WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Paul Tracy has been conspicuous by his absence this season in the wake of the unification of the two American open-wheel series.
The former CART champion and longtime star has run only the CART series finale in April at Long Beach and has so far failed to find a ride in the surviving IRL IndyCar Series.
Tony George, founder of the IndyCar Series and owner of the Vision Racing team, is trying to get Tracy back in a car this season, if only for a couple of races.
“We’re still trying to make something happen,” George said Friday at Watkins Glen International, where the IndyCars will race on Sunday. “We’re running out of time.”
Vision Racing fields full-time rides for Ed Carpenter, George’s stepson, and A.J. Foyt IV. George said he would like to put Tracy in a third car, but only if he can find financial support.
“It’s just a matter of finding some sponsorship,” George said. “I can’t do anything to dilute our primary effort. And I don’t want to. It’s got to be a deal we can take to Paul and he’s comfortable with.
“I think I have figured out what would be the best way to structure it. But until I get some indication there’s some sponsorship support for it, then there’s not much more to do at this point.”
Speculation was that Tracy was initially offered a package of four road and street races, beginning in two weeks at Mid-Ohio. But George said it’s more likely now to be two races, including later this month at Edmonton, Alberta, in Tracy’s native Canada, and possibly the race in August at Sonoma.
George said he is negotiating with a sponsor, but the deal is taking a long time to get done — maybe too long.
“We’re just trying to instill urgency in their decision-making process,” he said. “We want to paint the car Monday. We don’t want to be redoing anything. If we have a paint scheme, at least the color combinations for a sponsor, it would be nice to know.
“It would take money to prepare the car that Paul would run because, right now, it’s in speedway configuration. We don’t have the road course kit, but they’re available. But, again, I’m not going to go spend the money on that unless I know there’s some money coming in.”
ROAD TRIP: Darren Manning, who drives for A.J. Foyt, drove his motor home from Richmond, Va., where the IndyCars raced last Saturday night, to the Glen.
The driving was uneventful, but the Englishman did have an adventure along the way, playing baseball for the first time after meeting up with the coach drivers from other IndyCar teams at a campground in Hershey, Pa.
“I learned I’m a big pull hitter,” he said. “I hit it out of the ballpark the first time at bat. I like inside pitches.
“As for fielding, I couldn’t catch a ball to save my life. I wanted to field them without using a glove, like they do in cricket, but the guys wouldn’t let me. They were afraid I might break a finger and then A.J. would kill me for getting hurt.”
WILDLIFE DELAY: The opening round of practice for Indy Lights was postponed until later Friday after the track spent nearly an hour corralling two deer that had wandered onto the road circuit.
A doe and her youngster were spotted crossing the course early Friday and officials didn’t want to take a chance of a driver hitting one of them during practice. Two years ago, former open-wheel champion Cristiano da Matta suffered serious head injuries when he hit a deer during a test session on the road course at Road America in Wisconsin.
The deer were eventually captured and moved to an area away from the race cars.
The IndyCar practice went on as scheduled and the Indy Lights cars were given an extra 45 minutes of practice later Friday.
WILSON SOUVENIR: Coca-Cola and McDonald’s are distributing more than 400,000 commemorative cups that feature Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing driver Justin Wilson and his No. 02 McDonald’s race car.
The cups and 142,500 tray liners with Wilson and the Camping World Grand Prix at the Glen imprinted on them were being used this week at 95 restaurants in central New York and northern Pennsylvania.
“I need to pick up a few,” the Englishman said. “My dad would love one. This is the first time I’ve had anything like this, so it’s pretty cool.”
TIRE TREADS: Each IndyCar entry gets 10 sets of Firestone Firehawk dry-condition tires and four sets of treaded rain tires for the weekend. The fastest six drivers in qualifying each get an additional set of drys.
The specifications for both dry and rain tires are new for this race.
“We believe the new Firehawk spec will give the drivers the added durability they desire, while still providing the necessary grip to attack this track,” said Al Speyer, executive director of Firestone Racing.
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