January 7, 2006
NASCAR.com
If you talk to Paul Tracy’s competitors, they will use many adjectives to describe his championship winning ways.
As you run through the list, you will notice words such as 'persistent' and 'skillful.' A glaring omission from that list is one word: Patient.
But if you look at his 2006 plans, he seems to have nothing but patience.
The 37 year old Champ Car megastar is at Daytona International Speedway as he prepares to run the No. 6 Riley-Lexus for Graydon Elliott Fusion Racing with MSR in the Rolex 24 at Daytona January 28-29.
But while he is focused and "comfortable" as he readies for his late January efforts, the Canadian born Tracy remains calm as he awaits word on his future.
The active leader in wins and 2003 Champ Car World Series titlist is at the stage in his life where he is looking beyond his current situation.
"I think in my age in my career, I only have limited years as a Champ Car driver. I don’t feel that I am ready to retire at 40, or stop racing, I want to continue to race. So I really feel that I am trying to transition to the next phase over the next year and a half."
His sights have shifted over to where very few open wheel drivers have succeeded, NASCAR.
"Obviously I have goals in my career, and one of the things that do is I’d like to be in the Daytona 500," said Tracy. "I come from a team that I could win every year, at least win three to four races every year. To give that up to jump to NASCAR, I don’t want to make the jump and run 30th-40th. I want to be in the right seat and be successful right out of the box."
But unlike previous attempts by IRL and Champ Car drivers, Tracy is displaying the endurance that made him successful in open wheel racing.
"There is the old saying 'only fools rush into things.' A lot of the drivers that have rushed into the NASCAR deal from open wheels side have rushed into bad deals and failed at it and that’s attached a stigma that guys can’t cross over. But I argue the point that guys like Tony Stewart and Kasey Kahne have crossed over from open wheel cars, but they waited for the right ride and got into the right situation. I am not going to rush into a bad deal long term."
Because of his openness to development and finding the "right fit," Tracy is developing a busy schedule for 2006. While he plans on running the full Champ Car schedule next season, he is also planning on running a minimum of five NASCAR Busch Series races in 2006, while also trying to find "piggy back" events in the NASCAR Craftsman Trucks Series and NEXTEL Cup to compete in.
Also, it would not be surprising if he ran in some ARCA events, as he was in Daytona earlier this month testing a Chevrolet belonging to Andy Hillenburg.
Why would one of the best open wheel drivers in this generation display this much patience? Simply put, the challenge.
"Somebody asked me 'how many more mountains are there for Paul Tracy to climb?' There is not just one mountain in front of me. I am going to continue to drive as long as I like driving. The guys that give me inspiration are guys like Elliott-Forbes Robinson, guys that have been driving for 30, 40 years and are still competitive. There are a lot of mountains in the future to go over and things I’d like to try. I’d like to race at Le Mans, I’d like to win (The Rolex 24), and I’d like to win the Daytona 500. These are all goals that every driver has, and if I am successful enough I think I can get the opportunity to drive good cars and have an opportunity to win them."
A warning to all NASCAR drivers, if Tracy does find the right situation, his patience will be put aside and his drive for victory will take over. Just ask all of his competition he has beaten to get to this point in his career.