Tracy eyes NASCAR
05/23/05 Roger Penske's search for a new driver to replace retiring Rusty Wallace has become one of this sport's biggest mysteries. #42-Jamie McMurray seemed the obvious pick for a while, but car owner Chip Ganassi doesn't seem a bit interested in letting McMurray move over to arch-rival Penske. #16-Greg Biffle has also been in the heavy speculation since his contract with Jack Roush is up at the end of the season. Biffle insists he's sticking with Roush. but adds the caveat that even if he were thinking about moving on, he'd be foolish to say anything about it right now. The latest Penske speculation focuses on Paul Tracy, a wildly aggressive Indy-car star who once drove for Penske – and who once worked with Matt Borland, one of Penske's top NASCAR crew chiefs, who works now with Ryan Newman. Borland said that Tracy might be a bit too aggressive for NASCAR's got-to-get-along world, but Borland said that if Tracy brings the right attitude, it could certainly work out. And Borland said it would be "very interesting" to watch Tracy learning to adjust to the NASCAR tour. Winston Salem Journal 05/21/05 Paul Tracy, who is in the final year of his current contract with Forsythe Championship Racing, today downplayed reports of an impending move to NASCAR. “I have no urge to leave (Champ Cars)," he said. “I feel like I’ve accomplished a lot here,. I’ve won a lot of races; I’ve won a championship. But I want to win another championship, too. There’s some other races I’d like to win, too: Montreal, the new race in Edmonton….
“There’s lots of opportunities out there. People ask me if I’m thinking about retiring, but I’m not ready to retire. I still enjoy what I’m doing and I’m still competitive. But there’s lot of things I’d like to try. I’d like to try some more endurance racing, there’s NASCAR . . . I’d like to drive at Le Mans. But I don’t want to just drive around. I want to be in a situation where I can compete and win.
“Realistically, I’m 37 years old and I probably have two or three years (left) in Champ Cars. If the right opportunity came in NASCAR, I might be looking at extending my career another seven or 10 years. But I’m not about to go and do anything where I don’t have a similar situation to what I’ve got now: I’m with a championship-winning team and I have a chance to win some more races. If I were to go somewhere where I didn’t have that, where I was just driving around, I’d be miserable." SPEEDTV.com 05/09/05 Rumors about the racing future of Toronto's Paul Tracy in NASCAR were ratcheted up this weekend. This time the 36-year-old Champ Car World Series driver is being wooed by Penske Racing South. While there have been stories linking Tracy to a proposed American Le Mans Series team planned by Roger Penske, this is the first time that people are talking about him joining up with Penske's NASCAR program. The nucleus of the talks revolve around Penske needing a driver to replace Rusty Wallace in the #2 Dodge. More intriguing is talk in the NASCAR garage that Ryan Newman is unhappy with his progress in the #12 Penske Dodge. Toronto Sun 05/09/05 Roger Penske's search for a new driver to replace retiring Rusty Wallace has become one of this sport's biggest mysteries. #42-Jamie McMurray seemed the obvious pick for a while, but car owner Chip Ganassi doesn't seem a bit interested in letting McMurray move over to arch-rival Penske. #16-Greg Biffle has also been in the heavy speculation since his contract with Jack Roush is up at the end of the season. Biffle insists he's sticking with Roush. but adds the caveat that even if he were thinking about moving on, he'd be foolish to say anything about it right now. The latest Penske speculation focuses on Paul Tracy, a wildly aggressive Indy-car star who once drove for Penske – and who once worked with Matt Borland, one of Penske's top NASCAR crew chiefs, who works now with Ryan Newman. Borland said that Tracy might be a bit too aggressive for NASCAR's got-to-get-along world, but Borland said that if Tracy brings the right attitude, it could certainly work out. And Borland said it would be "very interesting" to watch Tracy learning to adjust to the NASCAR tour. Winston Salem Journal 05/06/05 Hearing that Paul Tracy met with Richard Childress at the recent Phoenix Nextel Cup race and may have gone so far as signing a $50,000 retainer on Tracy's services (option to negotiate a contract, not a full contract). This information is not confirmed but given Jimmy Vasser's statement this week that "Tracy is as good as gone," it's looking more and more likely that Champ Car has lost its biggest star to the deep pockets of the oval track cartel who continue to pick clean the CART carcass. Over the past several years we have seen the oval track cartel (IRL, NASCAR, Grand-Am) pick clean the Champ Car paddock of its sponsors, teams and manufacturers with the lure of money. The goal? To put Champ Car out of business. They have become a bit frustrated because the series keeps running like the Energizer Bunny, but that hasn't stopped the cartel from trying. Next on the agenda is to wrestle the Long Beach race from their grasp. 