The Grand Prix of Toronto is being confronted with a pair of issues that affect the very core of the annual festival of speed in July on Toronto's lakefront.GPT boss Charlie Johnstone told Sun Media that rumours Paul Tracy -- the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion -- may not be back this season could severely hurt ticket sales for the three-day event.
Johnstone also said he was notified in mid-December that Steelback Breweries would not be back as the title sponsor for the race.
Johnstone said he is well on his way to landing a new title sponsor.
"It's going well. I'm very pleased at where we are at this point," he said. "We are well down the road with several candidates."
The issue with Tracy is another matter all together.
"It's huge," Johnstone said. "To have a local hero like Paul and as many Canadians as we can get in all of the series is good for business.
"But from an event standpoint to have Paul here in July is absolutely important."
Tracy signed a five-year deal with Forsythe in 2007 to keep him from jumping to NASCAR but with only one win in the past two seasons the team is now asking for a renegotiation of that contract for less money.
And those close to the 38-year-old Tracy say he is both hurt and angry. Angry enough, apparently, to put out feelers for a job in the rival Indy Racing League, although that could not be confirmed yesterday.
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