Paul Tracy to NASCAR? UPDATE: Barry Green, who owns the team for which Tracy drives, is rumoured to be following the lead of Roger Penske and jumping to the IRL full-time next season. If he does, Tracy said there’s a good chance he won’t follow, and will try his luck in NASCAR. He’s been approached by Richard Childress, and is lining up a test for later in the summer. “If CART doesn’t survive, I’d have to seriously look at NASCAR,” he said. “I’m a road racer, but if I’m going to be forced to run on ovals, I’m going to do go where I can prosper. There’s more opportunity in NASCAR.”(Globe and Mail(5-26-2002) UPDATE: Paul Tracy, if CART is no longer a viable option, he said he would look seriously at finding a ride in NASCAR. “I’d really miss [the road races],” Tracy said amid growing speculation that teams such as his Team Kool Green might jump to the all-oval Indy Racing League. “If I’m going to be forced to run ovals all the time, I’d take a look at NASCAR as well as the IRL. I want to stay in CART, and I know that Barry [Green, the Team Green owner] does, too. But he’s waiting for a decision from Kool, and they’re the ones that pay the sponsorship.” The thought of Tracy, 33, in a stock car might seem unusual. He’s in the 12th year of his CART career and has the second-most victories of any active driver in the series. But despite his strong open-wheel roots, Tracy said he would investigate his NASCAR options. “I’ve got some contacts with a couple of [NASCAR] teams,” he said. “It’s not a real race car, but they’re out there banging doors, so they’re not loafing around. And I’m still pretty young compared to most of them, so I still have some time. They are what they are. But they make a lot of money, and it’s still racing.”(Chicago Sun Times)(6-27-2002)
