Reality TV Series coming to Champ Car

UPDATE #3 A reader adds, Dear AutoRacing1.com, While watching a couple of Chicago Cubs' baseball games (telecast to Phoenix on the Tribune Company's Superstation WGN TV) saw ads for Race Car Driver. Do Champ Car, Indeck, or Paul Tracy realize the HUGE exposure that they are receiving (just by airing these TV ads in tandem with Cubs' baseball telecasts)? Tony George & his IRL would kill to get this kind of national TV commercial exposure! Barry Kingsford, Phoenix, AZ Dear Barry, Yes, this was a real coup for Champ Car, but they must do a lot more "thinking outside the box" like this if they want to grow the grassroots fan base and make any inroads into NASCAR's stranglehold on the USA market. Too bad the IRL and Champ Car were not working together on growing the sport. Instead it appears the split will continue and the France Family will laugh all the way to the bank. Mark C. 07/01/05 The Champ Car World Series of racing, one of North America's fastest growing segments of motorsports, is the focus of "Race Car Driver," a new weekly, half-hour series to bow on Superstation WGN in the Fall of 2005. "Race Car Driver," which focuses on the worldwide adventures of Canadian Paul Tracy, star driver of the Forsythe Championship Racing Team is an original series to bow on Superstation WGN for the fall 2005 season. "Race Car Driver" is expected to be seen in back-to-back episodes Mondays through Saturdays in prime-time on Superstation WGN.

"Race Car Driver" immerses the viewer in the world of charismatic driver Paul Tracy and Champ Car, open-wheel racing both on and off the track. In addition to Tracy, the cast includes his leading competitors, the teams, their owners, and the pit crews. Tracy, a noted, highly competitive sportsman, does not confine his need for speed to racing cars – he is also an aficionado of speedboats and high-performance motorcycles. "Race Car Driver" focuses on the high-speed action and exotic lifestyles of this corner of the sporting world as the participants visit and race the downtown streets of locales from Long Beach, California, to Denver, Las Vegas, San Jose, Toronto, Montreal, Mexico City, and metropolises of Korea and Australia.

Key players in "Race Car Driver" in addition to Paul Tracy are team owner Gerald Forsythe, flamboyant Mexican teammate Mario Dominguez, PKV Racing American driver Jimmy Vasser and owner Kevin Kalkhoven, and Newman-Haas team driver and defending champion Sebastien Bourdais of France. It should be pointed out that the Newman-Haas team is owned by Carl Haas and Paul Newman, the latter a professional actor who became a successful racing driver. The Newman-Haas team is the bitter rival of the Forsythe team. Bourdais won the Champ Car title last year. Tracy is out to reclaim it.

"Race Car Driver" is produced by AMS Production Group. David Willox, award-winning producer whose credits include ABC's "Prime Time Live" and NBC's "Dateline," and Jay Gillian, a veteran of sports programming, are executive producers.

07/01/05 This rumor is upgraded to 'fact' as Superstation WGN has begun to run ads for this show and Paul Tracy is featured in the ads. Mark C. 06/25/05 AutoRacing1.com can reveal that Race Car Driver, a reality TV series based around Champ Car, will debut on September 7, 2005. The show will air on Superstation WGN. Look for it to be a 13 episode series highlighting the Forsythe Racing team drivers, though other drivers will also be part of the show. Mark C.