Paul Tracy will make an IndyCar return at the Indianapolis 500 in May. PT will compete in his first Indy 500 since 2002 in which he finished second. KV Racing will field the Canadian's number 15 car.
Following IndyCar/Champ Car unification, Tracy stuggled to find a full-time ride in the renewed IndyCar Series. After his one-off appearance for Vision at Edmonton last year, PT will contest only his second IRL race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Tracy recorded an Indianapolis 500 win in 2002 before a controversial ruling by the IRL demoted him to second place. Race officials ruled that Tracy passed Helio Castroneves under caution on the final lap of the race even though videotape would indicate otherwise. Tracy then vowed to never again step foot in Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
However, given the lack of opportunities that have come his way over the past two years, fan favourite Tracy is pleased to be back in business.
“This is a great opportunity and I can’t thank GEICO and KV Racing enough for stepping up and making it happen,” Tracy said. “Jimmy (Vasser, team owner), Kevin (Kalkhoven, team owner) and I are close friends so it is exciting to have it all come together.”
He continued, “Indianapolis is a special place and I look forward to returning and taking a run at getting a win and putting my name in the history books. I’ve committed my life to racing and a win at Indy is something that is very important to me. The past is the past and I’ll go to IMS focused on the present putting forth my best effort for GEICO and KV Racing.”
KV Racing Technology co-owner Jimmy Vasser said, “I think I can speak for everyone at KV Racing when I say that running Paul Tracy at the Indy 500 is very exciting. Even though Paul hasn’t been in an open-wheel car much the last year, having raced against him and knowing his ability, I am sure he will get up to speed immediately.”
No empty words by Vasser, as Paul Tracy already showed his versatility last year. In July, PT hopped in a car for Vision Racing in Edmonton’s IndyCar race and turned in a fourth place finish despite having been out of a car since Long Beach in April.
It is widely speculated that Tracy's Indy appearance might be followed by a couple of other races, as the IndyCar Series now has two Canadian races (Toronto and Edmonton) in the month of July.
(fc)
Written: Fri, 17 Apr 2009 20:13:29
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