Here is the latest in the on-going saga that is Paul Tracy...Paul Tracy would like nothing better than to send Champ Car into auto racing history with a salute from the victory podium at the Long Beach Grand Prix.
The four-time winner of the event might just get the opportunity to make it five.
Tracy said yesterday in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he has lived for the past several years, that he – through his lawyer – is attempting to rectify a dispute with Forsythe Racing that would put him in the No.3 blue and white car for the April 20 race along the ocean-side streets of Long Beach, Calif.
The 39-year-old Scarborough native has been in limbo since Gerry Forsythe, who was also a co-owner of Champ Car, shut down his racing operation and declined to run in the IndyCar Series following the reunification of the two series after a 12-year separation.
At the heart of the dispute, among others, is a clause in his five-year contract with Forsythe that stipulated Forsythe has to field a car or free him to drive for another team.
However, Forsythe's decision not to enter a car in the IndyCar Series came too late for Tracy to gain a ride with another team.
Tracy's attempts to contact Forsythe had proven futile until this week. That problem now appears to have been solved with communication between lawyers for both sides.
"We don't want to play this out in the media, but there have been some correspondence as of right now," said Tracy.
"He would like me to run Long Beach and I would like to run Long Beach, but there are some things that have to happen before we can commit to that. At this point I'm glad that we've got some correspondence and we're dealing directly with Gerry's lawyer."
The Long Beach race will be the official farewell to the Champ Car World Series (nee CART). The race, which was the flagship event – often the opening race of the season – will become part of the IndyCar Series circuit beginning next year.
Tracy won his first CART race at Long Breach in 1993 and followed with victories in 2000, '03 and '04.
The four-time winner of the event might just get the opportunity to make it five.
Tracy said yesterday in a telephone interview from Las Vegas, where he has lived for the past several years, that he – through his lawyer – is attempting to rectify a dispute with Forsythe Racing that would put him in the No.3 blue and white car for the April 20 race along the ocean-side streets of Long Beach, Calif.
The 39-year-old Scarborough native has been in limbo since Gerry Forsythe, who was also a co-owner of Champ Car, shut down his racing operation and declined to run in the IndyCar Series following the reunification of the two series after a 12-year separation.
At the heart of the dispute, among others, is a clause in his five-year contract with Forsythe that stipulated Forsythe has to field a car or free him to drive for another team.
However, Forsythe's decision not to enter a car in the IndyCar Series came too late for Tracy to gain a ride with another team.
Tracy's attempts to contact Forsythe had proven futile until this week. That problem now appears to have been solved with communication between lawyers for both sides.
"We don't want to play this out in the media, but there have been some correspondence as of right now," said Tracy.
"He would like me to run Long Beach and I would like to run Long Beach, but there are some things that have to happen before we can commit to that. At this point I'm glad that we've got some correspondence and we're dealing directly with Gerry's lawyer."
The Long Beach race will be the official farewell to the Champ Car World Series (nee CART). The race, which was the flagship event – often the opening race of the season – will become part of the IndyCar Series circuit beginning next year.
Tracy won his first CART race at Long Breach in 1993 and followed with victories in 2000, '03 and '04.
courtesy of http://www.thestar.com
And if that doesn't work out,
To make this all-Canadian version of Trackside complete, Paul Tracy may be back banging on garage doors in NASCAR soon. Without a ride in the newly united Indy Racing League, the Toronto native has put out feelers that he would be happy to test for a solid Cup or Nationwide team for this season ... D.J. Kennington will be in Phoenix, as well, this weekend, hoping to forget his appearance there in 2007 when his No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge was spun hard into the wall.
courtesy of http://www.torontosun.com
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