Robin Miller of Speed Channel reports: It won’t be official for a few days but Paul Tracy will make his long-awaited NASCAR debut in three weeks at Michigan, driving a fourth car for Richard Childress [probably the #33 team]. The 36-year-old Canadian and Champ Car’s winningest active driver is expected to test at MIS this week. Tracy, who will have to qualify on speed, has been hinting for the past year or so he wants to try NASCAR full-time down the road.(Speed Channel)(7-31-2005)
MORE: After nearly two decades as an open wheel racer, Canadian Paul Tracy figures its time to sit in a race car with fenders. The 2003 Champ Car World Series champion has struck a deal with NASCAR team owner Richard Childress to test a stock car over the next two weeks with the eventual goal of competing in the Nextel Cup race at Michigan International Speedway on Aug. 21. Tracy will get behind the wheel of a stock car for the first time in his career on Tuesday at Concord (N.C.) Speedway in an ARCA car prepared by former stock car driver and now driving instructor Andy Hillenburg. Tracy then will head to MIS the day after the Brickyard to test the #33 Chevrolet for Childress. If everything falls into place, Tracy will make an attempt to qualify for the race at MIS, which he’ll have to do based on speed. Regardless of the outcome of the next three weeks isn’t ready to say he’s moving to NASCAR. Tracy’s interest in NASCAR dates back to 1999 when a friend showed him an article in a NASCAR publication that quoted Childress as saying he’d like to see Tracy in a stock car. Tracy isn’t the first open wheel driver in recent years to dabble in the world of stock cars. Several have unsuccessfully attempted the transition into NASCAR, including past Champ Car champion Jimmy Vasser, Scott Pruett, Christian Fittipaldi and most recently Mexican driver Michel Jourdain Jr., who ran in the Busch Series this year. Vasser drove two Busch races for Braun Racing in 2003, a year during which he raced in NASCAR, the Indy 500 and in his regular Champ Car ride. Tracy isn’t ready to make any official announcements. “Check back with me in a couple of weeks,” he said. “I’m going to drive a car a couple of times. I want to go do the race and then, think about what I want to do.”(Yahoo!Sports)(8-1-2005)
UPDATE: Open wheel star Paul Tracy will test August 8-9 at Michigan International Speedway in Richard Childress Racing’s (RCR) #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)(8-2-2005)
