Paul Tracy to Test RCR Cup Car at MIS
Written by John Davison · August 2, 2005
WELCOME, N.C. — Open wheel star Paul Tracy will test August 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Richard Childress Racing’s (RCR) No. 33 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series Chevrolet in preparation for the Aug. 21 GFS Marketplace 400.
The Ontario, Canada native is the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion and has 30 victories, ranking him first among the series’ active drivers and third all-time. Tracy is currently second in the 2005 point standings with two victories (Milwaukee, June 4; Cleveland, June 26), six top-five finishes and two pole positions after eight of 14 races. He finished second in the July 31 Taylor Woodrow Grand Prix of San Jose (Calif.).
“Paul and I have talked about an opportunity like this for the past couple years and it has finally come together for Michigan,” said Richard Childress, president and CEO of RCR. “I’d like to thank Gerry Forsythe and Forsythe Championship Racing for allowing us the chance to give this a try. This will be Paul’s first shot in a stock car but he obviously has a great deal of talent and knows how to win races and championships. We’ll take a look at how things go after the test and, if all goes according to plan, get him ready for the Cup race the next week.”
Tracy is looking forward to testing his driving skills again at the MIS oval. He competed in Champ Cars there 10 times (1992-2001), earning four top-five and seven top-10 finishes and a pole position (2000). The 2000 pole speed set the track qualifying record at 234.949 mph (30.645 seconds).
“I’m very excited about this opportunity especially at Michigan where I have a lot of experience,” said Tracy. “Driving a NASCAR NEXTEL Cup car will be totally new to me but my focus is to develop a package that will help Kevin (Harvick), Jeff (Burton) and Dave (Blaney) and their teams for the race weekend. I want to do whatever I can to help.”
-RCR-
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8 Responses to “Paul Tracy to Test RCR Cup Car at MIS”
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I think Paul’s open wheel experience will help him with the test. It’s a little odd though because Tracy said he didn’t like racing on ovals during the Milwaukee Champ Car race.
I tend to believe Childress is drinking a bit of Kool-aid and letting friendship get in the way of common sense.
With experienced NASCAR drivers such as Sterling Marlin and Ward Burton looking or needing a ride it makes zero sense to offer a ride to someone with no prior Cup rides.
And contrary to what DJ may feel just because he has the ability to “turn left” doesn’t give Tracy any advantage. That aside what he does in a “test” is far different than competing with 42 others cars around you and having to deal with the draft in a car that is twice the weight with half the HP of a Champ Car.
This little stunt isn’t going anywhere. And BTW DJ “nice” link you provide with your comment, it borders on being commercial spam.
Take it easy Marc…DJ is an enterprising 14 year old trying to break into motorsports…and doing some postings for us while he’s at it…I wish I had his drive and direction when I was his age…I might be in a Cup car now. ;)
well with nothing but walls on the right Paul “thewall” should have little trouble finding the wall!
Josh i know the author is new but i have a few questions with the stats listed.
he said “The Ontario, Canada native is the 2003 Champ Car World Series champion and has 30 victories, ranking him first among the series’ active drivers and third all-time.”
paul is a native of Toronto Canada which is in Ontario but there is also a city named Ontario there. but the real question is the stat of 30 wins being 3rd all time. where these all in “champ car”? or are we including indycar wins also? i tried to look at his site but it hasnt been updated in 2 years, not a good sign!
this is a great opportunity for paul tracy, and alot of his
fanatics will support his debut at mis. i was glad to see the article from robbie gordon who is another driver that will race anything. i read alot of trash talk
from alot of people that have no idea what their talking about. everyone of these guys get into a race car at a very young age and progress. pt has done quite well for himself and the sport of open wheel. look up his career stats going back to the late 80’s and ask yourself if pt isn’t
ready for a shot, or deserves one. who cares if its a friend that opened the door. rcr thanx and work him hard, no favorites, he’ll earn it.
I dont think PT is old enough to retire to the seniors tour just yet.Like Montoya said when asked if he would give NASCAR a try” too big,too heavy, too slow” PT is a real “racer” afterall.Maybe when he retires from open wheelers it could be a hobby for him.
I’m not sure how NASCAR could be a hobby to him. Talented drivers go their entire lives and not able to win a Championship. NASCAR Racing isn’t a seniors tour, it is a way of life.
I think NASCAR receives alot of jealousy from fans because of the money and popularity. Fans can say that NASCAR is just marketing; but then why is NASCAR where they are today and IRL/Champ Car are fighting to stay in business?
NASCAR has personality too. That’s why I love watching NASCAR because every driver is different and has different driving techniques.
And when people say “NASCAR is just a demolition derby,” I totally disagree. Stock cars have fenders so that gives the drivers a right to bump draft and have “limited contact with each others bumpers,” but not to wreck each other. But it doesn’t matter because if someone wrecked someone on purpose, they would end getting the shit kicked out of them because drivers in NASCAR won’t take that type of racing.
A good race car driver can win in anything. If Montoya wants to make fun of NASCAR, maybe he is afraid he can’t handle it. I remember when Patrick Carpentier moved to IRL, he was so scared racing three wide on the ovals. Maybe open wheelers should try Talladega?
DJ, I was pulling the NASCAR boys chain with the seniors tour line.
There is another gag in the single seaters vs stock cars rivalry. Keke Rosberg the F1 champ was asked if he would do touring cars when he retired & he replied “NO! toilets have doors” ha ha
I was making a joke.