitted, "I knew that I couldn't go at the pace that Helio Castroneves and Scott Dixon and those guys could go, but I could set the pace of the group that I was with, and that was the group from third to tenth. They were all about the same, so I was just running my race and pacing myself, making it to the goal line.

"The last stint, I really had to make some fuel mileage for a while, then they turned me loose for a little bit. At the very end they said 'you've got to slow down again', so I was fortunate enough that Oriol had some type of problem or ran out of fuel right at the end. I'm just really happy for the team, really happy for the sponsor. I think it shows that we deserve to be out here."

"I'm extremely, extremely excited," he enthused, "It's been a long time coming, getting back in a car. I never dreamed that the final phase of my career would go like this. Obviously, I was under contract to Gerry Forsythe [and], when they decided not to go racing, that kind of left me hung out. There really wasn't anything out there that interested me in driving. But Derrick Walker and I had been talking all the way through the summer from Long Beach about trying to put something together and finding sponsorship, working on things, [but] it kept going down dead-end roads.

"Then I was on vacation with my wife and kids in San Diego and we were hanging out at the beach when Derrick said "I think we got something for Edmonton, are you available? The deal came together while I was [at Goodwood], which was the week before last, so I flew back early from England on an overnight flight straight to Indianapolis. We made a seat, I got to know the team and, four days later, we were at the track."

"I wasn't in the best shape of my life, like I said this weekend, but definitely was able to carry it through here and was strong all the way through the race," he noted, "I was a little bit concerned about fatigue, as I haven't been doing a lot of cardio in the last few months. I've been riding a little bit, a couple days a week, but not like every single day. I've been lifting more weights than doing cardio. So I was a little bit worried about my cardio for the race, but I think my strength was fine.

"Obviously, with more time to prepare, I would have been more prepared, but I only had four days of really hard training cardio-wise to get ready for this race. Other than that, I was pretty happy with how I ran."

"A lot of people were saying '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', but I spoke to Derrick on the 'phone, and he said 'look, I'm going to give you the best, everything I got, to make us look good this weekend. So just believe in me'. That's why I took the chance on doing this. He's trying to get back in the game.

"For me, it's difficult to hear people say 'Paul should just have to come out and pay his dues again, run around at the back, show that he can drive'. I showed today what I can do if we got a proper deal.

"I felt, coming in, that I could do a good job. This series has got the best of both groups. The top guys in the IRL were really top guys at their time in CART – Helio and Dixon, they were frontrunners – and you've got the top guys that were in Champ Car, so that doubles the level of top guys.

"The last couple years have been frustrating for me. We really struggled the last couple years, [and] I came into this weekend and learned that guys that were my crew guys and engineers from last year were making bets that I wouldn't crack the top 20, 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'."

"I'm not ready to retire," he insisted, "I want to do a few more years of racing, try to help the series and help it grow in Canada. That's what I've stated all along since the merger so, hopefully, I'll get the opportunity to do that.

"It's no secret that, my whole career, the most important part of the season for me is always to run in the Canadian races. And, right from the beginning of my career, winning the Toronto race in '93, to run well at home was always the focal point of my year.

"I think it would have been very, very difficult emotionally to not be a part of an IndyCar Series race and have to miss out on it. But I got this opportunity and we cashed in on it. So from that standpoint, I hope the door was cracked open for us. Now I hope it's wide open for me and Derrick to be able to move forward and doing something long-term.

"I'm excited for Derrick and I'm excited for Tony's team. I think the equipment they've got, we've shown them what the level is, where they're at. Hopefully, we can continue."