Friday, October 24, 2008

Tracy – Open Wheel’s Loss Is Truck Series’ Gain

Paul Tracy at a news conference before the IndyCar Series race in Edmonton, Alberta Canada. Tracy was able to place fourth overall, just missing the podium in his only race in a IndyCar Dallara in 2008. Image Credit: Shawn Payne - ICS

Tracy – Open Wheel’s Loss Is Truck Series’ Gain

Motorsports racing champion and Canadian Paul Tracy will be racing in the Craftsman Truck Series when he is set to drive for Germain Racing in the No. 9 Toyota Tundra after successfully testing with the team back in May at Chicagoland Speedway.

2008 saw many good drivers become shuffled out of competition in the major open wheel racing series as it became unified when ChampCar and IndyCar racing series merged. Many drivers ended up scattered about with some remaining here in North America to race in the American Le Mans Series, while others found rides in Europe in other specialized promotional racing series.

Tracy was left on the sidelines, with “one-of” outings at Long Beach for Forsythe and Edmonton for IndyCar Series President and Vision Racing Team owner, Tony George - his only appearances of the 2008 racing season … where he had competitive showings.

Paul Tracy will get behind the wheel of his NASCAR Series Toyota Tundra in Texas next week.

Paul Tracy in the Vision Racing Dallara #22 taking laps at Edmonton. Image Credit: Covey Moore

This excerpted and edited from autosport.com -

Tracy to race in Truck Series
By Diego Mejia Thursday, October 23rd 2008, 16:08 GMT

Former Champ Car champion Paul Tracy is set to return to NASCAR by making his Craftsman Truck Series debut next week at Texas Motor Speedway.
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Tracy's teammates for the weekend will be title contender and 2006 Truck Series champion Todd Bodine and rookie Justin Marks.

"Germain Racing is a championship organization, and I'm excited to be behind the wheel of the Bombardier Learjet/Sport Clips Toyota Tundra in Texas," said Tracy.

"Todd and I are good friends, and I'm looking forward to helping him and the Germain Racing team win the race in Texas and gain spots in the point standings. I appreciate them giving me the opportunity, and I will do whatever I can to support their effort at Texas."

Tracy made his NASCAR debut in 2006 when he ran six races for two different teams in the Nationwide Series. His best result came in the season opener at Daytona International Speedway, where he finished 24th.

At the time, he was looking into making a permanent switch to NASCAR, but ultimately decided to sign a long-term Champ Car deal with Forsythe Racing instead, having struggled to find a competitive Cup seat.
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