Paul Tracy has been taking aim on Twitter, but the outspoken Canadian is vowing to avoid skirmishes in his return to the Izod IndyCar Series.
“We are definitely going there to try to get the best result we can for all of our sponsors,” says Tracy, who will start the first of five scheduled races for Dragon Racing in Sunday’s
Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “Definitely thinking about not getting in any trouble in the race, and these double-file restarts have caught a lot of guys out. So hopefully we are not going to be near (E.J.) Viso on some of those.”
Viso drives for KV Racing, which Tracy has lampooned often on his Twitter feed during the season’s first two IndyCar events. Many of Tracy’s barbs have been at the expense of team owner Jimmy Vasser and Viso, who has crashed several times this season (between practices and races).
But Tony Kanaan, who drives a KV car that is backed by Geico (which Tracy had as a sponsor at KV last year and was unhappy about losing this season), says the team isn’t worried about retaliation.
“People are going to try to say, ‘Oh my God if he starts right besides T.K., he’s going to take T.K. out,” Kanaan says. “I don’t think so. It’s P.T., and we go back a long, long way. I think we need him in the series, because there’s always somebody who needs to be controversial and outspoken. I admire the guy. I don’t have near the (guts) that he has to say things that he says. But I’m happy to have him back.
“Yeah, is he taking a hard line on (team owner) Jimmy (Vasser) and KV? Definitely, but he never said anything about me, so I’m happy he’s back. I know he’s going to race everybody hard. It’s not just about the green cars.”
Kanaan says Tracy couldn’t afford the consequences of being overly aggressive because it could result in a suspension as well as be a costly blow to the inventory of a fledgling team.
“It’s not going to work well for him because he doesn’t have a full season,” Kanaan says. “He needs to finish a race and do well. P.T.’s a hard racer. That’s all he is. He doesn’t have a bad heart. He’s not a bad guy. He’s tough. I don’t think P.T.’s going to start Long Beach looking for the three KV cars to take them out. It’d be such a waste of time.”
Tracy also might not want to jeopardize a solid finish on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course. He is a four-time winner at Long Beach and says he won’t have trouble getting back up to speed this weekend despite being out of a car since September at Japan.
“I’m going to do everything I can possibly do to try to win,” said Tracy, who ranks in the top 10 in Indy car history for wins (seventh with 31), poles (ninth with 25) and laps led (sixth with 4,238). “Is that realistic? Sometimes, no. But I think in any sport, if you’re not going out there and giving 110%, it’s time to get off the field or get out of the game.”
Tracy, 42, hasn’t driven a full season since 2005 in Champ Car but said earlier this year he’d like to race through at least next season.
“I’m not happy being at home and relaxing; that’s the problem,” he said. “I haven’t been able to find anything in my life that gives me the satisfaction and fills my needs. Trust me, I’ve got plenty of toys. I have motorcycles and boats and sand rails and any go-fast thing. I’ve got it, and nothing fills my needs like driving a race car.”
Supercross in Seattle: After ending an eight-race winless skid last week in St. Louis, James Stewart moved to fourth in the standings and trails leader Ryan Villopoto by 16 points heading into Saturday’s Monster Energy Supercross event in Seattle. Defending series champion Ryan Dungey also is on the move, closing within five points of Villopoto with eight podium finishes in the past nine events.
ALMS in Long Beach: Defending GT champion Flying Lizard Motorsports goes for its third consecutive victory Saturday at the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Grand Prix at Long Beach. Drivers Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister head perhaps the strongest GT field the series has had at Long Beach with 14 GT cars battling over the 11-turn, 1.968 mile street course.
Paul Tracy has been taking aim on Twitter, but the outspoken Canadian is vowing to avoid skirmishes in his return to the Izod IndyCar Series.
“We are definitely going there to try to get the best result we can for all of our sponsors,” says Tracy, who will start the first of five scheduled races for Dragon Racing in Sunday’s Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach. “Definitely thinking about not getting in any trouble in the race, and these double-file restarts have caught a lot of guys out. So hopefully we are not going to be near (E.J.) Viso on some of those.”
Viso drives for KV Racing, which Tracy has lampooned often on his Twitter feed during the season’s first two IndyCar events. Many of Tracy’s barbs have been at the expense of team owner Jimmy Vasser and Viso, who has crashed several times this season (between practices and races).But Tony Kanaan, who drives a KV car that is backed by Geico (which Tracy had as a sponsor at KV last year and was unhappy about losing this season), says the team isn’t worried about retaliation.”People are going to try to say, ‘Oh my God if he starts right besides T.K., he’s going to take T.K. out,” Kanaan says. “I don’t think so. It’s P.T., and we go back a long, long way. I think we need him in the series, because there’s always somebody who needs to be controversial and outspoken. I admire the guy. I don’t have near the (guts) that he has to say things that he says. But I’m happy to have him back.”Yeah, is he taking a hard line on (team owner) Jimmy (Vasser) and KV? Definitely, but he never said anything about me, so I’m happy he’s back. I know he’s going to race everybody hard. It’s not just about the green cars.”Kanaan says Tracy couldn’t afford the consequences of being overly aggressive because it could result in a suspension as well as be a costly blow to the inventory of a fledgling team.”It’s not going to work well for him because he doesn’t have a full season,” Kanaan says. “He needs to finish a race and do well. P.T.’s a hard racer. That’s all he is. He doesn’t have a bad heart. He’s not a bad guy. He’s tough. I don’t think P.T.’s going to start Long Beach looking for the three KV cars to take them out. It’d be such a waste of time.”Tracy also might not want to jeopardize a solid finish on the 11-turn, 1.968-mile street course. He is a four-time winner at Long Beach and says he won’t have trouble getting back up to speed this weekend despite being out of a car since September at Japan.”I’m going to do everything I can possibly do to try to win,” said Tracy, who ranks in the top 10 in Indy car history for wins (seventh with 31), poles (ninth with 25) and laps led (sixth with 4,238). “Is that realistic? Sometimes, no. But I think in any sport, if you’re not going out there and giving 110%, it’s time to get off the field or get out of the game.”Tracy, 42, hasn’t driven a full season since 2005 in Champ Car but said earlier this year he’d like to race through at least next season.”I’m not happy being at home and relaxing; that’s the problem,” he said. “I haven’t been able to find anything in my life that gives me the satisfaction and fills my needs. Trust me, I’ve got plenty of toys. I have motorcycles and boats and sand rails and any go-fast thing. I’ve got it, and nothing fills my needs like driving a race car.”Supercross in Seattle: After ending an eight-race winless skid last week in St. Louis, James Stewart moved to fourth in the standings and trails leader Ryan Villopoto by 16 points heading into Saturday’s Monster Energy Supercross event in Seattle. Defending series champion Ryan Dungey also is on the move, closing within five points of Villopoto with eight podium finishes in the past nine events.ALMS in Long Beach: Defending GT champion Flying Lizard Motorsports goes for its third consecutive victory Saturday at the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Grand Prix at Long Beach. Drivers Patrick Long and Joerg Bergmeister head perhaps the strongest GT field the series has had at Long Beach with 14 GT cars battling over the 11-turn, 1.968 mile street course.