05/04/05 Overheard at Milwaukee yesterday when one fan asked Jimmy Vasser whether he thought Paul Tracy would go to NASCAR next year. Vasser's reported answer – "Tracy's as good as gone. He wants to be eaten alive by the NASCAR boys," or something to that effect. 04/24/05 We were told in Long Beach by Paul Tracy's mother that the rumors of him looking for a house in Charlotte were not true. What we heard since then (though it is unsubstantiated), is that a meeting took place in Vegas between Tracy and Roger Penske about next season's possible NASCAR ride. Supposedly Sony's President was also there (Las Vegas NASCAR race) to talk about sponsoring Paul’s Penske ride for '06. Unless NASCAR lands a race in Canada for 2006, however, we doubt Tracy will make the jump. His first priority will be to stay in Champ Car, which has three Canadian races. Not being sponsored in Champ Car could be a factor as well. Other drivers have been mentioned for the Penske seat if Penske buys out Rusty Wallace as rumored, not Tracy. The Sony piece is rather interesting as it could indicate a tie to Japanese brand Toyota and the rumors that Penske will start another Cup team with Toyota, separate from his Dodge team. However, Sony is already an associate sponsor on Penske's Cup cars. Again, we stress that this information is unsubstantiated and may just be from a source trying to start rumors. Our inside Champ Car sources tell us to expect Tracy to stay in Champ Car, and would Paul go back to Penske after Penske fired him twice in the past? 03/31/05 Perhaps there is more to this rumor than some think. AutoRacing1.com has been told by sources in Charlotte that Paul Tracy has been looking for a house in that area. At Sebring last week there were rumors that he might be moving from Las Vegas to Florida, but apparently that may have been a smokescreen. It's quite possible as well that Tracy will go to the highest bidder – Champ Car or NASCAR, whoever wants him bad enough. So starting rumors about going to NASCAR, whether true or not, is certainly a good negotiating tact. 03/31/05 Further investigation into this matter leads us to conclude we smell a rat. Don't read into this rumor too much. Contacts of ours there yesterday for the press conference stood right next to Tracy for most of the questions, and it was the media that started asking him about NASCAR. He really didn't have a clue that NASCAR was aiming at coming north of the border….and he said that…."I don't know anything about it." He repeatedly told media "I would have to ask my boss before I could ever do anything like that." But you know the way the media puts a spin on it, especially the Toronto SUN., as anti-Champ Car as they come.. But the press conference was a success, and very well attended. Mark C. 03/31/05 The 20th edition of the Toronto Molson Indy could be the final one for Paul Tracy – a two-time winner of his hometown race – in the Champ Car World Series. Tracy, 36, told the Toronto Sun yesterday that if NASCAR comes to Canada in 2006, he wants to be part of that series. Tracy's Champ Car contract with Forsythe Championship Racing ends this season and he said he wants to explore other avenues.
"I haven't got any irons in the fire, so to speak," Tracy said yesterday while he was in Toronto to help promote this year's race. (But) there are a lot of things happening in Canada right now with NASCAR."
"My eyes are wide open to the possibilities," Tracy said. "I'm looking at all the options and seeing what develops. One of the main things that would draw me to (NASCAR) would be if they were to come to Canada … have a race in Canada," Tracy said.
"The main reason I've stayed in Champ Car is that I've been able to race in Canada. I'll wait and see what happens with NASCAR," he said. "I have a whole year. Sun Media