Tracy says Michael Shank gives IndyCar CEO an earful

Paul Tracy

Michael Shank was disappointed to hear last week that his operation will not be part of IndyCar's Leader's Circle program.

"I told Mike to not count on the Leader's Circle money," veteran Paul Tracy said last week. "But he was pretty disappointed and he gave Randy Bernard a piece of his mind. He's pretty unhappy about the lack of communication from IndyCar.

"I'm waiting on Shank to see if he's going to throw the dice or not. I've got some sponsorship and there's a contract ready to be signed if he decides to dive into the pool headfirst."

"He's not jumping in to make a bunch of money. He's doing it because he wants to do it. I've said to him, 'Mike, are you sure this is what you want to do?' I've told him it's not the best situation to sell sponsorship and he recognizes that. But he says it's always been his dream to own an Indy car team and race at Indianapolis. He says if he doesn't do it now he'll never get another chance to do it.

"Mike is the best guy out there by far to try to do this deal with. He won't just take your money. He'll put his heart into doing it right."

Because they would have no testing Tracy says "We're in the ass end of the starting gate. We'll have a hell of a lot of work to do. It ain't gonna be easy."